And now, a word from our favorite Annecy bosses!
As animation fans from around the globe pack their bags to catch airplanes, trains and automobiles to attend the world-famous Annecy Festival in France this month, we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the two main figures behind the event. CITIA-Annecy CEO Mickaël Marin and festival artistic director Marcel Jean were kind enough to answer a few of our questions about the 2024 edition of the hugely popular event, which attracted a record 16,000 attendees last year. Here is what the super busy gentlemen shared with us:
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us what excites you most about the 2024 edition?
Mickaël Marin: As with every edition, I’m looking forward to seeing the culmination of a year’s work with the team and the chemistry that develops every year between the films and the audience. I’m also delighted to welcome Wes Anderson, who was due to attend in 2020, and Terry Gilliam, whose work and universe so many people adore.
Marcel Jean: When you deliver the competition selection of a festival, your excitement transfers to the way everything will be received. Basically, I’m looking forward to the reaction of the audience when they discover, feel and live the experience offered by all the animated projects.
Did you see any specific trends in the overall quality and themes of the shorts?
Marcel: This question comes up every year, and my answer is probably the same each year as well. Sure, there are trends … especially in the submitted student films. Why is it like that? Because student films were all made in the most recent months. They are “fresh” projects, so they are more influenced by recent events around the world.
What do you love best about your job?
Mickael: It’s definitely the meeting with all the artists and everyone who makes up our industry.
Marcel: Watching films … I am that kind of guy!
What are some of this year’s new features and additions that will put a smile on everyone’s face?
Mickael: We have worked to improve the number of seats available to the public. This means four extra screens at the Pathé building and an 8:30 a.m. screening in the Grande Salle at Bonlieu. In terms of programming, Marcel proposed the creation of a new “Annecy Presents” section for feature films. As for the marché (MIFA market), it is continuing to expand with over 1,000 square meters (about 10,764 square feet) dedicated to XR and video games.
What is your take on the state of animation worldwide?
Mickael: Year after year, animation continues to grow. We can see this at the festival with the quality of the work constantly improving and the geographical origins of the films becoming more and more international. We still have some way to go to achieve greater recognition for animation and industry films, but we’re on the right track, and Annecy will always be there to be the voice of animation.
Marcel: There are many ways to answer this question: If you’re talking of short independent films made by artists all around the world, we have definitely noticed a diversification in terms of countries of origin. We also noticed that short films are getting longer every year. It seems it’s easier than ever to make a good short animated film, even with a small budget. Regarding the animated feature, we are receiving a larger number of quality films. It could give us the impression that everything is going well in the best possible world. However, the situation is much more complex than that. There’s still a lot to do to convince large parts of the movie industry that animation is not just a thing for kids. It’s hard to believe that we still have to fight this battle!
Ten Things to Do at Annecy This Year!
- Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Portuguese animation with a rich program curated by La Mostra festival director Fernando Galrito and other experts.
- Discover the delicate relationship between dance and animation in a series of inspiring presentations.
4. Enjoy some of the biggest animated movies of the year before anyone else. We’re talking such award contenders as The Most Precious of Cargoes, The Wild Robot, Inside Out 2, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Ultraman: Rising, Transformers One, Memoir of a Snail, The Colors Within and many more!
5. Keep an eye out for all your favorite animation stars (great creative forces, including Wes Anderson, Henry Selick, Terry Gilliam, Andy Serkis, Pete Docter, Josh Cooley, Nick Park, Chris Renaud, Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois, Shannon Tindle, Mark Henn, Peter Browngardt, Michel Hazanavicius, Alain Chabat, Fabrice Joubert, Vicky Jenson, Simon Otto and Ben Bocquelet, to name a few!)
6. Discover wonderful programs devoted to such global animation auteurs as Hayoun Kwon and Regina Pessoa.
7. Revisit some of Disney’s best animated series from the past four decades with amazing show creators, including Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar (The Proud Family), Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh (Phineas and Ferb) and Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton (Monsters at Work).
8. Don’t forget to take in a beautiful exhibit devoted to the work of director and illustrator Florent Grattery (at the Bistro Sauvage from June 10-15).
9. Every morning (Tuesday through Saturday), you can enjoy live interviews with the brilliant directors of Annecy’s featured shorts at the El Pueblo restaurant opposite the Bonlieu from 8:30 to 9:45.
10. Finally, make sure you find time to enjoy some of the wonderful cafes and scenic restaurants Annecy has to offer. (La Turbine and Le Mikado are festival director Marcel Jean’s personal favorites.)
Around the World in 23 Films
This year’s Annecy Festival attendees have the chance to take in 23 new animated features from all over the globe on the big screen. We have written about some of the titles in the magazine before, and we assure you that you will find more in-depth stories about many of these wonderful, global bursts of creativity in the coming months.
Official Competition
- Into the Wonderwoods. Directed by Vincent Paronnaud, Alexis Ducord (France, Luxembourg)
- Flow. Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia, Belgium, France)
- Ghost Cat Anzu. Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita (Japan, France)
- The Colors Within. Naoko Yamada (Japan)
- The Most Precious of Cargoes. Michel Hazanavicius (France, Belgium)
- Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window. Shinnosuke Yakuwa (Japan)
- Memoir of a Snail. Adam Elliot (Australia)
- Rock Bottom. Maria Trenor (Spain, Poland)
- Sauvages. Claude Barras (Switzerland, France, Belgium)
- A Boat in the Garden. Jean-François Laguionie (Luxembourg, France)
- The Imaginary. Yoshiyuki Momose (Japan)
- The Storm. Zhigang “Busifan” Yang (China)
Contrechamp Competition
- Sultana’s Dream. Isabel Herguera (Spain, Germany)
- Gill. Ahn Jae Huun (South Korea)
- The Missing. Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines)
- Living Large. Kristina Dufková (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France)
- Black Butterflies. David Baute (Spain, Panama)
- Our Crazy Love. Nelson Botter Jr. (Brazil)
- Pelikan Blue. László Csáki (Hungary)
- Journey of Shadows. Yves Netzhammer (Switzerland)
- Sunburnt Unicorn. Nick Johnson (Canada)
- The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe. Goh Koga (Japan)
- The Glassworker. Usman Riaz (Pakistan)
Special Screenings and Works in Progress
Get ready for an onslaught of premieres, panels, “first-look” sessions and meet-and-greets from almost every major animation studio and indies from around the world at this year’s jampacked Annecy program.
- Paramount will offer a special sneak peek at director Josh Cooley’s fall movie, Transformers One.
- France’s Arte TV unveils a look at its four-part 2D-animated series, The Legends of Paris: A Tale of the 19th Century Artistic Scene.
- Universal is offering sessions and screenings of its top animated features, DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot and Illumination’s Despicable Me 4.
- Go behind the scenes of the hot Wallace & Gromit XR title.
- Find out what’s new at Mediawan Kids & Family, BBC Children’s, Blue Spirit, Locksmith Animation, Fortiche and Crunchyroll.
- Disney TV Animation presents a panel focusing on the highlights of the past 40 years.
- Disney Feature Animation offers a one-on-one with director and soon-to-be Disney Legend Mark Henn, as well as a look at its holiday movie Moana 2 and Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
- Discover the new animated adaptations of The Smurfs and Asterix & Obelix.
- Netflix presents panels and screenings of many of its hot new shows and movies of 2024 and 2025, including That Christmas, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Big Mouth, Twilight of the Gods, Ultraman: Rising, Spellbound and much more.
- Focus on Portugal and Regina Pessoa.
- Check out the fun shows and movies waiting in the wings from Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe and Adult Swim.
- Meet the talented team behind the Emmy-winning series Bob’s Burgers.
For more info about this year’s lineup, visit annecyfestival.com.
