Editorials
Annecy 2021
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DOMINIQUE PUTHOD MICKAËL MARIN
To meet again With this single goal in mind, for nearly a year the CITIA team has been rallying to welcome the animation film community, betwixt lake and mountains. Since the 2019 edition and its impressive turnout, the path forward has been long and bumpy, and in spite of everything is still strewn with uncertainty. If Annecy 2020 was the epitome of resilience, Annecy 2021 will be that of combat. And is there any more noble battle than fighting to reposition Culture at the core of our existences? Is there any more illustrious hope than that of extolling works and their authors again, under the best possible conditions? Annecy seems thoroughly determined to stand its ground as animated cinema’s radiating center. All hail to those like us who never gave up and placed their trust in this project. We’re thinking of the CITIA team, of course, and their resolve to see Annecy and its cinemas once again thrumming with life. We’re also thinking of our partners, both institutional and private, steadfast at our sides even when the going is rough. But we send our regards, as well, to all professionals and artists worldwide who with their many expressions of support have encouraged us so much these past few months. This invisible thread binding generations of animation lovers has never snapped, and this unprecedented crisis might even – who knows – have reinforced the "yearning for Annecy". Lastly, if today Annecy is the world animation film capital that we know, let’s not forget the pioneers who, in 1960, cradled the destiny of this infant festival in the "Venice of the Alps". And we must also remember those who strove one after another, year after year, to turn this festival into an annual and unmissable event. Annecy 2021 will be an opportunity to thank them and to wander down memory lane through this singular history that owes nothing to chance but is the fruit of a far-reaching cultural policy and vision. While this past both honors and enthralls us, we are also turned toward the future with – for the first time – a tribute to African animation and especially to the young talents raising it up. May this edition of the Festival and Mifa – the very first hybrid one – allow us to meet again and to glory in all the things we have missed so dearly. Long live animation cinema, long live Annecy!
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Festival
CITIA
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MARCEL JEAN It’s the law of desire… 2020 was an exceptional year, strange, through which we wandered without any bearings. Courageously, our teams produced a Festival in the Internet sphere, and we kept close contact with you while missing seeing you in Annecy. Now, in this year 2021, the Festival has somewhat taken back its original form, and our desire to get together with you again, increased tenfold by absence, is soon to be appeased. Here we are, ready to welcome you with open arms, ready to celebrate our Festival’s thriving history with you, ready, at last, to shine that spotlight on African animation. Each edition of the Festival is unique, but that of 2021 promises to be more unique than any other. Let’s celebrate in the face of adversity, let’s remember why we’re fighting this pandemic, let’s never forget how essential creativity has been in supporting us during these months of restriction. Annecy was there in June 2020 because it was essential to be there for animation lovers, but also and especially because we needed to support those who had given so much of themselves in creating their works and who risked being left to the wayside. Dear friends, we’ve missed you so much! We’ve never been so impatient to meet up again.
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Minister of Culture
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ROSELYNE BACHELOT-NARQUIN Annecy is the first film festival to spring to life again after this very trying period we’ve come through. I’m happy that the ball of a gradual return to normalcy has been inaugurated by the magic and absolute freedom so inherent to animation! Animation is a hotbed for immense talents, especially in France, where they are trained in the finest schools and cultivated by renowned studios. This is an industry of excellence that has been accompanied for over 60 years by the public authorities, via the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image. I do want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our professionals and warmly thank them. Working with them, the State has built solutions to assist the cinema and audiovisual sector during the crisis, mobilizing over one billion euros for the industry via cross-cutting schemes and specific measures, aimed at both companies and creatives. Over the course of these many weeks, we’ve spoken extensively together and today these dialogues are bearing fruit: the fruits of a strong upturn, an ever-present rush of public enthusiasm, and this delights me. After the collective ordeal, hope springs anew, in France and abroad. Together, public powers and creative players alike, we are all looking forward, in the same direction.
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CNC
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DOMINIQUE BOUTONNAT After a very long wait and the many health restrictions, it is with immense joy and anticipation that we see the Annecy Festival being held. The reopening of cultural venues, cinemas, festivals and concert halls since May is a breath of fresh air for the entire country. We have all noticed, and talked about it, we have all missed these cultural moments throughout the last year and a half that we have endured this health crisis. At the onset of the crisis, the CNC – their vocation since their creation in 1946 – immediately provided emergency assistance to professionals (a solidarity fund for authors, advance payment of support, tax suspension on theatre entry tickets, and safeguarding subsidies for cancelled festivals). In the second phase we set up a public guarantee fund, unprecedented anywhere in the world, to kickstart filming as fast as possible by insuring them against the health risk. Today, films are being released in theatres and audiovisual works broadcast thanks to this scheme, which has in turn won much worldwide admiration. The Government has granted the CNC with considerable assistance for a recovery plan – over 400 million EUR –, which in addition to alleviating the effects of the crisis, enables the sector to be supported facing future challenges as a result of accelerated changes that have arisen in the last few months throughout audiovisual sector. In total, the sector will have benefitted from more than one billion euros of State support to keep them afloat. By saving these employees, projects and companies, we have preserved our identity, and our country. Many countries around the world did not choose the same solutions as we did, and here we can be immensely proud of our innate French specificity. Currently, we are in a recovery period, and together we shall invent new avenues for tomorrow’s creation.
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Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region
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LAURENT WAUQUIEZ Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is France’s grand cinema region. We must not forget that the Seventh Art originated here, thanks to the genius of the Lumière brothers. Since that time our area has constantly expanded on this legacy, making us the leading French region in overall numbers of movie theaters, art houses and towns equipped with big screens. This know-how is also aglow with its many territory-wide festivals dedicated to the cinematographic art. One of these festivals represents the acme of events for all animated film enthusiasts and professionals, a sector of excellence in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Annecy Festival is truly the world’s foremost meeting place for this full-fledged art: 120,000 admissions, 205 films selected and 432 screened, 92 countries represented… These figures speak volumes. This year’s 60th celebration is already sparkling with a hybrid format for a festival to be held both on the spot in Annecy as well as circulated across the Web, stoking the fame of animation industry players. The event will also turn its spotlights on the excellence of the African continent’s animation sector. We know that the health crisis has sorely strained the movie world in all its variegated forms. Making such an event possible allows us to plunge into those strong emotions which only cinema can provide. Our heartfelt thanks go to the organizers and volunteers who have crafted this event. Our wish is for it to be a source of tremendous inspiration for the general public and professionals alike.
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Haute-Savoie Department
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President of the Haute-Savoie Department There’s no special age for innovating! That’s what the Annecy Festival is proving to us with its 2021 edition – its sixtieth anniversary but also its very first "hybrid" one. Due to the current health context, the International Animation Film Festival and Market are reinventing themselves with great panache. On the Festival front: online content will combine with in-theater screenings, perpetuating the congenial atmosphere marking the Festival’s true identity. Thanks to the Festival and the CITIA team organizing it, animated filmmaking has never been so wonderfully present, not only in Annecy and Haute-Savoie, but also throughout the world!
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Annecy Town Hall
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FRANÇOIS ASTORG For 60 years, every year, Annecy has assembled image enthusiasts to celebrate animated film at the world’s largest gathering for the profession. This sixtieth anniversary of the International Animation Film Festival deserved a worthy illustration of the event. Although cancelled in 2020 for obvious reasons, the festivities as well as the tribute to animation from the African continent have been rescheduled this year – with an offer adapted to prevailing health regulations. 2021 is the year when we dare to believe in an edition that will (re)animate Annecy. CITIA and its partners have concocted a hybrid design to take up the challenge: from June 14 to 19, conditions permitting, the world of animation will rediscover the road to Annecy and the heart of the city will pulse to in-theater and outdoor screenings, exhibitions and artistic encounters. Via its digital version it will also be possible to experience the Festival from afar, with part of the official selection, unique highlights and exclusive content all available online. After a crisis-flecked year, the creatives, directors, musicians and editors who work on these films need outstanding events – now more than ever before – to boost and promote their works. Annecy is proud to contribute to the influence of the images industry thanks to “its own” Festival but also thanks to the animation industry that energizes its region throughout the year. Whether it be on-site or online, there is no doubt that the Festival and its Market will once again draw their fans this year, and that they will continue to substantiate the abundance and vitality of the world’s animated creativity. Organizers, professionals, film-lovers and visitors, festival-goers from all walks of life, I wish you a 2021 Annecy Festival loaded with surprises and epic movie moments… shared together!
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France Télévisions
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DELPHINE ERNOTTE CUNCI The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has taken on very special meaning in 2021 for France Télévisions and for the entire animation industry. The continuation of France 4 beyond next August, announced by the President of the Republic on May 18, is indeed excellent news. This decision denotes recognition for the decisive role the channel has played since the start of the health crisis and for the specific efforts it has made toward younger viewers. It is especially good news for showcasing French animation on public television. Since a dedicated linear channel is to be continued, now more than ever before, France Télévisions will be able to strengthen its position as a leading partner promoting creative French works for children. At the same time, the Group’s digital transformation, particularly via the 2019 launch of Okoo, must be pursued. Faced with a landscape of platforms, public service needs to continue to combine the power of linear broadcasting with the outstanding value of the catalog of a digital platform accessible to all, free of charge. Like never before, the dynamic and lively partnership linking France Télévisions to the animation industry must be allowed to thrive. It helps us accompany the creation of works which are strongly diversified, beloved by young viewers and reputed for their quality. This partnership heightens the influence of French animation throughout the world and, while enabling us to weave strong ties with our young TV viewers, aligns completely with France Télévisions core missions. Long life to creativity, and excellent festival to all!
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Mifa
CITIA
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VÉRONIQUE ENCRENAZ This year the tribute to African animation plus the Festival’s 60th anniversary mean so much for Mifa, besides this return to a semblance of normal life and meetings at the lakeshore. Being able, at one and the same time, to learn from the greatest artists and professionals of animated filmmaking, to hear the novel stories from young talents or discover new styles arising this year from Africa but also from around the world, graceful Mifa will be doing the splits. Inspirations from the past and new imaginings promise us a thriving edition. It seems that animation has definitively spread to all continents and soon to their every corner, in myriad fashion contributing to greater understanding, sharing and inclusion. Despite a year of lockdown – or perhaps we should say grace? – creativity has never been so animated, reaching us from all sides, heralding future international productions and co-productions. A sign of the times, regional collaborative models are now springing up and they will be tomorrow’s secret to success. Learning to create and exchange as close to home as possible, to then better share with this vast world. This is doubtless the key to more authentic storytelling, allowing the world’s populations and territories to recite and preserve their stories and languages, and enabling a whole industrial and economic fabric to emerge and serve creativity. While today’s health context makes things quite complicated for a Market that usually convenes the world’s professionals to Annecy’s lakeside every year, in spite of it all, Mifa continues throughout the months to accompany and back the international animation industry. Mifa invites you to discover a rich and eclectic program, on-line or in person, for this very first and quite historical hybrid edition, foreshadowing new market models for the years to come.
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CNC
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DOMINIQUE BOUTONNAT After a very long wait and the many health restrictions, it is with immense joy and anticipation that we see the Annecy Festival being held. The reopening of cultural venues, cinemas, festivals and concert halls since May is a breath of fresh air for the entire country. We have all noticed, and talked about it, we have all missed these cultural moments throughout the last year and a half that we have endured this health crisis. At the onset of the crisis, the CNC – their vocation since their creation in 1946 – immediately provided emergency assistance to professionals (a solidarity fund for authors, advance payment of support, tax suspension on theatre entry tickets, and safeguarding subsidies for cancelled festivals). In the second phase we set up a public guarantee fund, unprecedented anywhere in the world, to kickstart filming as fast as possible by insuring them against the health risk. Today, films are being released in theatres and audiovisual works broadcast thanks to this scheme, which has in turn won much worldwide admiration. The Government has granted the CNC with considerable assistance for a recovery plan – over 400 million EUR –, which in addition to alleviating the effects of the crisis, enables the sector to be supported facing future challenges as a result of accelerated changes that have arisen in the last few months throughout audiovisual sector. In total, the sector will have benefitted from more than one billion euros of State support to keep them afloat. By saving these employees, projects and companies, we have preserved our identity, and our country. Many countries around the world did not choose the same solutions as we did, and here we can be immensely proud of our innate French specificity. Currently, we are in a recovery period, and together we shall invent new avenues for tomorrow’s creation.
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European Commission
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LUCÍA RECALDE After a particularly difficult year for the European audiovisual industry due to the Covid-19 outbreak, we have kicked off 2021 with a rather optimistic approach focusing on the potential opportunities that the new landscape is offering to the animation sector. While some parts of the value chain were hard hit by the crisis and even put on hold for months, animation came up as the solution for many of the projects allowing the industry to reinvent itself and embrace innovation trends to keep growing. The European Commission, through the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, is committed to accompany the industry in such challenging times. The recently launched new MEDIA programme going from 2021 to 2027, besides including support to mitigate the impact of the crisis, offers significant opportunities to strengthen the European animation sector. In particular, animation professionals will be able to largely benefit from actions related to co-creation and co-development, and from a more flexible TV programming scheme. In addition, MEDIA support to skills will be available for those willing to keep pace with the technological, digital, and green transformations. As every year, we will be following the discussions in the Annecy Festival and Mifa to listen to the needs of the sector and assess how we can best support the professionals.
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France Télévisions
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PIERRE SIRACUSA What a lovely idea, gliding back into normal life by way of Annecy lake... But what will the world of "after" look like? The ongoing upheavals impacting our usages and the big audiovisual players are deep and destabilizing in a sector that has no other choice but to think in very far-sighted terms. And even if animation has proven to be remarkably agile throughout the whole pandemic, the remaining uncertainties are multifold. What will be the prevailing usages, which screens will count the most, on what types of rights will future project financing be based, where will the spots for renewing the offer be, and more? The good news that France 4 will be maintained is a powerful response to the profound changes buffeting us on all sides of our screens. For its young audiences, France Télévisions has set up an ecosystem equal to its task: it will continue permanent digital AND linear broadcasting. Because of France Télévision’s strong and sustainable commitment to animation, combined with the CNC’s and regions’ forceful pro-sector push, we feel relatively optimistic in this admittedly complicated period the world is undergoing where, in spite of everything, opportunities to raise animation to major genre status have never been so promising. Long live animation!
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