'Mr X is Not a Man' wins Best Animation: 12-19

Congratulations to Noah Berridge and Yuli Freed, both aged 19, from Bristol, England, whose film Mr X is Not a Man has won Best Animation: 12-19 (sponsored by The Walt Disney Studios) at the Into Film Awards 2026. The award was presented by actor Nick Frost.

Mr X is Not a Man is a gorgeous, impressionistic and ethereal animation that sees a disaffected office worker heading out into the night in search of a more spiritual existence.

Noah and Yuli made the film when they were 16 years old. To make the film, they used a mixture of hand-drawn illustrations, ProCreate Dreams and After Effects. Yuli would illustrate the world and animate/rotoscope the characters, and then Noah would use After Effects to assemble the scenes into their complete form.

The pair composed, played and recorded all of the film's music completely themselves, with Noah playing piano and Yuli playing guitar. They both love playing music, and it was a mixture of improvisation and composition to make the final soundtrack.

Filmmaking has been a long-time passion of the pair, who have been making films together since they were 11. They started at an after-school stop-frame animation club, and from there they would meet up and spend hours doing filmmaking projects.

"This film came from a place of wanting to tell a story of something that we feared deeply in our own lives, getting stuck in a job or career that we hated", explained Noah. "As filmmakers, we felt particularly inspired about what could happen to a character when they decide to break free of that."

Noah was also recognised as one of this year's Ones to Watch, and had the incredible experience of seeing his work shown on the Piccadilly Lights in London - the biggest advertising screen in Europe, in one of the world's most iconic locations.