Apr 25, 2024

Annecy International Animated Film Festival Selects 23 Films for Competition

Animated feature films are booming all over the world, but nowhere more so than in the Feature Length Competition of the Annecy Film Festival.

The two sections are the Official Competition and the Contrôle Champs (Reverse Shot) Competition.

One film in Competition, the Holocaust drama The Most Precious of Cargoes, will be screened on Sunday, June 9 as Annecy's opening film; the 2D film is Michel Hazanavicius' debut as an animated feature film director.

Other directors include Adam Elliott, who won an Oscar for his new film "Memoir of a Snail" ("Harvie Krumpet"); Claude Barras, who presented his new film "Sauvages" ("My Life as a Zucchini"); Claude Barras, who just completed "The Color Within"), and director Naoko Yamada ("A Silent Voice"), who presented her newly completed "The Color Within", are the main winners of the Competition.

Oldest director in Competition: Jean-François Laguionni, the legendary French animation director who is 84 years old. His career dates back to 1965, when he won the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival for his short film "La demoiselle et le violoncelliste.

Nine of the 23 entries were from Asia. Japan leads the Asian wave with five entries, but countries such as China, Korea, the Philippines, and Pakistan have also entered.

Only one feature film from North America, the Canadian film "Sunburnt Unicorn," is from North America.

A total of 23 films will be entered in this year's Official Competition, 12 in the Main Competition and 11 in the Contrôle Champion section.