It has been a challenge to choose which packed Works in Progress presentations to attend at this year’s Annecy Festival. Yet, one trend is obvious. All over the world, animators and producers are breaking the boundaries of animation by mixing formats or creating bold new techniques while redefining the future of (co)productions. These adventurers may be lone rangers or big studio executives, but they’re driven by the same energy. Here’s a sneak peek at what to expect from some of these trailblazers:
Ghost Cat Anzu: A Rare and Delicate French-Japanese Co-Pro
The Project: In a quaint Japanese countryside, 11-year-old Karin is abandoned by her father at her grandfather’s house. A lively and cynical ghost cat named Anzu is tasked with watching over her, leading to a spirited clash of personalities.
The Talent: Yoko Kuno makes her directorial feature film debut along with long-time collaborator and producer Keiichi Kondo (Shin-Ei Animation). France’s Miyu Productions is co-producing this rare French-Japanese project, with head of production Tanguy Olivier and Art director Julien De Man, who previously worked on The Red Turtle, shedding light on how the co-production is taking place.
The Presentation: We may have become used to long-distance teams collaborating on world-scale projects, yet it’s still wondrous to see how this takes place on something so delicate and refined such as Ghost Cat Anzu. The manga, from which this feature is adapted, Bakeneko Anzu-chan, had a very short run in weekly magazines and only one volume was printed. Producer Keiichi Kondo stumbled on it while working with live-action director Nobuhiro Yamashita, in the late 2000’s. With director Yoko Kuno, they faced multiple trials to get their project off the ground. (Incidentally, one of the big draws of the presentation was the attendance of beloved animation and live-action icon Guillermo del Toro, which excited the audience.
“We had a lot of time to refine the script with writer Shinji Imaoka, whose resemblance with our main character is strikingly funny,” shared Kondo. “But the project lacked funding, and it’s not until Yoko met with Miyu Producers Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron that Ghost Cat Anzu could take life. It is thanks to her energy that the film exists today.”
As a rotoscope animator, Kuno wanted to use that same technique to bring Anzu on screen. Along with live-action director Nobuhiro Yamashita, they shot the whole film with real actors before turning to animation, keeping the same talents as voice actors. When Miyu came on board, the two studios set on creating a short teaser to test their collaboration methods.
“From doing colors and sets, we went on to artistic direction for a smoother workflow,” says Tanguy Olivier, who brought Red Turtle’s Art Director Julien Deman on board for Anzu. “It’s an amazing experience to create these landscapes with Miyu Productions, and to see Japan depicted with another artistic point of view,” says Kuno. “I can’t wait to share this beautiful tale with the audience, I hope they will love Anzu as much as I do.”
Ghost Cat Anzu is set to be delivered in 2024.
Animation in French-Speaking Africa
The Panel: Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Madagascar’s finest directors and producers bring African animation to new heights with the first African feature in Official Competition at Annecy.
The Talent: Directors Daniel Minlo and Cyrille Masso, whose debut film The Sacred Cave, was selected in the Contre Champ category at Annecy; Adja Soro, producer at Studio KA and Vice President of AIFA, Ivory Coast’s Animation Association; Francis Leudjeu, producer, and Jules Kalla Eyango, who pitched their feature WIP Mboa Matanda from Abyl Studio; Abel N’guessan Kouame, producer from well-known Afrikatoon studio; and Sébastien Onomo, presenting the brand-new PanAfrican Animation Workshop initiative.
The Presentation: Cameroon directors Daniel Minlo and Cyrille Masso are the first African filmmakers to have a feature selected in the Official Competition here at Annecy. Yet the struggle is far from over: Cyrille Masso explained to a sympathetic crowd that he could not join his own premiere, because of Visa issues.
“In Africa, if you want to do animation, you have to work a lot with no budgets, and a very few technicians,” he said. “It took us 13 years to get this project to Annecy, because of the lack of pipe-lines, workflows and of course, financial support. We hope that this will evolve in the future, as more and more animators receive proper training and embark on bigger projects, with co-productions from Europe and Asia alike.”
Among the projects is Sobajo, a new 13 x 13’ TV series drawing on local mythology that clearly got the attention of the audience. “For cinema and global trade, the Indian Ocean is now turning into a bridge between East Africa and Asia, which boosts the animation industry especially in Madagascar, but also all around Africa,” noted session moderator Enrico Chiesa, head of Film Fund for the International French-speaking Organization.
“Africa is now the place to be for animation,” claimed Adja Soro, VP of Ivory Coast’s Animation Association (AIFA). This professional conglomerate is now building partnerships with South Korea and France to provide better training, material and technical expertise to animators. “Yet we are not replicating a Western model here,” said producer Sébastien Onomo, presenting the PanAfrican Animation Workshop initiative. “This program, which aims to identify new voices and support local filmmakers, will help bring new stories and new worlds to African audiences. To all, we want to share quality content by powerful storytellers, and we’re convinced it will reach out to a public hungering for more.”
With about 2 billion dollars of revenue expected in 2027 on the streaming and video market in Africa, and an estimated 41% of Africans being under 15 years old, you can bet these panelists have a bright future ahead of them.
Breaking the Borders Around the World
The Panel: This global panel, presented by Nickelodeon and Variety discussed how the boundaries of animation are being revolutionized and reimagined by new waves of technology and creative voices, and what it means for the future of animation.
The Talent: Nora Twomey, animator, director and screenwriter at Cartoon Saloon, who directed My Father’s Dragon and The Breadwinner). Latifa Ouaou, exec VP at Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation; Jeff Rowe, making his directorial debut with highly-expected TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, presented in a WIP version at Annecy. Špela Čadež, independent Slovenian filmmaker, who directed the Oscar shortlisted and Annecy Prize-winning Steakhouse; Mike Rianda, Academy Award nominee and acclaimed director of Sony’s The Mitchell vs the Machines.
The Presentation: Has the Spider-Verse sequel defined a new standard for future animators? It was the number one film mentioned by the panelists as they dove into the possibilities of the medium “Breaking borders is not only about redefining art. It’s also about having talents from all over the world working together with their own perspectives to create a fantastic movie,” said Jeff Rowe about his own experience on Paramount’s upcoming TMNT film. “The pandemic forced us to redefine our workflows, but it also allowed me to just look around the Internet, identify crazily talented artists, and bring them on board.”
It’s also what has helped Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation broaden their IPs over the last few years, and bring beloved characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and to global theatrical release windows. But breaking borders is also about redefining techniques and creating powerful stories where form and substance meet to reinvent storytelling. Be it on a small-scale production in Čadež’s wonderful, multi-plan animation technique, or with the bold and heartfelt visuals that make The Mitchells vs The Machines such a magnificent love letter to cinema, storytelling and animation.
Now, with independent, popular studios such as Cartoon Saloon tackling global franchises as in the Star Wars: Visions short Screecher’s Reach, while retaining their own voice and techniques, one can only marvel at the infinite possibilities that animation has still to offer. As Twomey told Variety earlier, “When I started out over two decades ago, digital animation tools became accessible for smaller companies and smaller budgets. For Cartoon Saloon, that gave us our first path to a cinema audience with our short films. It’s interesting to see what opportunities and challenges lay ahead for everyone.”
