Mar 29, 2021

Annecy reveals short and television films in competition in the 2021 edition

Annecy Festival has announced the competition selections across seven categories at its 2021 edition, which is due to be held on June 14–19. The categories cover shorts, graduation works, tv films, and commissioned films. In all, 191 films have been picked from more than 2,700 submissions - around 300 submissions fewer than last year.

The competition includes works from festival veterans like Joanna Quinn and Georges Schwizgebel, Erick Oh's Oscar-nominated Opera, and young talents previously featured on Cartoon Brew, like Samuel Patthey and Ayce Kartal. This year sees an unusually large number of selections from Africa, whose animation scene Annecy was due to celebrate last year before its in-person festival was canceled.

Explore the line-up here. Feature and vr selections will be announced at a later date.

The shorts competition is split into four categories: Official (44 films), Off-Limits (8), Perspectives (22), and Young Audiences (12). Of all these films, 43% were directed by women. In addition, there are 47 films in the Graduation competition, of which 60% were directed by women. Finally, there are 26 TV and 32 Commissioned films, 27% and 38% of which had female directors respectively. (The disparity between the Graduation percentage and the rest speaks volumes about the industry.)

The festival's artistic director Marcel Jean said in a statement, “There's no surprise to find that the 2021 selection of short films is marked by themes and questions linked to the pandemic.” He added, “Several of the graduation films are rooted in modern times, through concerns about new technologies, artificial intelligence, and in general about humans' place in the world. These anxieties find an equivalent with the technologies employed: digital 3d, video-game engines, new images, etc.”

Last year's festival was held virtually as a result of the pandemic. Unveiling the poster a month ago, the organizers said they were working on a hybrid event. The precise format of this year's edition will be confirmed soon.

Images at top, left to right: “How to Be at Home,” “Furia,” “Darwin's Notebook.”