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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
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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.
