NFB's Madame Tutli-Putli wins two awards at Cannes

A Canadian animated short has won two awards at the Cannes film festival, while a British director has won an award sponsored by Canada'sNational Film Board.

The NFB-produced short Madame Tutli-Putli,the first filmfrom Montreal filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, won the Canal Plus Award for best short film and the Petit Rail d'Or for best short film.

Thestop-motion animated film, which follows a woman's existential journey aboard a night train, was screened during the festival's International Critics' Week.

After winningthe Canal Plus Award,Madame Tutli-Putli will be broadcast on the French pay-TV channel and the directors will also be invited to the Moulin d'Ande artists' retreat.

Madame Tulti-Putli will have its North American premiere at the Worldwide Shorts Festival in Toronto from June 12 to 17.

A short by British filmmaker Mark Conn has won the NFB short film competition.

Films shown online

The contest, which invited viewers to screen the shorts online —either on YouTube or an NFB website — is in its second year at the Cannes Film Festival.

Conn's short film, Withdrawal, starring Martine McCutcheon of Love Actually, drew the largest number of votes online.

Withdrawal shows the dreams of a seemingly homeless woman who sits by a bank machine in a grimy spot in central London.

Conn was chosen from among 10 finalists, including one from Canada, who were selected by short film expert Danny Lennon.

More than 1,100 films were submitted from the U.S., U.K., Canada and Europe.

There were 108,300 viewers of the online shorts, twice as many as last year, according to an NFB statement released Thursday.

Conn was awarded a professional high-definition mini camera and a computer with post-production software.

On Friday, the Cannes Film Festival program includes the first showing of Canadian director Denys Arcand's L'Âge de Ténèbres (The Age of Ignorance).