Citia

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

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

Annecy Festival Residency 2024 Selection!

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The Annecy Festival Residency will hold its 4^th edition from 5^th April to 28^th June 2024 and host 3 new artists in the Papeteries – Image Factory to work on the visual identity of their animation feature films.

Here’s a few key figures, the 2024 edition of the Annecy Festival Residency includes:

36 submissions
25 different nationalities
42% of the projects are led by women

The selection committee had the delicate task of putting together an eclectic and equitable selection from these submissions. The goal was to identify projects that would reap the full benefits of the Residency, ensure an overall coherence, and demonstrate their appeal for the animation film industry.

The selection committee is a broad-based group of animation professionals whose purpose is to thoroughly analyse the projects. For this 2024 edition, Damien Brunner (Producer, Folivari), Valérie Yendt (Distributor, Gebeka Films), Aurel (Cartoonist, Director), Sara Wikler (Script Doctor) and Jean-Christophe Roger (Director) collectively selected:

Le Cabanon de l’oncle Jo by Marie Deboissy (France) – Production: Offshore/White Star (France)
1967. With a heavy heart, 9-year-old Lili leaves Tunisia with her mother. She is going to live with her Auntie Denise and Uncle Jo in Saint-Denis. Lili doesn’t like it there. The buildings are grey, Auntie Denise is a cleaning fanatic, Uncle Jo is uncommunicative, the five cousins are noisy and the group of kids that hang around the streets call her a "dirty foreigner".
Escaping the neighbourhood hostility and her family, Lili decides to transform a piece of wasteland in the middle of the city into a luxuriant garden with jasmine, just like in Tunisia.
Zako by Tigran Arakelyan (Armenia) – Production: OnOff Studio (Armenia), Sacrebleu Productions (France), Broom Films (Lithuania)
The film is based on a true story. Zako is the name German soldiers gave to Soviet-Armenian painter Sargis Mangasaryan during the Second World War. Zako was in charge of drawing his tormentors’ portraits. Thanks to his talent, he survived the hell of the camps and avoided being exiled in Siberia.
In 1956, while visiting the famous Picasso exhibition at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, he was deeply moved by Guernica, which brought back his own memories of WWII.
Insectarium by Sofía Carrillo (Mexico) – Production: Pimienta Films (Mexico)
In a world where insects have become extinct, Cerulia works cataloging and preserving specimens for the private collection of a renowned entomologist. One afternoon, as she leaves work, she accidentally knocks a valuable moth off the pin holding it in place. In an attempt to hide the evidence, she takes the moth home, only to discover that it comes back to life.

To find out more about the Annecy Festival Residency, head to its special page and check out previous editions in images:

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

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Forum des images is Hosting Annecy Festival Award Winners!

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Parisian friends, come and enjoy a screening of Annecy Festival 2023 award-winning films.

This year, from 28^th to 29^th June, the Forum des images will once again be hosting a selection of the Annecy Festival prizewinners, including short films and exclusive premieres of two award-winning feature films!

The Parisian audience will notably have the chance to discover Robot Dreams, winner of the Contrechamp Grand Prix and Four Souls of Coyote, winner of the Jury Award.

This event’s programme will be presented by Yves Nougarède, Films & Programme Planning Manager at Annecy Festival.

Take a look at the programme:

Wednesday 28^th June
6:30 pm: award-winning short films
9:00 pm: screening of Robot Dreams, Contrechamp Grand Prix

Thursday 29^th June
6:30 pm: award-winning short films
9:00 pm: screening of Four Souls of Coyote, Jury Award

For more information and to reserve your seats, please go to the Forum des images website.

> Check out the programme of the Forum des images

Annecy 2023 – Report and Highlights

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Even with an extra day, the Annecy Festival has already finished!
Let’s take a look back on a memorable and emotionally-charged week at the Festival and the International Animation Film Market!

This edition, spurred on by the enthusiasm of Mexico’s professionals and artists, as well as being dedicated to pride and diversity, reminded us of animation film’s significance and its very essence: a time for sharing, transmitting and conviviality.
The Festival and Mifa’s extraordinary expansion, with their 15,820 accredited attendees, is testimony to this.

The Festival’s other role: a platform for artists

Beyond being a talent scout and showcasing the best in international animation, the Annecy Festival, through the values that it upholds – freedom, fraternity, sisterhood, solidarity and sharing – gives a stage to artists who denounce and support, sometimes risking their own freedom, to raise awareness of our society’s issues and plights through the works themselves, but not only…

Key figures

Annecy 2023 was also:

345 screenings (WIP and conferences not included)
Between 4,000 to 8,000 spectators every evening for the open-air screenings on Le Pâquier
1,205 Pass grand public
Le Campus, the brand-new area at the Mifa for students and emerging talent, was a roaring success

In the context of the 2023 edition, Audiens and PFDMedias are updating a part of their "#parity in the media" study carried out in 2022 and give us an exclusive look at their findings here.
> Découvrir l'étude

Take another look at the Annecy 2023 highlights

Via our social media: YouTube (aftermovie, interviews, trailers) – TikTok – Instagram
Pathé France@Annecy 2023 and much more can be found on our YouTube playlists
Podcasts "La Grande Vadrouille" by Revus & Corrigés, the live broadcast of C’est encore nous ! by France Inter and Séance Tenante by Pathé France can be found on our Spotify playlist
e-Quotidien by Le film français: N°1 – N°2 – N°3 – N°4 – N°5
The "Daily Variety" by Variety: Preview – N°1 – N°2 – N°3 – N°4
Screen Editorial: "Mexican Animation in Focus" & "Annecy Special"
Konbini : May 9^th - June 12^th - June 14^th - June 15^th - June 15^th - June 16^th - Interview with Eric Glodberg
2023 in pictures
The Closing Ceremony

See you next year!

The Winners of the 2023 Official Prizes

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival reveals the winners of the Official Prizes!

For this 2023 edition, the Annecy Festival received over 3,400 films from around a hundred countries, once again reflecting the world’s enthusiasm for animation. After this week full of discoveries, emotion, inventiveness, meetings and festivities, it is now time to reveal the names of this year’s winners.

This year, more than 15,600 accredited attendees joined us to celebrate global and Mexican animation! This is an all-time record for the Festival, which stretches its borders ever farther each year to promote animation far and wide across the world.

As the Festival draws to a close, check out the winners of the 2023 Official Prizes.

2023 Awards

Thank You!

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The entire team behind the organisation of Annecy 2023 would like to thank you all for making this year’s edition such a huge success.

It goes without saying that without you, our dear volunteers, service providers, partners, badgeholders and members of our team, the streets of Annecy would not be as animated as they are every year. You make all this possible!

Firstly, a huge thank you to the many volunteers without whom the Festival and the Mifa would not exist. This year, 543 of you shared your passion and dedication with us!

Thank you to all our service providers for your exemplary efficiency. Thank you to our partners who support our event and wave their magic wands.

Lastly, our thanks go to you, our accredited attendees. Every year, you make the heart of the world capital of animation film beat faster. This year there were more than 15,820 of you! A record attendance for the Annecy Festival, which just keeps on rising.

We are so looking forward to seeing you all again at next year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival!

From 9^th to 15^th June 2024, Portuguese animation will be in the spotlight!

A look back at the Festival week in images

Annecy 2023 Special Prizes

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Annecy Festival awarded its first prizes!

On Friday 16^th June at 6:00 pm in Bonlieu, Annecy Festival presented its 9 Special Prizes.

An immense thank you to the partners who supported these projects. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners! Congratulations to all of them!

	City of Annecy Award Island Michael FAUST Israel STUDIO POTEMKIN
	Festivals Connexion VR Award From the Main Square Pedro HARRES Germany FILM UNIVERSITY BABELSBERG KONRAD WOLF
	Festivals Connexion Award Maurice's Bar Tom PREZMAN, Tzor EDERY France, Israel SACREBLEU PRODUCTIONS
	André Martin Award for a French Short Film The Purple Season Clémence BOUCHEREAU France BANDINI FILMS
	Best Original Music Award for a Feature Film La Sirène Erik TRUFFAZ Germany, Belgium, France, LuxembourgLES FILMS D'ICI, KATUH STUDIO, BAC CINEMA, LUNANIME BVBA, TRICKSTUDIO LUTTERBECK GMBH
	Best Original Music Award for a Short Film 27 COMMITTEE – Mári MÁKÓ, Rozi MÁKÓ France, Hungary BODDAH, MIYU PRODUCTIONS
	Young Audience Award To Be Sisters Clément CÉARD, Anne-Sophie GOUSSET France FOLIMAGE, LES ARMATEURS
	CANAL+ Junior Jury Award Pete Bret PARKER USA ARTFARM PRODUCTIONS
	France TV Award for a Short Film Nun or Never! Heta JÄÄLINOJA Finland BÖHLE STUDIOS

Meeting a Director

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The cherry on the cake! While everyone worked on producing an amateur animation short film as part of their artistic and cultural educational journey, CITIA enabled the pupils to end the year in grand style by participating in the Annecy Festival in a very unique way.

Almost 700 pupils from primary to high school age were lucky enough to attend a screening-debate in the presence of an artist. Each carefully chosen artist’s universe is perfectly suited to its specific audience.

This year, Director Marjolaine Perreten shared her graphic poetry with young audiences. Her films, such as Novembre, The Last Day of Autumn and Pebble Hill, aroused curiosity and emotion.

Georges Schwizgebel, a leading figure in Swiss animation and a regular at Annecy, met school pupils from the region. His visual approach and the predominant role he assigns to the music in each of his films captivated the audience. It was a thoroughly engaging experience!

Lastly, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo gave us the great honour of returning to be with a school audience. Through his film Make It Soul, the artist shared his experiences and deep bond he nurtures with music and the body in motion.

At the end of their session, pupils eagerly raised their hands to ask the artists questions about their artistic approach, techniques, career path and profession. The pupils received generous and inspiring responses that will no doubt influence some of them in their vocations.