Tribute to Japanese Animation: Anne of Green Gables

In 1979, after directing the animated series Heidi and Marco, the master of Japanese animation, Takahata, decided to adapt the same format to the Canadian novel, Anne of Green Gables. Working with a certain young promising director - Yoshifumi Kondo – for character creation and to direct animation, and with Miyazaki for the layouts for over a dozen episodes, Takahata tells the story of young Anne, following her journey from childhood to adulthood: a first ever in animation.

Ten years and several successful episodes later, the series was destined to be reborn in feature-film format. This special program invites you to enjoy the one and only film adapted from the first five episodes of the series. An unforgettable testament to the breadth of Takahata’s talent.

"If I had to name one country with a true culture of animation, it would definitely be Japan." A seemingly obvious declaration made by French director Georges Lacroix in 1999, the year when the Annecy Festival celebrated Japanese animation for the very first time. Twenty years later the Festival pays homage to this truly singular cinematographic style through both a retrospective and a look to the future to reveal several hidden gems still relatively unknown in the West.

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