Accidents, Blunders and Calamities, a short film by Media Design School has taken out the prize for Best Animated Film at the 2016 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF).

A Mecca for proud nerds (and studio executives), Comic-Con International is held over four days in San Diego, California, and Probably the world’s biggest entertainment and popular culture convention. 

Accidents, Blunders and Calamities features 30 CGI animals that were meticulously crafted by 44 third year Bachelor of Art and Design students. Bachelor of Art and Design senior lecturer and award-winning director James Cunningham says that a win at the CCI-IFF offers an invaluable opportunity for his student’s work to garner further recognition overseas.

“I am pretty amazed at getting this award,” says Cunningham. “To get a film that was made at a school in New Zealand selected to be in competition at Comic-Con is very impressive, but to beat all the other animations is a real feat.

“The students who worked on Accidents, Blunders and Calamities are super pumped by this result. Comic-Con is such a massive cultural event and to get this sort of recognition means a lot. I’m super proud of the work everyone did on this.”

Accidents, Blunders and Calamities has already won a number of accolades and awards like the People’s Choice Award and the Best Editor Award at New Zealand’s only Academy Awards accredited film festival, Show Me Shorts. It has also picked up prizes at the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film; BCN Sports Film Festival; and has previously screened at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival.

The students who worked on Accidents, Blunders and Calamities have since graduated and many are working in the film industry both in New Zealand and overseas. If you meet one, buy them a drink.