The Annecy Festival revealed today more details of another packed program for 2023, including the selections for the feature film and Contrechamp competitions. Running June 11-17, the world’s biggest dedicated animation fest will start with a bang, premiering Benoît Chieux’s Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams (Belgium/France), as well as a brand-new Disney short directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham during the Opening Ceremony.
In Sirocco, two sisters, four-year-old Juliette and eight-year-old Carmen, discover a passage between their world and the world of a book titled The Kingdom of Air Streams, and must seek out a terrifying character called Sirocco who can control the wind to get home. Details of the Disney short are
Chieux’s 2D fantasy is one of 11 feature films competing for the coveted Cristal this year. The other contenders in the Official Competition are:
- Art College 1994 (directed by Liu Jian, China)
- Four Souls of Coyote (Áron Gauder, Hungary)
- Kensuke’s Kingdom (Neil Boyle & Kirk Hendry, U.K./Luxembourg) — WORLD PREMIERE
- The Siren (Sepideh Farsi, Germany/Belgium/France/Luxembourg)
- Chicken for Linda! (Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach, France/Italy)
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Keiichi Hara, Japan)
- Mars Express (Jérémie Périn, France)
- The Inseparables (Jérémie Degruson, Belgium/Spain/France)
- The Inventor (Jim Capobianco & Pierre-Luc Granjon, U.S./France/Ireland) — WORLD PREMIERE
- The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Tomohisa Taguchi, Japan).
Running for the sixth year, the Contrechamp Competition will offer up another 12 eclectic animated features:
- When Adam Changes (Joël Vaudreuil, Canada)
- Tender Metalheads (Carlos Perez-Reche & Joan Tomas, Spain)
- Johnny & Me – A Journey through Time with John Heartfield (Katrin Rothe, Germany/Austria/Switzerland)
- Komada – A Whisky Family (Masayuki Yoshihara, Japan)
- The Sacred Cave ( Daniel Minlo & Cyrille Masso, Cameroon)
- Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger, Spain/France)
- Rosa and the Stone Troll (Karla Nor Holmbäck, Denmark)
- Saleem (Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha, Jordan)
- Slide (Bill Plympton, U.S.)
- Toldi (Marcell Jankovics & Csakovics Lajos, Hungary)
- Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light (Filip Pošivač, Hungary/Czech Rep./Slovakia)
- White Plastic Sky (Tibor Banoczki & Sarolta Szabo, Hungary/Slovakia)
Of course, there is more than enough to entertain and inspire attendees outside the competition screenings. Major Hollywood studios will be back by the lake to premiere and sneak peek hotly anticipated projects. A few of the highlights:
- Walt Disney Animation Studios continues its 100th birthday bash with several celebratory events. In addition to the TBA short opening the fest, CCO Jennifer Lee will be in attendance to share more details of Wish, which she helped write and exec produce. The studio will also present a screening of Fantasia 2000 with director Eric Goldberg.
- Pixar Animation Studios will present never-before-seen materials from its first original series Win or Lose (Disney+), and will be screening Elemental, following the film’s Cannes premiere.
- Disney+ projects are in the mix with a first look at the new anthology Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire with three directors presenting, and a behind-the-scenes session on Star Wars: Visions vol. 2 shorts Screecher’s Reach (Cartoon Saloon), In the Stars (PunkRobot) and The Spy Dancer (Studio La Cachette).
- Sony Pictures Animation will screen the new short The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, the first project from the studio’s new shorts program for talents from underrepresented groups, and reveal a first look at the studio’s first-ever R-rated comedy, Fixed, from animation icon Genndy Tartakovsky.
- Warner Bros. Animation will offer glimpses at The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim by Kenji Kamiyama and Rick and Morty: 10 Years of Intergalactic Adventures.
- Nickelodeon Animation Studios will bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies) out of the sewers for a Work-in-Progress sneak peek.
- Illumination will present it’s original high-flying comedy-adventure Migration (Universal Pictures), directed by Benjamin Renner.
- Previously announced: DreamWorks Animation will premiere Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Universal Pictures) at the event, attended by director Kirk DeMicco, producer Kelly Cooney Cilella and co-director Faryn Pearl, as well as presenting a Work-in-Progress sessions on Trolls: Band Together and a special outdoor screening of its hit sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
- Previously announced: Netflix has planned a jam-packed program, including a special screening and “Making of” for Nimona, panels with the creative teams behind Aardman’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and upcoming series Blue Eye Samurai, a major “What’s Next” panel and more.
Audiences will also be treated to screenings of the full and medium length films Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage directed by Hiroaki Ando, Ozi, Voice of the Forest by Tim Harper, The Forest of Miss Tang by Denis Do, Garden of Remembrance by Naoko Yamada, Nina et le Secret du hérisson (Nina and Hedgehog’s Secret) by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, and The Canterville Ghost by Kim Burdon.
The always intriguing Work in Progress (WIP) sessions will introduce 17 projects in production: 12 feature films, one series, three VR experiences and one short film.
Among these are buzzy titles like Roy and Arturo Ambriz’s Frankelda and the Prince of Spooks and the Warner Bros. Animation/Anima Estudios series Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, both part of this year’s Mexican Animation focus; Apple/Skydance feature Spellbound directed by Vicky Jenson; and new projects from hot international talents like Jean-François Laguionie (Slocum), Gints Zilbalodis (Flow) and Bobbypills (Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix by Mehdi Leffad).
