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It looks like the 5th edition is going to be really promising with 3 new shortlisted projects!
From 4th April to 27th June 2025, three brand-new feature-length animation film projects will be joining the Annecy Festival Residency, in Les Papeteries – Image Factory. The authors will spend three months fully immersed in their projects assisted by mentors and CITIA teams to work on their graphic universes by using the time to reflect and experiment. They will have their sights on the Festival and the Mifa where they will be able to showcase all their hard work.
Here are a few key figures, the 2025 edition of the Annecy Festival Residency includes:
- 36 submissions
- 20 different nationalities
- 44 % of the projects are led by women
The committee had their work cut out for them, given the sheer diversity of proposals. They were unanimous about the projects that really stood out due to their impactful messages, the value of the residency in their development phase and the desire to see their animated storylines on the big screen one day.
The selection committee was made up of animation industry professionals from various backgrounds, so they could provide a cross-disciplinary view on the projects. For the 2025 edition, Aurel (Illustrator, Director), Vanessa Buttin-Labarthe (Producer, Les Astronautes), Amandine Fredon (Director), Stéphane Kazandjian (Screenwriter) and Valérie Yendt (Distributor, Gebeka Films) unanimously selected:
Father's Letters
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Father's Letters by Alexey EVTIGNEEV (Author and Director) and Dasha DOROFEEVA (Graphic Artist)
Author/Director: Alexey EVSTIGNEEV (Russia)
Graphic Artist: Dasha DOROFEEVA (Russia)
Producers: Clémence CRÉPIN NEEL and Igor COURTECUISSE (moderato, France)
In 1934, Professor Vangengheim is arrested in Moscow and sent to the Gulag Archipelago of the Solovki Islands.
To protect his daughter, little Elya, from the reality of the regime and the Stalinist purges, he decides to let her believe, through his letters, that he has gone on an expedition.
But the journey drags on. As the months of captivity go by, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the illusion and preserve the magical world of childhood.
Kigali Night
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Kigali Night by Samuel Lajus (Director/Co-Screenwriter), Xavier Coste (Artistic Director), Romy COCCIA DI FERRO (Co-Screenwriter) and Grégoire POLET (Early screenwriting assistance)
Director/Co-screenwriter: Samuel LAJUS (France)
Artistic Director: Xavier COSTE (France)
Co-screenwriter: Romy COCCIA DI FERRO (Italy/Lebanon)
Early screenwriting assistance: Grégoire POLET (Belgium)
Producers: Jérôme DUC-MAUGE (Parmi Les Lucioles, France), Virginie CHAPELLE and Samuel TILMAN (Eklektik productions, Belgium)
Samuel is 23 when he arrives as an audiovisual presenter at the French Cultural Centre in Kigali. During the 18 months he spends in Rwanda, the warning signs multiply, but Samuel chooses to ignore them. Everything he is told seems impossible to him: his country, France, could not possibly support such a regime. But this climate does not stop him from enjoying the country and partying. Then gradually his convictions begin to falter.
This account takes place two years before the genocide, a time that is rarely, if ever, discussed. However, it is during this period that everything falls into place.
Kolaval
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Kolaval by Karla VELÁZQUEZ (Director and Cocreator) and Adrian SALDAÑA (Author and Co-Creator)
Director/Co-creator: Karla VELÁZQUEZ (Mexico)
Author/Co-creator: Adrian SALDAÑA (Mexico)
Producers: Julián SÁNCHEZ, Cristina CUEVAS, Nidia SANTIAGO and Edwina LIARD (Ikki Films, France)
In a small village, as the only hope to stop a violent invasion in her village, a 12-year-old warrior born into a family of embroiderers will be forced to marry.
But, believing in the legends her grandmother tells, she decides to run away and venture into an ancestral forest where she finds more than she expected: an ancient goddess' secret power that she uses to unravel the disaster threatening her village and weave a better life.
"Obvious or coincidental?
The 3 projects selected this year all have one thing in common: they are all about personal, sensitive and moving stories that all reflect our modern society from a historical and cultural perspective.
The committee was particularly struck by the power of these proposals and their timeless, universal appeal. Their stories range from eyewitness accounts to awakenings, and are told in moving, poetic even magical ways!
Their diverse content and approaches will be great resources to challenge and stimulate each other's work. Therefore, the Residency seems an obvious pivotal moment in the life of these 3 projects!"
The selection committee
To find out more about the Annecy Festival Residency, head to its special page and check out previous editions in images!
