2025 Edition: Hungary, music video and an anniversary!

The next International Animation Film Festival will take place from June 8th to 14th 2025 and will pay tribute to Hungarian animation. It will also offer an immersive dive into the boundless creativity of music video, a flourishing field of experimentation! Finally, the 2025 edition will be an opportunity to celebrate an anniversary…

Projection Annecy Festival 2024

Each year, the Annecy Festival offers professionals and the general public the chance to discover the best of animated cinema, showcasing a variety of works from around the world. The 2024 edition was a record-breaking one, with more than 103 countries represented and 17,400 accreditations, including 6,500 professionals at Mifa.

In terms of programming, each year the Festival offers a chance to discover the animation of a particular country: after Portugal, it will be Hungary’s turn.

“Many are familiar with the stunning feature films of Marcell Jankovics, Johnny Corncob (1973) and The Son of the White Mare (1981). However, these remarkable films only provide a glimpse of the scope and variety of production within the Pannonia Films studio, founded in 1951. Despite political upheavals, the rich history of Hungarian animation has never wavered. In 1981, Ferenc Rofusz won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for The Fly, while in 2005, Géza M. Tóth’s short Maestro was nominated in the same category. Over the past twenty years, numerous student films have heralded the arrival of a true new wave: Milk Teeth by Tibor Banocki (2007), Rabbit and Deer by Péter Vácz (2013), and Symphony No. 42 by Réka Bucsi (2013), to name just a few. Recent successes from filmmakers like Flora Anna Buda (27), Balázs Turai (Amok), Nadja Andrasev (Symbiosis), and Áron Gauder (Four Souls of Coyote) further confirm this blossoming and demonstrate the cultural dynamism and deep originality of the country’s animation production. The extensive digitization and restoration efforts undertaken by the Hungarian National Film Institute will allow Annecy 2025 to present the great classics of Hungarian animation in the best possible conditions.”

Marcel Jean, Artistic Delegate of the Annecy Festival

Four Souls of Coyote by Áron Gauder

Another focus, mentioned by Marcel Jean, is music video:

“Emerging in the 1980s, the music video quickly became a space for expression and exploration for many animators. While some filmmakers who ventured into this format already had an enviable reputation (Jan Švankmajer, Michel Ocelot, Sylvain Chomet, John Kricfalusi…), others found in their collaborations with musicians a fertile ground for creating rich and unique works. This is particularly true for creators like Michel Gondry, Raman Djafari, Steve Cutts, and Victor Haegelin. Annecy 2025 will be an opportunity to revisit the work of several key creators who have contributed to the recent history of animated cinema.”

Happy Birthday Mifa!

Finally, it is at Mifa (International Animation Film Market) that the candles will be blown out: in 2025, the Market will celebrate its 40th anniversary!

A special event for the industry and, more broadly, for cinema, the Mifa has, over the years, become an essential part of the landscape thanks to its uniqueness.

Initially defined as a space for exchange, meetings, and support, it has often been the catalyst for starting a project, a co-production, financing, partnerships, sales, and international careers.

Beyond reflecting on symbolic journeys, this anniversary will certainly be an opportunity to look back on the path traveled, but also, and above all, to project into the next decade.

Don’t miss this event!