Organizers of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival have released the official selection lists for this year’s short films program, chosen from more than 3,200 submissions from 100-plus countries around the world. Taking place in the picturesque French Alps town from June 11-17, the Annecy Festival will offer attendees an eclectic, artistic array across its Official Short Films, Off-Limits Short Films, Perspectives Short Films and Young Audience Short Films lineups.
The Annecy 2023 Official Selection was chosen by the festival’s Artistic Director, Marcel Jean, with the Films & Program Planning team of Laurent Million, Yves Nougarède and Sébastien Sperer, as well as Cécile Giraud (Project Manager for Nouvelle-Aquitaine Independent Cinemas), Marie-Pauline Mollaret (journalist and film critic), Clémence Bragard (Annecy Festival TV & Commissioned Films selector), Gala Frecon (Annecy Festival VR Works and WTF selector) and Isabelle Vanini (Programmers, Forum des images; animation expert for the CNC, Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, Ciclic and César Awards).
The Official Short Films competition will screen 37 films, including brand-new works by premiere talents like John Musker, Franck Dion, Georges Schwizgebel, Daria Kashcheeva, Ala Nunu, Eoin Duffy and Stephen Irwin:
11 – Vuk Jevremovic (Croatia, Germany)
Three masterful footballers. They can perform wonders during a match and score impossible goals, but what goes on in their heads when they are about to take a penalty kick?
27 – Flóra Anna Buda (France, Hungary) Alice is 27 years old today. Although she feels oppressed because she still lives with her parents, she spends her time daydreaming to escape her dreary everyday life.
Astoria – Franck Dion (France)
An astronomer is overwhelmed by the ramifications of her research and goes into exile.
Box Cutters – Naomi Classien van Niekerk (South Africa, Netherlands, France) A young woman recalls a day when she was attacked by three men on her way home, but daily life must resume its course.
Carne de Dios – Patricio Gabriel Plaza (Argentina, Mexico)
In 17th century Mexico, an ailing Christian priest needs to endure the native rituals in his own body that he was actually persecuting.
Catisfaction – André Almeida (Portugal) A man and a cat. It’s about relationships and how they can shape our life forever. It’s also about a weird character and his cat who claims his way to eternity.
Ce qui bouge est vivant – Noémie Marsily (Belgium)
While slugs slither aimlessly across the kitchen floor, Noémie composes a moving and fragmented self-portrait, on the fringes between intimacy and the world’s hubbub.
Christopher at Sea Director – Tom CJ Brown (France, United States, United Kingdom) Christopher embarks on a transatlantic voyage as a passenger on a cargo ship. His hopes of finding out what lures so many men to sea sets him on a journey into solitude, fantasy and obsession.
Daug Geresnis – Skirmanta Jakaité (Lithuania)
A man is waiting for test results. He expects the worst but at the same time hopes for the best. Distressed and afraid he spends a week in a limbo of his own creation, neither here nor there, dreading what the outcome might be.
Drijf – Levi Stoops (Belgium) Two people adrift at sea are fighting a bloody battle for both their survival and their relationship.
D’une peinture… à l’autre – Georges Schwizgebel (Switzerland, France)
An immersion into art through two paintings on the same subject created half a century apart.
Eeva – Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov (Estonia, Croatia)
It’s pouring down with rain at the funeral. There’s a lot of crying, too much wine, several woodpeckers and a couple of dreams that fill in the gaps.
Electra – Daria Kashcheeva (Czechia, France, Slovakia)
Electra thinks back to her 10th birthday, mixing memories with dreams and hidden fantasies. Is our memory just fiction? Or is it a myth?
Grandma, I Miss You – Maoning Liu (China) When I was young, I took care of my elderly grandmother. I found money hidden in my grandmother’s wheelchair, and I stole some. That was my only secret I kept after my grandma passed away.
Haljina za finale – Martina Mestrovic (Croatia)
One day, my granny dyed her wedding dress black. She wanted to be buried in it.
Humo – Rita Basulto (Mexico)
A boy, Daniel, travels by train towards a dark destination known as the smokehouse.
I’m Hip – John Musker (United States)
A self-absorbed cat, in a jazzy song and dance, proudly and comically proclaims his “hipness” to the world. The world is less convinced than he is.
Intersextion – Richard R. Reeves (Canada)
Two abstract energies fall in love, unite as one and disappear into a vanishing point.
Koerkorter (Dog Apartment) – Priit Tender (Estonia)
Misfortune deported a ballet dancer Sergei to a suburban kolkhoz. Here, he’s having his mundane battles against routine, domestic animals and alcohol.
La Grande Arche – Camille Authouart (France)
With nearly 70 monumental works of art scattered throughout the district, La Défense in Paris is Europe’s largest open-air museum. Sitting between the legs of the gigantic Red Spider, I wonder how I hadn’t noticed them before?
La perra – Carla Melo Gampert (Colombia, France)
In Bogota, a bird-girl leaves behind the family home, her domineering mother and faithful dog to go and explore her sexuality.
La saison pourpre – Clémence Bouchereau (France)
On an island at the edge of the mangrove, girls live in tune with the climate.
Last Order – Hangjin Jo (South Korea)
A pizza guy goes on a late-night delivery to a suburban apartment. Despite long flights of stairs, room 1601 is nowhere to be found. Instead, he is left with grim, mysterious illusions and traces.
L’Ombre des papillons (The Shadow of Butterflies) – Sofia El Khyari (France, Portugal, Qatar)
In a mysterious forest, a woman is slowly lured into a nostalgic daydream as she observes the butterflies.
Love Me True – Inés Sedan (France)
Laurence is desperately looking for love. Following a friend’s advice, she connects to online dating sites to find her soulmate. She becomes addicted to her phone and addicted to a toxic man.
Marie.Eduardo.Sophie – Thomas Corriveau (Canada)
A mesmerizing contemplation of moving bodies and painting, with three magnificent contemporary dance performers from Montreal, Marie Mougeolle, Eduardo Ruiz Vergara and Sophie Corriveau.
Maurice’s Bar – Tom Prezman, Tzor Edery (France)
In 1942, on a train to nowhere, a former drag queen remembers a night from her past in one of Paris’ first gay bars. Remnants of customer gossip recall this mythic bar and its mysterious Jewish-Algerian owner.
Nun or Never – Heta Jäälinoja (Finland)
A nun digs a man out of the ground and loses her grip on everyday life. Can secrets and harmony coexist?
Our Uniform – Yegane Moghaddam (Iran)
An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. She admits that she’s nothing but a “female” and explores the roots of this idea in her school years.
Regular Rabbit – Eoin Duffy (Ireland)
The good name of a seemingly regular rabbit falls victim to an unstoppable tide of disinformation.
Salvation Has No Name – Joseph Wallace (United Kingdom, France, Czechia) A troupe of clowns gather to perform a story about a Priest and a refugee but as their misguided tale unfolds, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to fray.
Sweet Like Lemons – Jenny Jokela (Finland, United Kingdom) A visual reflection on getting out of a harmful relationship and moving on.
Telsche – Sophie Colfer, Ala Nunu (Poland, Saudi Arabia, Portugal)
On the vast salt flats under dark clouds, a hole in the ground swallows the memory of a woman that Telsche longs to see again.
The Miracle – Nienke Deutz (Belgium, Netherlands, France) The Miracle, a place where the sun always shines, there’s endless opportunities to relax and food is in abundance.
The Smile – Erik van Schaaik (Netherlands, Belgium)
When a world-famous film star is accused of eating his female co-stars, his career goes down the drain. That wipes the smile off his face!
Tongue – Kaho Yoshida (Canada, Japan)
Tired of being talked at by men, a woman decides to liberate his tongue.
World to Roam – Stephen Irwin (United Kingdom)
Mother and Father lay the child in his cot at the same time every night. However, come morning, only a shallow crater remains — a baby-shaped depression. The boy was destined to be a wanderer.
Find all the announced Official Selection lists at annecyfestival.com.
Annecy Festival also revealed the 2023 Juries of experts from around the globe:
- Feature Films Jury:
- Sofía E. Alexander (showrunner & executive producer; Mexico)
- Kid Koala (composer & director; Canada)
- Jan Kounen (director & scriptwriter, Tawak Pictures; France)
- Contrechamp Feature Films Jury:
- Eunyoung Choi (Co-founder & CEO, Science SARU; Japan)
- Céline Devaux (director; France)
- Hippolyte Girardot (actor, screenwriter & director; France)
- Short Films Jury:
- Jerry Beck (animation historian, CalArts & ASIFA-Hollywood; U.S.)
- Emma De Swaef (director, Marc and Emma BV; Belgium)
- Dan Levy (composer; France)
- Graduation Films & Off-Limits Shorts Jury:
- Julie Ann Crommett (CEO, Collective Moxie; U.S.)
- Patricia Hidalgo (Director, BBC Children’s & Education; U.K.)
- Benjamin Massoubre (director, France)
- TV & Commissioned Films Jury:
- Estrella Araiza (General Director, Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival & Cineteca FICG; Mexico)
- Ana Chubinidze (filmmaker, The Pocket Studio; Georgia)
- Carlo Vogele (director; Luxembourg)
- VR Works Jury:
- Jorge R. Gutierrez (creator, designer, writer & director, Netflix Animation; Mexico)
- Chris Lavis (director & animator, Clyde Henry Prod.; Canada)
- Manu Weiss (independent creative XR producer & curator; Switzerland)
