HAFF (March 22 – 26) is one of the most interesting film festivals of animated film today, so a Grand Prix for Nighthawk really means a lot. Jury members in the Short Competition program at HAFF are indeed animation "big shots", Michael Dudok de Wit, Igor Kovalyov and Takeshi Nagata. Here’s what they said about Nighthawk: "The intense atmosphere immediately pulled us deeply into this film. We found the story very interesting and the main character was incredibly alive." Let’s also mention that M.D. de Wit’s The Red Turtle won The Best Feature Award at this year’s HAFF.

Nighthawk is, so far, a great success at the international festival scene. In the first seven months it won nine awards, three in the last few weeks: special mentions at DOK Leipzig and Animateka, together with an audience award at Animateka, and Best Narrative Film Award at GLAS Animation Festival. Speaking of numbers, in the next three months Nighthawk will compete at 11 festivals, among others at the grand festivals such as Annecy, Animafest, Stuttgart and Dresden.