26/04/2024 - Claude Barras, Jean-François Laguionie, Michel Hazanavicius, Gints Zilbalodis, María Trénor, and the duo Vincent Paronnaud - Alexis Ducord are competing for the Cristal award

23 feature films make up the selection of the L’Officielle and Contrechamp competitions at the 43rd Annecy International Animated Film Festival (directed by Mickaël Marin) which will unfold from 9 to 15 June.

Crafted by artistic delegate Marcel Jean, this selection, which was revealed last night, includes 12 contenders for the 2024 Cristal award in the L’Officielle competition. Standing out amongst them are six European productions: Sauvages by Swiss filmmaker Claude Barras, Slocum et moi by French director Jean-François Laguionie, The Most Precious of Cargoes by his compatriot Michel Hazanavicius (which will open the festival), Rock Bottom by Spanish filmmaker María Trénor, Flow from Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis and the French-Luxembourgish title Angelo dans la forêt mystérieuse by Vincent Paronnaud (Winshluss) and Alexis Ducord.

Also in the running are four Japanese productions (by Yoshiyuki Momose, Naoko Yamada, Shinnosuke Yakuwa and the duo Yoko Kuno - Nobuhiro Yamashita), a Chinese film (directed by Busifan) and an Australian feature (the much anticipated Memoir of a Snail by Adam Elliot). Three (or perhaps 4, 5 or 6 if an insistent rumour that should be verified in the upcoming days is to be believed) of the 12 contestants will have had their world premieres the previous month in Cannes.

Five European productions appear amongst the 11 features selected for the Contrechamp competition: Living Large by Czech filmmaker Kristina Dufkova, Journey of Shadows by Swiss director Yves Netzhammer, Mariposas negras by Spanish filmmaker David Baute, Sultana’s Dream [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Herguera
film profile] by his compatriot Isabel Herguera (which already had its world premiere in San Sebastián, competing for the Golden Shell) and Pelikan Blue [+see also:
film review
interview: Laszló Csaki
film profile] by Hungarian director László Csáki (which had its world premiere at the Black Nights festival in Tallinn). This Contrechamp competition proves very international, since Brazil (Nelson Botter Jr.), the Philippines (Carl Joseph Papa), Pakistan (Usman Riaz), Japan (Gō Koga), South Korea (Ahn Jae-huun) and Canada (Nick Johnson) are also represented.

Amongst other competitions, there will also be a selection of 10 immersive works, and a new out of competition programme entitled “Annecy Presents” with 12 films particularly aimed at a young audience.

This edition of Annecy will also honour Portuguese animation and the theme “Choreographies: animation and dance”. An honorary Cristal will also be given to Terry Gilliam who will be giving a cinema masterclass (as will Wes Anderson). Additionally, about 20 event screenings are on the menu with, most notably, several premieres (Transformers One, Despicable Me 4, Ultraman: Rising, Inside Out 2) and some previews (The Wild Robot, Moana 2) of highly anticipated animated blockbusters.

The selected films:

L’Officielle Competition

The Most Precious of Cargoes - Michel Hazanavicius (France/Belgium) (opening film)
Ghost Cat Anzu - Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita (Japan/France)
Angelo dans la forêt mystérieuse - Vincent Paronnaud (Winshluss) and Alexis Ducord (France/Luxembourg)
Flow - Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia/Belgium/France)
The Imaginary - Yoshiyuki Momose (Japan)
Memoir of a Snail - Adam Elliot (Australia)
The Storm – Busifan (China)
Rock Bottom - María Trénor (Spain/Poland)
Sauvages - Claude Barras (Switzerland/France/Belgium)
Slocum et moi - Jean-François Laguionie (France)
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Madogiwa no Totto-chan) - Shinnosuke Yakuwa (Japan)
The Colors Within (KIMINOIRO) - Naoko Yamada (Japan)

Contrechamp Competition

Gill - Ahn Jae-huun (South Korea)
Journey of Shadows (Reise der Schatten) - Yves Netzhammer (Switzerland)
Living Large - Kristina Dufkova (Czech Republic)
Sunburnt Unicorn - Nick Johnson (Canada)
Our Crazy Love - Nelson Botter Jr. (Brazil)
Mariposas negras - David Baute (Espagne/Panama)
Pelikan Blue [+see also:
film review
interview: Laszló Csaki
film profile] - László Csáki (Hungary)
El sueño de la sultana [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Herguera
film profile] - Isabel Herguera (Spain)
The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe - Gō Koga (Japan)
The Glassworker - Usman Riaz (Pakistan)
The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw) - Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines)

XR Competition

Tu vivras, mon fils "Chapitre 1 & 2" - Victoria Bousis (Greece/USA)
Flow - Adriaan Lokman (Netherlands/France)
Spots of Light - Adam Weingrod (Israel/Canada)
My Inner Ear Quartet - Koji Yamamura (Japan)
The Imaginary Friend - Steye Hallema (Netherlands/Belgium)
Oto's Planet - Gwenaël François (Luxembourg)
Emperor - Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen (France/Germany)
Le Temps du monstre - Benjamin Nuel (France)
Mamie Lou - Isabelle Andreani (France)
Gargoyle Doyle - Ethan Shaftel (USA/Austria/Argentina)

Annecy presents

Buffalo Kids - Juan Jesús Gar­cía Galocha and Pedro Solís García (Spain)
Détective Conan : L'Étoile à 1 million de dollars - Nagaoka Chika (Japan)
Diplodocus (Diplodok) - Wojtek Wawszczyk (Poland/Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Extinction - Behnoud Nekooei (Malaisia)
The Garfield Movie - Mark Dindal (USA)
Give It All - Yuhei Sakuragi (Japan)
Le Grand Noël des animaux - Camille Alméras, Caroline Attia Larivière, Ceylan Beyoglu, Haruna Kishi, Natalia Chernysheva and Olesya Shchukina (France/Germany)
Out of the Nest - Arturo Hernandez (Thailand/China)
Fox and Hare Save the Forest [+see also:
film review
interview: Mascha Halberstad
film profile] - Mascha Halberstad (Netherlands/Luxembourg/Belgium)
Sand Land - Toshihisa Yokoshima (Japan)
The Sloth Lane - Tania Vincent and Ricard Cussó (Australia)
The Worlds Divide - Denver Jackson (Canada)

(Translated from French)