Annecy

'No Dogs or Italians Allowed' Wins an Award!

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Congratulations to the film "No Dogs or Italians Allowed" by Alain Ughetto, which won the André Martin Award for a Feature Film.

At the Festival national du film d’animation de Rennes Métropole, held from 13^th to 17^th April 2024, and in partnership with the Association Française du Cinéma d'Animation (AFCA), the jury bestowed the André Martin Award for a Feature Film to the film No Dogs or Italians Allowed by Alain Ughetto, produced by Les Films du Tambour de Soie, Vivement Lundi !, Foliascope, Graffiti Film, Lux Fugit Film, Nadasdy Film and Ocidental Filmes.

It also received the Jury Award and the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2022.

The André Martin Award was created to pay tribute to André Martin, a prominent film critic and originator of the term "animation film".

The 2024 jury included:

Apolline Caron-Ottavi, Editor and Programmer at the Cinémathèque québécoise (Canada)
Christophe Chauville, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Bref and Editorial Manager of the Brefcinema platform
Nicolas Métayer, Co-Director of Le Vincennes Cinema
Mihai Mitrică, Director of the Animest Festival (Romania)
Caroline Vié, Journalist and Film Critic, 20 minutes

"This highly personal, intimate work traces a family history over several generations and achieves a universally timeless appeal.
The handcrafted nature of the animation gives the film its distinctive style and impact, restoring dignity to hard-working immigrant communities facing discrimination.
Deeply human and inspiring, a genuine stop-motion marvel: No Dogs or Italians Allowed, by Alain Ughetto."
Jury members

Join us at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s Special Prizes Ceremony, to be held on Friday 14th June 2024, to discover the winner of the André Martin Award for a French Short Film!

The Residency is Gearing Up for a Brilliant Performance!

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

A huge thank you to Céline Sciamma, Valérie Zenatti, Vanessa Chenaie, Kim Keukeleire, Patrice Suau and Graham Annable, the six mentors for the 2024 Annecy Festival Residency!

Welcome to the three 2024 residents!
Sofía Carrillo, Marie Deboissy and Tigran Arakelyan have just arrived in Annecy all set to spend 3 months in their new workspace in Les Papeteries – Image Factory, the leading hub for creative industries.

The Annecy Festival Residency is the ideal setting for creating genuine works of art and every year offers tailor-made support:

First and foremost, mentoring on the script ahead of the Residency, to identify and make any necessary script adjustments.
Next, mentoring on the project’s graphic development, which allows for a broad spectrum of mediation, ranging from the project’s visual identity, graphic arch and layout to its initial animation trials.

For this 4^th edition, discussions with each resident enabled us to pinpoint their needs and find the most suitable profiles.

We’re proud and thrilled to see them accompanied by such exceptional mentors, who will challenge them, support their projects, encourage them to experiment and ensure they make the most of this creative hiatus.

Mentors to suit each project!

Céline Sciamma (script) and Kim Keukeleire (graphics) for Insectarium (Sofía Carrillo)
Valérie Zenatti (script) and Patrice Suau (graphics) for Le Cabanon de l’oncle Jo (Marie Deboissy)
Vanessa Chenaie (script) and Graham Annable (graphics) for Zako (Tigran Arakelyan)

Find out more about the projects, winners and mentors at the 2024 Annecy Festival Residency web page!

Time for them to get to work, and we’ll see you in June for feedback on the 2024 Annecy Festival Residency!

Save the date: Tuesday 11^th June 2024 from 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm at the Impérial Palace.

TV and Commissioned Films Official Selection

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The Annecy Festival’s 2024 Official Selection continues its announcements with the TV and Commissioned Films.

After revealing the Short Films and Graduation Films Official Selection, today let’s discover this year’s competing shortlisted TV and Commissioned Films.

The Commissioned Films include 36 films from 15 different nationalities: 7 educational films, 20 advertising films and 9 music videos.
15 films were directed or co-directed by women and two by non-binary people.
Check out the Commissioned Films Official Selection.

The TV Films include 24 films from 12 countries: 19 series and 5 specials.
8 were directed or co-directed by women.
Fewer films will be screened this year due to their increasingly longer running times.
Check out the TV Films Official Selection.

"The 2024 TV selection sees the return of some famous characters: Peanuts as well as Beavis and Butt-Head. France, United Kingdom and the USA dominate the selection, but all continents are represented.
For the very first time, a Nigerian series will be competing, which clearly demonstrates how animation is developing on the African continent, three years after our tribute to African animation."
Marcel Jean, Artistic Director, Annecy Festival

Let’s discover the Official Selection and the 2024 Selection Committee.

2024 Graduation Films Official Selection

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0100

The Annecy Festival continues to reveal its 2024 Official Selection, on today’s line-up are the Graduation Films in competition.

This year, no less than 1,194 Graduation Films were submitted in a bid to be included in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s Official Selection.

Some 40 films were finally shortlisted to compete from 23 countries including Lebanon, Costa Rica, Sweden, Mexico, India and Finland. France tops the list with 7 films from 6 schools, followed by the UK with 4 films from 3 schools, and the USA with 3 films from 3 schools.

18 are by female directors, 21 by male directors and one by a non-binary person.

As for the techniques used, stop-motion is particularly well represented, as is painting on glass. There were also a handful of 3D films. Here we also notice the same trends as the short films in terms of duration: the films are getting increasingly longer.

"This year’s selection is particularly eclectic, with a strong emphasis on humour and frivolity, even the nonsensical. The films tackle intimate themes (family or romantic relationships, grief and resilience) through a fictional lens or personal accounts.
Genre films also have their niche, ranging from horror, futurism and parody. Some powerful, more deliberately experimental ambitious works round off this spectrum of student creativity."
Marie-Pauline Mollaret, a Selection Committee member

Check out the full list of 2024 Graduation Films in competition, as well as the Selection Committee selection-committees, before coming to enjoy them in the theatres at the Annecy Festival from 9^th to 15^th June 2024!

The 2024 Short Films Official Selection

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 14:50:00 +0100

The Annecy Festival reveals the first part of its 2024 Official Selection: the short films in competition.

Out of the 1,505 short films submitted from 108 countries, the Annecy Festival Selection Committee chose 67 films from 33 countries to compete in the 2024 edition.

The selected short films are divided up as follows:

31 in the Official category
12 in the Off-Limits category
16 in the Perspectives category
8 in the Young Audiences category

Check out the 2024 Short Films Official Selection and the Selection Committee.

"The trend we’ve seen in recent years continues: short films are becoming increasingly longer, which accounts for the historically low number of films selected, with 31 titles in the Official Competition and 16 titles in the Perspectives section.
For the third year in a row, we have successfully achieved gender parity. There are 12 films in the Off-Limits section, featuring works by Nicolas Brault, Max Hattler and Moïa Jobin-Paré, all three former prize-winners in this section. Lastly, the Young Audiences section is dominated by France as 5 of the 8 films on the programme are French productions or co-productions."
Marcel Jean, Artistic Director, Annecy Festival

Tune in at the end of March for the next instalment of the Official Selection, which will include the graduation films as well as the TV and commissioned films, in mid-April for the VR works and lastly at the end of April for the feature films.

Get your accreditation now to attend the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, to be held from 9^th to 15^th June 2024!

The Annecy Festival unveils its 2024 poster!

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0100

As the upcoming Annecy International Animation Film Festival will spotlight Portuguese animation and dance, the Festival management decided to entrust the creation of the official poster to Artist and Director Regina Pessoa. The mysterious, poetic mood that exudes from this poster is a true tribute to Portugal’s cultural heritage.

"The Annecy Festival has been an integral part of my life for more than 30 years and many key moments in my artistic career have happened here. It is a great honour to be invited to design the Festival poster for a second time, especially as Portugal is this year’s guest country. To create this image, I drew on my deep love for Annecy, for Portugal and its history, but also the fact that I’m a woman. Hence, a woman is at the heart of the poster’s image as a tribute to them. They are endowed with supernatural powers, these unsung, overshadowed heroines and devoted their entire lives to their families. And yet, they still sing and dance.

In the clear Annecy Lake waters or in our Portuguese ocean, this woman represents the balance between grace and power in the face of adversity. She is both a swimmer and dancer as she sings in her long dress. A reference to the fado, an expression of the balance between exhilaration and solemnity, intertwines with red carnations, a symbol of the democratic revolution celebrating its 50th anniversary this year."

Regina Pessoa

"The Festival has shared a special relationship with Regina Pessoa for many years. We collaborated with this talented artist and director on the poster in 2015 and have been delighted to see her win several awards for her work. With Portugal as our guest country this year, it was only natural to invite Regina to design the poster for this edition."

Marcel Jean, Annecy Festival Artistic Director

Biography

Regina Pessoa was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1969. She studied painting at the School of Fine Arts – University of Porto.

In 1999, she directed her first film The Night using an animated engraving technique on plasterboard. Then, working with a variety of animated engraving techniques, she created and directed auteur films including, Tragic Story with Happy Ending in 2005, Kali the Little Vampire in 2012 and Uncle Thomas – Accounting for the Days in 2019, which won countless awards and distinctions in major international film festivals and events such as the Annecy Cristal 2006, Grand Prix for an Animated Short SXSW 2007, Jury Award Annecy 2019, Annie Award 2020 Best Animated Short Subject, etc.

Her films are shown all over the world, including in important art museums, such as the solo exhibition "Tragic Story with Happy Ending" at the drawing biennale "To the Very Last Drawing" at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, 2009; at the Musée de l’Orangerie as part of the exhibition "The Cruel Stories of Paula Rego", in 2018/2019; and at the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, with "Four Discreet Windows", a video installation about her work in 2023.

With a distinct and creative personal artistic vision expressed not only in her films but also through illustration, painting and drawing, she is currently developing her next film, Mother Faces at Ciclope Filmes Studio owned by her and her partner Abi Feijó, situated on the grounds of their Museum of Moving Image – Casa Museu De Vilar.

Take a look at Regina Pessoa’s universe

Wes Anderson, The Annecy Festival 2024 Special Guest

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0100

Despite being in the middle of shooting his next film The Phoenician Scheme, filmmaker Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch) will do us the great honour of coming to Annecy to talk about animation film at this year’s International Animation Film Festival, which will be held on 9^th to 15^th June 2024.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX & ISLE OF DOGS BEING SCREENED

A virtuoso director with a unique sense of humour, Wes Anderson brings a highly personal visual style and universe to each of his films, which are instantly recognisable by their lavish sets and vibrant colours.

In 2010, Wes Anderson branched out into animation and directed Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion feature film adapted from Roald Dahl’s book of the same name. Annecy rewarded his talent with the Cristal for a Feature Film. Eight years later, he directed Isle of Dogs, a tribute to Japanese culture and film.

Both these feature films will be screened in June.

Fantastic Mr. Fox & Isle of Dogs

EXCLUSIVE MASTERCLASS

Aside the pleasure of being able to discover or rediscover his films, some festivalgoers will have the privilege of attending an exclusive Masterclass!Wes Anderson is a source of inspiration for many young filmmakers. He will discuss his approach to animation film, especially stop-motion animation, and his directorial vision.

For the Festival’s Artistic Director, Marcel Jean, "Over the last decade, Wes Anderson has had an incredible influence on the revival of stop-motion animation. His intricate, theatrical style and his sophisticated, holistic approach to directing have set an example and inspired a score of young filmmakers. His visit to Annecy will mark a long love story and admiration for his work. For us, this is an immense gift to offer our festivalgoers!"

More information will be available shortly.

The 2024 Edition: New Additions on the Programme for All Audiences

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0100

This year, the International Animation Film Festival will pay tribute to Portuguese animation. There will also be a DANCE theme, a new non-competitive section ANNECY PRESENTS in the programme, as well as offering a special venue for fusing animation, immersive creations and gaming in one XR&GAMES area.

Every year, the Annecy Festival offers professionals and the general public the opportunity to discover the world’s best international animation films. 2023 was an exceptional year with over 100 countries represented, and almost 16,000 badgeholders – a record attendance –, including 6,000 professionals at the Mifa and an increasing number of young talents present especially at the CAMPUS, the new area dedicated to students. The forthcoming International Animation Film Festival and Market will take place on 9^th to 15^th June 2024, and promises to be just as rich with a host of new attractions for all audience types.

PORTUGUESE ANIMATION IN THE SPOTLIGHT

All week, our city will be hosting some of the top talents in Portuguese animation, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. For this occasion, 7 programmes will be presented by experts including Fernando Galrito, a film director, and Director of the Lisbon International Animation Festival – La Monstra.

Three Portuguese professionals will sit on our juries, whose list will be revealed in the coming weeks.

CHOREOGRAPHIES: ANIMATION AND DANCE

Dance and animation are both movement-based arts. Animated movement is by no means realistic; it is the result of an animation filmmaker’s specific choices, preferences, and careful fusion. Like choreographers and dancers, animators express themselves through movement. This cycle explores the different ways in which dance has influenced and inspired animation filmmakers.

A NEW FEATURE FILM SECTION

The Annecy Festival Official Selection will have a new section devoted to feature films for all audiences especially youngsters. ANNECY PRESENTS is a non-competitive section that will allow festivalgoers to discover a wide range of films of all genres from around the world, highlighting a greater diversity of world production and further broadening the range of discoveries.

Meanwhile, the SCREENING EVENTS, also non-competitive, will continue to present unique, exclusive screenings and content from major studios and eagerly-awaited productions (completed or not).

In order to support its expansion, the Festival will be operating in 4 more cinema theatres and will introduce additional morning screenings at 8.30 am.

MIFA: A NEW AREA FOR XR AND VIDEO GAMES

In 2023, the Film Market created Le Campus Mifa, an area dedicated to students and open to all professionals. This year, the Market continues its expansion in its bid to meet everyone’s needs and will be inaugurating the XR&GAMES Area devoted to XR and video games, which will be located at the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat near to the Impérial Palace. It will create new connections between animation, video games and immersive experiences, thanks to exclusive content for badgeholders.

PURCHASE YOUR ACCREDITATION AND PLAN YOUR VISIT!

Do you work in the media?
Would you like to cover the event as a journalist or blogger?
More info

Are you a Press Officer?
More info

ACCOMMODATION

Lac Annecy Tourisme & Congrès has a variety of accommodation pre-reserved for Annecy 2024 participants. The list is regularly updated.
More info

HELPDESK

Visit our Helpdesk dedicated to the forthcoming 2024 edition.You’ll find all the information you need to plan your visit and your participation.

A Wave of Talent in India: A Recap of the Latest Mifa Campus International!

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0100

While the AniMela Festival was inaugurating its 1^st ever edition, the International Mifa Campus was hosting its "Talents" workshop for five lucky candidates, all winners of the call for applicants launched late last year.

From 16^th to 19^th January, the International Mifa Campus was in Mumbai for a 4-day workshop with some incredible creators. Warmly welcomed by the Aniverse & Visual Arts Foundation’s teams (AVAF, a non-profit organisation founded by Kireet Khurana, Archana Trasy, Anne Doshi, Neha Jain and Tehzeeb Khurana), experts who were hand-picked by our coordinator, Delphine Nicolini, were there to provide individual support for each project.

These 4 intense days had Reza Riahi (Director), Johanna Goldschmidt (Screenwriter) and Delphine Nicolini (Consultant) relishing in the Indian culture and the bond they struck up with each other to create a genuine human experience.

Out of the 60 projects submitted, these 5 were the lucky ones who participated in the workshop:

Hide and Seek, Krishna Chandran
M.O.M (Ma on a Mission), Rituparna Sarkar
Rising Tides, Pari Satarkar
Lala, Isha Mangalmurti
Table for One, Debjyoti Saha and Dhruv Sehgal

At the end of the 4-day workshop, the project leaders pitched their projects for real at the AniMela Festival. The jury congratulated all the participants, praising the quality of their presentations. However, one project really made an impact, Lala by Isha Mangalmurti, congratulations to her!

What stood out was the overall sheer enjoyment, captivating storylines, fresh new visual identities, and especially the eagerness to share it all with you, for real, at the next Mifa.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on India’s participation between now and June 2024!

In partnership with Netflix.

More info about the International Mifa Campus

Annecy 2024: Get Your Accreditation!

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0100

Annecy Festival 2024: It’s time to get your accreditation!

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival returns on Sunday 9^th to Saturday 15^th June, and its Market (Mifa) is on 11^th to 14^th! Get your accreditation to discover and celebrate the very best of animation film from around the world, meet extraordinary people and get access to exclusive content!

Something for everyone:

Animation professionals and students: get your accreditation now!
Buyers (acquisition managers and investors in the film or audiovisual industry) and media professionals: accreditation on request only.
General public: your Pass will be available in May. Stay tuned for more information.

Professionals, get your accreditation now and take advantage of the early bird rate until 28^th February.

> Our accreditation types

Accommodation

Lac Annecy Tourisme & Congrès has a selection of pre-reserved accommodation for Annecy 2024 participants. The list is updated regularly.
Don’t wait!

> For more info

Helpdesk

Visit our Helpdesk to learn all about the forthcoming edition.
You will find all the information you need to help prepare your visit or your participation.

> Go to

Madagascar Hosts a Mifa Campus International – Production!

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

After Israel and Nigeria, the 3^rd Mifa Campus International – Production was held in Madagascar from 21^st to 24^th November 2023.

Remember, this scheme is designed to support professional projects and therefore to select applicants who want to specialise and participate in some way in developing a local ecosystem.

The workshop is inspired by the French model but adapted to the specific economic and social characteristics of the territory concerned.

To achieve this, our coordinator, Ivan Zuber (Laïdak Films) was assisted by Virginie Giachino (Doncvoilà productions), Lucile Canault (France Télévisions) as well as a local producer of live-action films: Mamihasina Raminosoa.

The workshop opened the floor to individual and group discussions with 5 participants from very different backgrounds: Antonio Andriamifidy, Gaël Rakotomanga, Louisette Ratsivahiny, Valisoa Hochane Rakotoniaina, and Zo Tahiana Hariminoson.

Sometimes self-taught and often talented, they can bring about change. Training courses, specialisation and co-production are all avenues to explore as they begin to develop their own ecosystem, opening up to Africa and then to the rest of the world.

The workshop took place as part of the Madagascourt Film Festival, supported by the Institut français in Madagascar, as a result of the Africa2020 Season.

International Mifa Campus Partner's

2024 Call for Projects: Registration Is Open!

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Do you have an animation film project in mind or in the early stages of development?
Every year at the Annecy International Animation Film Market, the Mifa Pitches aim to showcase the most outstanding projects. Authors (with or without a producer), turn your animation projects into reality by applying for the 2024 Mifa Pitches!

The selected directors will take part in a special exhibition to reveal the narrative and graphic arc of their projects to entice and convince partners and investors, who are key to getting the films underway.

1^st February 2024 is the submission deadline for all categories:

Short Films
Feature Films
TV Series & Specials
Digital Experiences

Important note: since 2021, projects from territories where animation is just emerging can compete in each category. If selected, they will benefit from the Animation du Monde label and specific support.

Web series projects can compete in the TV Series & Specials category.

Contact: pitchsmifa@citia.org

Submissions & regulations

Mifa Campus International – Talents: Back from Cuba

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The first Mifa Campus International – Talents 2023/2024 workshop has just finished in Havana, in collaboration with the French Embassy in Cuba.

Under the guidance of Delphine Nicolini (Mifa Campus International – Talents Coordinator), assisted by Claire Fouquet (Director) and Louis Jacobée (Head of Audiovisual Rights), the workshop was held from 30th October to 2nd November with 5 Cuban project leaders:

Alexander Rodríguez, Champions Stories (feature film)
Bryan Romero, Luminous Fruits (short film)
Carolina Fernández-Vega Charadán, The Virgen Triste (feature film)
Vladimir García Herrera and Rosse Suárez Fagales, Inhospitable World (feature film)
Jean Alex Noa Castro, Recuerdos de Sal (feature film)

Under the experts’ watchful eyes, the projects made a giant leap forward. The project leaders’ unrelenting motivation and their dedicated hard work saw them flourish in just a few short days!

At the end of the workshop, each participant gave a pitch presentation of their project, with the aim of being selected to attend the Mifa in June 2024!

Congratulations to Carolina Fernández-Vega Charadán, who won first prize with The Virgen Triste, and to the duo Vladimir García Herrera and Rosse Suárez Fagales, who were awarded a special distinction for the project Inhospitable World.

All in all, we are delighted with this Mifa Campus International – Talents, which made it possible once again to explore a territory where animation is still in its fledgling stages, to identify talented authors and share this fresh spirit with the international animation film community next June in Annecy. So, come and see the presentation of their Cuban animation at the event!

International Mifa Campus Partner

2024 Edition: Submit your films!

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Submit your animation film now for a chance to compete in the next Annecy International Animation Film Festival Official Selection and maybe be among the 2024 winners!

Submit your works!
You have until:

11:59 pm (French time) on Thursday 15^th February 2024 for Short Films, Graduation Films, TV Films and Commissioned Films
11:59 pm (French time) on Friday 15^th March 2024 for Feature Films
11:59 pm (French time) on Sunday 31^st March 2024 for VR Works.

Submissions & regulations

If you have any questions, please contact Laurent Million, Head of Films & Programme Planning.

Is your film still in the project stage?
The Mifa Pitches submissions open soon! The perfect opportunity to present your animation project to potential partners and financial backers.

For more information

International Mifa Campus Programme

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

International Mifa Campus continues its support worldwide. Find out more about this scheme’s major events for the year to come.

Bolstered by its experience, the International Mifa Campus will be deploying its Talents and Production offers in 4 new territories between now and the end of 2023 and in 2024’s 1^st semester. The countries included are: Cuba, Madagascar, India and Taiwan.

The International Mifa Campus is a scheme set up by the Annecy International Animation Film Market to export its skills and experience through a programme to support animation industry professionals.

Cuba, India and Taiwan

Cuba, India and Taiwan will be hosting the International Mifa Campus – Talents events, where local writers will partake in workshops to cultivate and enrichen their projects. Flanked by animation experts (scriptwriters, directors, producers), they will test their projects in real-life market contexts, in order to fine-tune their storytelling and graphic universe.

The Mifa is encouraging the territories that are hosting the workshops to continue their support for creation through the Partners Pitches. A true spotlight for emerging talents, these Pitch sessions are now Mifa’s key events for buyers and investors to discover future projects first-hand!

Madagascar

In Madagascar, an International Mifa Campus – Production will be set up to help develop a region housing an abundance of talent. Assisted by animation industry professionals in the field of production and distribution, the workshop will strive to share "à la française-style" experiences, while remaining attentive to the country’s own specific issues.

The Madagascan professionals taking part in the workshop will be included in the Meet the Sales… Agents at the Mifa. This B2B event aims to boost their networking and consolidate their professional decisions and positions.

Feedback will be given on each scheme at the end of the workshops. Here are the key dates:

International Mifa Campus – Talents:

Autumn 2023: Cuba
January 2024: India
Spring 2024: Taiwan

International Mifa Campus – Production:

Autumn 2023: Madagascar

A scheme set up in partnership with Netflix.