Ari Folman’s animated documentary Vals Im Bashir (Waltz With Bashir) is a pioneer in many ways. The film was one of the first (along with $9.99) feature films emanating from Israel to be released in theaters. Beyond that, Bashir, a 2D animated film, was produced primarily with Adobe Flash, a medium that is typically reserved for television and internet projects. Of late, many Flash features have been emerging, but none (save perhaps Sita Sings the Blues) have been praised to this degree.

Four years in the making, Waltz With Bashir went on to grab more award nominations than the crew had artists, but no achievement was bigger than the film’s nomination for the Palm d’Or (Best Film) at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival. It set the tone for the coming awards season, which saw the film pick up the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and an Academy Award nomination in the same category. Animated films are often left out of the “Best Picture” category, relegated instead to the animation corner of the ballroom, but at the 43rd National Society of Film Critics Awards, Bashir took the top prize – Best Film.

Yoni Goodman, the film’s animation director, took some time between award shows to answer a few questions.

AARON SIMPSON: What has been the best part of the international praise the film has received?

YONI GOODMAN: I think throughout the production our only thought was to finish the film. That was our goal and we thought of nothing past that. Initially it was supposed to be a small art house movie, with very limited distribution, and of course we had our fantasies of how people would react, but we never suspected the movie would go so far and attract that much of attention. The first real shock was the premiere at Cannes. We had heard stories about the event, but nothing could have prepared us for the real thing. At the end of the screening, we had a 20 minute standing ovation from 2,300 people, which was quite a shock (until that moment, I didn’t notice that the theatre had balconies). Later on that week, we were the talk of the festival, and that just didn’t stop. In a way, it hasn’t really stopped since, so we’re still in a 12-month rollercoaster ride.

AARON: Tell us about the whole rotoscoping confusion…
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Strike up the band! Waltz With Bashir, an animated feature film directed by Ari Folman, was nominated for an Academy Award today. The Flash-animated film was nomimated in the Best Foreign Language Film category, along with 4 other live-action films. It’s nothing short of a “coming out” party for Flash-animation, and we pass along our biggest congratulations to the production team.

It should be noted that the film WASN’T nominated in the Best Animated Film category, a nod that many thought it would achieve. There’s a great deal of politics going on behind the scenes at every year’s Academy Awards, so it’s hard to say how or why it was omitted from this list of 3 (WALL-E, Bolt and Kung Fu Panda), but I found a great write-up at spout.com that breaks down some of the strategies the filmmakers may have used.

Lastly – don’t miss our Academy Award coverage over at Lineboil.com.

Wow – never thought I’d see the day. Waltz With Bashir, a Flash-animated documentary film, was just named Best Picture by the The National Society of Film Critics. It is only the second time an animated film has taken this honor (Babe in 1995), and surely the first time a Flash-animated film has taken any major accolade of this magnitude. Mind you – this isn’t your run-of-the-mill “Best Animated Film” award – Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir was honored over excellent live-action films like Slumdog Millionaire, Gran Torino and Milk. Another animated film, Wall-E, tied for runner-up in this category. We now turn our attention to the Academy Award nominations, which are only a few weeks away (January 22nd).