The Annecy International Animation Film Festival kicks-off this weekend with a masterclass by French filmmaker Michel Gondry, who will also receive a career award alongside The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and UK animation director Joanna Quinn at the opening ceremony.
It marks The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Gondry’s first trip to the lakeside event, billed as the biggest animation festival in the world, although his work Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?:An Animated Conversation with Noam Chomsky played at the festival in 2014, winning the best French film prize.
“Michel is exactly like Terry Gilliam,” says festival’s artistic director Marcel Jean, referring to Annecy’s 2024 guest of honor. “He comes from the world of animation. That’s where he started. We’ve wanted to invite him for a long time and the planets have aligned.”
Jean notes that Gondry’s visit also coincides with a focus this year on the use of animation in music videos, a domain in which the director is also well-known for his collaborations with the likes Of Björk, The White Stripes and Daft Punk.
In a break with tradition, Jean has opted to world premiere five short films at the opening ceremony rather than showcase a single feature film. Recent openers have included The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams (2023) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022).
“We wanted to reaffirm the place of the short film at Annecy,” explains Jean. “With the first films, we don’t stipulate that they are French premieres, but this year we received an enormous amount of world premieres, so we decided to open with a program of shorts, which are very different and very strong.”
They range from 9 Million Colours by emerging Czech director Bára Anna Stejskalová, who won praise for her short film Love Is Just A Death Away, to Shinya Ohira’s Star Wars: Visions – “Black“, the first Japanese work in the Visions collection, produced by Lucasfilm for Disney+.
The line-up also features The Girl Who Cried Pearls, the latest stop-motion work from Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the Canadian directorial duo working under the banner of Clyde Henry Productions, who were Oscar nominated for short film Madam Tutli-Putli.
Bulgarian Oscar-nominated director Theodore Ushev, who won Annecy’s best short award in 2020, also returns with La Vie avec un idiot about a man forced to live with an idiot as a state sanctioned punishment.
The opening night mix of filmmakers forging their way in the indie space and globally known animation stars such as Matt Groening and IPs such as Star Wars encapsulates the essence of Annecy, which is one of the few film festivals in the world to truly showcase indie and studio fare with equal amounts of respect and attention.
This mix and the festival’s efforts to cater to animation professionals across all formats and styles has won it fans worldwide.
In 2024, there 17,400 accredited attendees, including 6,500 participants at its MIFA market, and 4,120 students, who give the festival its youthful atmosphere.
At the heart of the festival program is the 21-title Main Competition, with contenders this year ranging from established names such as Sylvain Chomet with A Magnificent Life and Félix Dufour-Laperrière with Death Does Not Exist, to newcomers such as Ugo Bienvenu with Arco, Momoko Seto with Dandelion’s Odyssey.
Jean acknowledges that many of the films have French connections this year but suggests this is more a reflection of the role France plays in financing independent feature films.
“I think the dynamism of French film finance and cultural diplomacy makes it look like there are a lot of French entries but the directors and stories this year are from across the world,” he says.
Outside of the competition programs, the big draw for attendees is the program of works-in-progress, makings of and sneak peaks.
As ever, all the Hollywood studios will be out in force.
Disney kicks off the Making of Sessions on Monday (June 9) with a presentation of new action-adventure series Eyes Of Wakanda, which launches on Disney+ on August 6, with director and executive producer Todd Harris leading the presentation.
“It’s a big year for Disney at Annecy,” comments Jean, noting all of its divisions – from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Animation, Lucasfilm, Disney Television Animation to 20th Television Animation – will be at the festival this year.
Further highlights of the Disney program include the Pixar Animation Studios showcase on Friday, featuring footage from Elio and first images from Hoppers and Toy Story 5, teased by the studio’s CCO and Annecy regular Pete Docter.
“Netflix and Warner will also be out in force,“ adds Jean, noting the presence of the latter’s Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.
Warner Brother Animation will hold special conversation event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Cartoon Network Studios’ featuring creators such as Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls), Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), J.G. Quintel (Regular Show), Adam Muto (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake).
“In recent years, TV series have brought about a huge amount of innovation.,” says Jean.
He points to the example of Ward’s series Adventure Time, about the adventures of a boy called Finn and his adoptive brother Jake, a dog with shape shifting powers.
“There are lots of independent features and shorts that were influenced by Pendleton Ward and Adventure Time, which in turn also opened the way for Rebecca Sugar to make Steven Universe, which also opened up new subject matter. Channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network have been extremely important,” says Jean.
“Someone like Genndy Tartakovsky who went on to make features and comes from these channels, is a key figure… there’s also Adult Swim which last year presented the first episode of Common Side Effects. That series for me, is a major milestone in the history of animated series, which has gained in importance since the election of Donald Trump,” he adds of the show about two high school students who take on big pharma and corrupt government.
Warner Bros. Animation will also be running a work-in—progress session for Get Jiro based on the best-selling graphic novels set not-too-distant future Los Angeles where master chefs rule the town, and making of presentation for Bat-Fam.
In other studio highlights, Netflix will be running its traditional Next on Netflix Animation event, with a focus on the upcoming From Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 animated series and feature film In Your Dreams, which it is positioning for an awards season push.
Sony Pictures Animation will also be in town to unveil animated sports-themed production GOAT from Tyree Dillihay and co-director Adam Rosette; DreamWorks Animation will present a first look at Bad Guys 2 directed by Pierre Perifel and co-directed by Juan Pablo Sans, and Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon will showcase Smurfs and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
