An Abundance of Eclectic Movies at Annecy

It’s no secret that you can get a pretty comprehensive look at what the animation feature world has in store for the next couple of years by attending the Annecy Festival in June. This year is no exception, as audiences are invited to enjoy 20 amazing animated pics ready for release around the world. We have written about some of them in these pages before, and we’ll promise to cover them in future editions of the magazine in the upcoming months!

Official Competition Titles

• Art College 1994 (directed by Liu Jian, China)

• Chicken for Linda! (Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach, France/Italy)

• Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (Yuzuru Tachikawa, Japan)

• Four Souls of Coyote (Áron Gauder, Hungary)

• The Inseparables (Jérémie Degruson, Belgium/Spain/France)

• The Inventor (Jim Capobianco & Pierre-Luc Granjon, U.S./France/Ireland)

• Kensuke’s Kingdom (Neil Boyle & Kirk Hendry, U.K./Luxembourg)

• Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Keiichi Hara, Japan)

• Mars Express (Jérémie Périn, France)

• The Siren (Sepideh Farsi, Germany/Belgium/France/Luxembourg)

• Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds (Benoît Chieux, Belgium/France)

• The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Tomohisa Taguchi, Japan)

Contrechamp Sidebar

Running for the sixth year, the Contrechamp Competition will also offer up 12 eclectic animated features:

• When Adam Changes (Joël Vaudreuil, Canada)

• Tender Metalheads (Carlos Perez-Reche & Joan Tomas, Spain)

• Johnny & Me – A Journey through Time with John Heartfield (Katrin Rothe, Germany/Austria/Switzerland)

• Komada – A Whisky Family (Masayuki Yoshihara, Japan)

• The Sacred Cave ( Daniel Minlo & Cyrille Masso, Cameroon)

• Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger, Spain/France)

• Rosa and the Stone Troll (Karla Nor Holmbäck, Denmark)

• Saleem (Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha, Jordan)

• Slide (Bill Plympton, U.S.)

• Toldi (Marcell Jankovics & Csakovics Lajos, Hungary)

• Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light (Filip Pošivač, Hungary/Czech Rep./Slovakia)

• White Plastic Sky (Tibor Banoczki & Sarolta Szabo, Hungary/Slovakia)

Special Screenings and Works in Progress

• Walt Disney Animation Studios continues its 100th birthday bash with several celebratory events. In addition to the TBA short opening the fest, CCO Jennifer Lee will be in attendance to share more details of Wish, which she helped write and exec produce. The studio will also present a screening of Fantasia 2000 with director Eric Goldberg

• Pixar Animation Studios will present never-before-seen materials from its first original series Win or Lose (Disney+) and will be screening Elemental, following the film’s Cannes premiere.

• Disney+ projects are in the mix with a first look at the new anthology Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire with three directors presenting, and a behind-the-scenes session on Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 shorts Screecher’s Reach (Cartoon Saloon), In the Stars (PunkRobot) and The Spy Dancer (Studio La Cachette).

• Sony Pictures Animation will screen the short film The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, the first project from the studio’s new shorts program elevating talents from underrepresented groups, and reveal a first look at the studio’s first-ever R-rated comedy, Fixed, from animation auteur Genndy Tartakovsky

• Warner Bros. Animation will offer glimpses at The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim by Kenji Kamiyama and Rick and Morty: 10 Years of Intergalactic Adventures

• Nickelodeon Animation Studios will bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies) out of the sewers for a Work-in-Progress sneak peek.

• Illumination will present its original high-flying comedy-adventure Migration (Universal Pictures), directed by Benjamin Renner

• DreamWorks Animation will premiere Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Universal Pictures) at the event, attended by director Kirk DeMicco, producer Kelly Cooney Cilella and co-director Faryn Pearl, as well as presenting a WIP session on Trolls: Band Together and a special outdoor screening of its hit sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

• Netflix is planning a jam-packed program, including a special screening and “Making of” for Nimona, panels with the creative teams behind Aardman’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and upcoming series Blue Eye Samurai, a major “What’s Next” panel and more.

• Audiences will also be treated to screenings of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage directed by Hiroaki Ando, Ozi, Voice of the Forest by Tim Harper, The Forest of Miss Tang by Denis Do, Garden of Remembrance by Naoko Yamada, Nina et le Secret du hérisson (Nina and Hedgehog’s Secret) by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli and The Canterville Ghost by Kim Burdon.

The Work in Progress (WIP) sessions will introduce 17 projects in production: 12 feature films, one series, three VR experiences and one short film. Among these are buzzy titles like Roy and Arturo Ambriz’s Frankelda and the Prince of Spooks and the Warner Bros. Animation/Anima Estudios movie Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, both part of this year’s Mexican Animation Spotlight; Apple/ Skydance feature Spellbound directed by Vicky Jenson; and new projects from hot international talents like Jean-François Laguionie (Slocum), Gints Zilbalodis (Flow) and Bobbypills (Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix by Mehdi Leffad).

For more info, visit annecyfestival.com.