Official Prizes Ceremony

The animation fans’ favourite week drew to a close and the time has finally come for the announcement of the Official Prizes at the Closing Ceremony!

The crowning glory of this animated week is the Closing Ceremony, the Annecy Festival’s top highlight when the winners are revealed.

This 2024 edition was overflowing with emotions, discoveries and new features. Among the figures, a total of 3,420 films were submitted and 430 of the selected films were seen by over 17,000 accredited attendees. This was a record for the Annecy Festival, which continues to evolve each year.

The Annecy Festival has named this year’s award winners, with Sophie Roze’s The Drifting Guitar (France, Switzerland) taking the Cristal for a TV production.

The 30-minute family animation, from JPL Films and Nadasdy Film, follows a weasel with an unusual job as she roams around the countryside. Her fate changes when a hedgehog intervenes.

Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail (Australia) took the Cristal for a feature film, while Percebes (Portugal, France), directed by Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves, picked up the Cristal for a short film.

Will Anderson’s Pictoplasma “Opener 2023” (U.K.) won the Cristal for a commissioned film, while Carrotica (Germany), from Daniel Sterlin-altman, won for a graduation film.

The Cristal for the best VR work was snagged by Gargoyle Doyle (U.S., Austria, Argentina), directed by Ethan Shaftel.

Mickaël Marin, Annecy Festival CEO, commented: “Every year, the Annecy Festival welcomes passionate industry professionals, highly-motivated students and a dynamic public all with the same desire: to meet and experience the magic of animation film in cinema theaters.

“This year’s record attendance highlights the vitality of the sector in a fast-evolving industry. We will continue to encourage existing synergies between the 7th art and other disciplines. We are proud to be a part of the dynamic development and widespread recognition of animation.”

Marin added: “But most of all, we are proud to see that the cinema continues to attract audiences of all kinds and in particular the younger generation. We are convinced that animation film, in all its diversity, plays a key role in drawing audiences into cinema theaters.”

Marcel Jean, artistic director of the festival, said: “The Annecy 2024 award winners demonstrate a remarkable synchrony between the official juries’ choices and those of the public. In fact, two of the three films voted for by the public also received an award from the juries. We can be proud of the gender parity that shines through this awards list, which gives pride of place to female filmmakers, awards a second Cristal for a feature film to Adam Elliot and concludes the tribute to Portuguese animation with a Cristal for a short film presented to Percebes by Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires.”

Without further ado, it is time to reveal the 2024 Annecy Festival Award Winners!

https://www.annecyfestival.com/en/the-festival/awards

We are looking forward to seeing you all again next year from 8th to 14th June 2025 for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and from 10th to 13th June 2025 for the Annecy International Animation Film Market for a brand-new edition, which will put Hungarian animation in the limelight!