Annecy Festival Residency: The winning projects in 2023

by Caroline Cherrier (France) 
 

Firmin Cailloux has just lost his explorer parents, who disappeared at sea. Taken in by his aunt Anna in Normandy, he doesn’t get on well with this family of humble clam diggers, who are lightyears away from the adventurous spirit he is used to. He runs away from his cousins’ taunts and ends up in the lighthouse with its guardian Ricette. During the night he discovers a huge sea creature, who is lost and trying to communicate with the lighthouse’s foghorn. Firmin clings to this lonely monster, the last of its kind, and all alone he tries to protect her from the village men.

by Areito Echevarria et Raqi Syed (New Zeland)

Shadow Work is a psychological horror, a family saga rooted in the unnerving suburban landscape of Wellington, New Zealand. A young woman and her father are confronted by her doppelgänger. When her father embraces the copy and banishes her, she must return home and reassert her place as the rightful daughter. As she battles through the fracturing world, something dark and monstrous awakens inside her.

by Wesley Rodrigues (Brazil/France)

In a fantasy version of the Brazilian Sertão, an arid wasteland where men can shapeshift into birds of prey, Sete-Penas is taken in as a child by Carcará, an outlaw who aspires to be a local legend. Ten years later, Carcará’s gang of bandits, known as cangaceiros, have become notorious throughout the region. But when the outlaws try to steal gold from the most powerful woman in the Sertão, they are viciously attacked, and Sete-Penas is presumed dead. After falling from the skies with his wings’ torn, Sete-Penas is rescued by Rosélia, who leads a traveling theater troupe struggling to make ends meet. To get back to his gang, Sete-Penas makes a deal with Rosélia and pretends to be part of the theatre troupe to hide from everyone hunting for the gold.

The winning projects in 2023

Discover the three animation feature film projects selected to the 2023 Annecy Festival Residency.

The 2023 mentors

A two-phase mentorship was arranged for the artists: assistance with the script before they arrive, then an on-site mentorship dealing with the project’s graphic choices.