An oasis of auteur, adult-targeted animation works-in-progress awaits buyers at the Cannes Marché du Film this year, thanks to the Annecy Animation Showcase. Organized by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the selection spotlights films in various stages of production that bring of original works that stand out sharply against the global toon landscape.
Highlights of the lineup include Hina Is Beautiful (Japan), a new film from cult hit On-Gaku: Our Sound director Kenji Iwaisawa; the textile animation of Heirloom (India), and Annecy Residency project by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya (Annecy Award winner for Wade); and Berlinale Teddy Award-winning Spanish director María Trenor’s (With What Shall I Wish It?) hippie culture drama Rock Bottom.
Annecy Animation Showcase at Cannes
In 1960s Ahmedabad, on the cusp of a technological revolution, husband Kirti spends a fortune on a handloom museum, while his wife Sonal urges him to get into the power loom business. While their story plays out in painted 2D, the tapestry backgrounds provide a portal into their family story, which comes alive with a bold embroidered fabric animation technique created by Bhattacharyya and textile artist Maitri Ravishankar.
This 2D/rotoscopy comedy-action-drama takes place in Izu, Japan, where a woman named Hina with mysterious motives inspires men to fight over her. As each suitor strives to declare their love, muscley competitors appear, and the sound of festival drums signals a confrontation. The film is directed by Iwaisawa, written by Oscar nominee Takamasa Oe (Drive My Car) with character design by Naoyuki Asano (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!)
Inspired by the early life and acclaimed art rock album by Robert Wyatt (former Soft Machina vocalist/drummer), this musical project combines rotoscopy and 2D frame-by-frame animation to tell the sometimes realistic, sometimes psychotropic, self-destructive love story of Bob and Alif — two artists caught up in the creative hippie culture explosion of the early 1970s. The project won a €20,000 ($21,000) Netflix award at Spain’s Mianima mentoring program, and is due for a Q1 2024 premiere according to producer Alba Sotorra. Jaibo Films, Empatic and GS Animation (Poland) also produce.
Based on the comic-book series by Jul and in line with the TV animation adaptation The Darwinners, the movie riffs on the modern age as seen through the eyes of a Stone Age family flung forward in time to our era. Jul is directing the film, which will begin the second stage of production in June or July at Je Suis Bien Content (Avril and the Extraordinary World, My Father’s Secrets), which also produces the series.
Latin American animation veteran Guerra (Until Sbornia Do Us Part) is back with this adult/YA standout from the Ventana Sur 2022 Animation! event (also organized with Annecy MIFA). The story charts the personal odyssey of Ishmael, who escapes to the big city from his Brazilian backlands town where his mother runs a brother, but cannot escape his origins. Exec producer Tatiana Mitre (Anaya Prod.) told Variety “The film addresses aspects that people don’t have in common, such as language and aesthetics, an evocation of Brazilianess, at a time when the world is experiencing increasing globalization and its consequent emptying and/or erasing of local cultures.” Anaya and Guerra’s Otto Desnhos Animados produce.
[Source: Variety]
