Annecy Festival, 60 Years and Still Animated!

For the Festival and the International Animation Film Market, it’s “raise the curtains” on their first hybrid edition!

After over a year with no “physical” events, the Annecy Festival appears to be the very first international film festival to be held live and on-site!

And the program, in line with Annecy’s DNA, is packed, jam-packed!

“To meet again. With this single goal in mind, for nearly a year the CITIA team has been rallying to welcome the animation film community, betwixt lake and mountains.

If Annecy 2020 was the epitome of resilience, Annecy 2021 will be that of combat. The combat aimed to reposition Culture at the core of our existences and extol, yet again, works and their creators under the best possible conditions.

We applaud those pioneers who, in 1960, cradled the destiny of this infant Festival in the “Venice of the Alps”. We also applaud those men and women who strove one after another to turn this event into an unmissable annual highpoint.

In one way or another, Annecy is determined to stand its ground as animated cinema’s radiating center.”

Dominique Puthod, Chairman and Mickaël Marin, CEO

Annecy Festival, 60 Years and Still Animated!

In spite of an unusual context, at long last this year will finally be the time for celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Annecy Festival. A trip back through these six decades of animated history will be on offer all week long.

“Annecy is the first-ever movie festival fully dedicated to animation and it has become the major event of this sector, worldwide. We will continue to claim this special place in History as ours. Our aim is to always stay the foremost meeting place for our entire community and industry. Over the course of the years, this event has grown impressively, becoming more and more inclusive. Today we are proud to have remained relevant throughout our numerous transformations, without ever neglecting this priceless legacy handed down by the pioneers who were there at its genesis.”

Marcel Jean, Artistic Director

On the program:

The 60th – the screening

A special screening, full of first-times and surprises!

First time on a big screen: Mémoire d’une minute, a program of one-minute short films on the topic of memory, by 11 Annecy-prizewinning directors. Interwoven on an initiative by Joan C. Gratz, they offer us art ranging from the sentimental to the absurd.

First screening in 1960: An Award for Mr. Rossi, a short by Bruno Bozzetto in competition at the time! See it again in 2021, still in Annecy!

World premiere of the Walt Disney Animation Studios short film Far From the Tree, with a pre-recorded intro by director Natalie Nourigat.

Tuesday June 15, 8:30 p.m., Bonlieu Grande Salle

Animated Africa!

From jury members on to programming and other Mifa events, get more details about this special year dedicated to African animation!

Masterclasses, Making of sessions, Keynotes: animation without limits or borders

A breeze of effervescence and creative daring is blowing through the programs of the Masterclasses, Making of sessions and the Keynotes.

Master Classes

With this year’s special homage to African animation, the Walt Disney and Kugali animation studios will present Iwájú, the animation series, through Jennifer Lee’s passion for this Afro-futuristic world and its art team’s recounting of its diverse inspirations.

Session followed by a live Q&A.

Speakers: Jennifer Lee, Ziki Nelson, Tolu Olowofoyeku, Hamid Ibrahim, Natalie Nourigat, Marlon West

Three of today’s most free-spirited and internationally-famed women directors will discuss their career choices and the themes underlying their works. An inspiring declaration of life and a glowing commitment to serving animation.

Speakers: Signe Baumane, Joanna Quinn, Martina Scarpelli

Moderator: Jayne Pilling

Making of

On the slate: four VIP-guided tours by directors and art teams through the inner workings of their movies.

DreamWorks Animation will take us behind the scenes of its two new features The Boss Baby: Family Business and Spirit Untamed, also included in Screening Events.

As for Netflix, it will revisit the two seasons of Love, Death + Robots, already a cult-status adult animation series.

Part of the team from the film Love, Death + Robots: Tim Miller (Creator), Jennifer Yuh (Supervising Director), David Fincher (Executive Producer), Jérôme Denjean (Visual Effects Supervisor)

Last of all, Baobab Studios will lead us along the artistic and technological path of Erick Oh’s most personal project to date: Namoo.

Keynote

Through an exclusive glimpse of Evolver – Prologue, a VR experience lead by Terrence Malick (executive producer), produced by Marshmallow Laser Feast (United Kingdom) and Atlas V (France), and in coproduction with Orange – Division XR, this presentation will explore the current state of immersive entertainment through 3 themes: creative potential, technological breakthrough, and spectators expectations.

Source :Annecy