The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2024 edition, running from June 9 to 15. (scroll down for full list of titles and events)
Highlights announced on Thursday include Terry Gilliam as guest of honor to receive an Honorary Cristal and give a masterclass. He joins previously announced honorary guest Wes Anderson.
The main Competition and the Contrechamps sections will showcase 23 new animated features.
Features in the main competition include Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ first ever animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes, which will also open the festival.
The touching drama follows the fate of baby boy who is thrown from an Auschwitz-bound train by his French-Jewish father.
The picture will world premiere first in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Other Cannes films in Annecy’s main competition include Un Certain Regard selection Flow by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis and Ghost Cat Anzu by Japan’s Yoko Kuno, which will play in Directors’ Fortnight.
In a sign of the strength of Japan’s creative animation sector, three other titles from the territory are also in the running for the festival’s Cristal for Best Film: Shinnosuke Yakuwa’s Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, Yoshiyuki Momose’s The Imaginary and Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within.
Further competition highlights include Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail, featuring Sarah Snook voicing the young misfit protagonist.
Award-winning Swiss animation director Claude Barras will also compete with Savages, his first animated feature since his Golden Globe, Bafta and Oscar-nominated 2016 film My Life As a Zucchini.
Set in Borneo, on the edge of the tropical forest, the stop-motion animated feature follows the emotional journey of a girl, her father and a rescued baby orangutan.
The popular lakeside festival welcomed 15,820 badge-holders from 102 territories in 2023, which represented a 19% increase on 2022.
The festival is must-attend event for established professionals, budding animators and students for its offering of screenings, Work-in-Progress and Making Of Presentations, Studio Previews and First Looks as well as the market and recruitment fair.
As per Annecy tradition, there will be a host of preview events for upcoming studio animations.
These include sneak previews of Transformers One and Despicable Me 4 as well as first looks The Wild Robot, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2.
As previously announced by the streamer, Netflix will also tease a host of upcoming animated originals including the upcoming untitled Wallace & Gromit film and Zack Snyder’s series Twilight of the Gods.
Full list of films and preview events
Main Competition
Ghost Cat Anzu by Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Produced by: Shin-Ei Animation Co., Ltd, Miyu Productions / Japan, France
Into the Wonderwoods (Dans la forêt sombre et mystérieuse) byVincent Paronnaud (Winshluss), Alexis Ducord
Produced by: Je Suis Bien Content, Gao Shan Pictures, ZEILT productions, Amopix, EV.L Prod, France 3 Cinéma / France, Luxembourg
Flow by Gints Zilbalodis
Produced by: Dream Well Studio, Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions / Latvia, Belgium, France
The Colors Within (KIMINOIRO) by Naoko Yamada
Produced by: STORY inc., Science SARU Inc. / Japan
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Madogiwa no Totto-chan) by Shinnosuke Yakuwa
Produced by: Shin-Ei Animation Co., Ltd / Japan
Memoir of a Snail by Adam Elliot
Produced by: Arenamedia / Australia
Rock Bottom by María Trénor
Produced by: Alba Sotorra, Jaibo Films, GS Animation / Spain, Poland
Sauvages ! by Claude Barras
Produced by: Nadasdy Film, Haut et Court, Panique ! / Switzerland
A Boat in the Garden (Slocum et moi)by Jean-François Laguionie
Produced by: JPL Films, Melusine Productions/Studio 352 / France
The Imaginary by Yoshiyuki Momose
Produced by: Studio Ponoc Inc. / Japan
The Storm by Zhigang (Busifan) Yang
Produced by: CMC Pictures / China
The Most Precious of Cargoes by Michel Hazanavicius
Production: Ex Nihilo, Les Compagnons du Cinéma, Les Films du Fleuve, StudioCanal / Belgium, France
Contrechamp
Sultana’s Dream (El sueño de la sultana)by Isabel Herguera
Produced by: Abano Producións S.L., Fabian&Fred GmbH / Spain
Gill by Jae-huun Ahn
Produced by: Studio Meditation With a Pencil / South Korea
The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw)by Carl Joseph Papa
Produced by: Project 8 Projects / Philippines
Living Large by Kristina Dufkova
Produced by: Barletta Productions / Czech Republic
Black Butterflies (Mariposas negras) by David Baute
Produced by: Ikiru Films, S.L., Tinglado Film, Anangu Grup, Tunche Films / Spain, Panama
Our Crazy Love by Nelson Botter Jr.
Produced by: Tortuga Studios / Brazil
Pelikan Blue by László Csáki
Produced by: Umbrella Collective / Hungary
Journey of Shadows (Reise der Schatten)by Yves Netzhammer
Produced by: Freihändel Filmproduktion GmbH, Liechti Filmproduktion GmbH / Switzerland
Sunburnt Unicorn by Nick Johnson
Produced by: 2448223 Alberta Ltd., New Machine Studios Inc., Squid Brain Studios Inc. / Canada
The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of Gegege by Gō Koga
Produced by: Toei Animation Co., Ltd / Japan
The Glassworker by Usman Riaz
Produced by: Mano Animation Studios / Pakistan
Annecy Presents
Buffalo Kids by Juan Galocha (Galo), Pedro Solís
Produced by: 4 CATS Pictures / Spain
Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram (Meitantei Conan : 100-man Dollar no Michishirube) by Nagaoka Chika
Produced by: TMS Entertainment Europe / Japan
Diplodocus (Diplodok)by Wojtek Wawszczyk
Produced by: Human.film / Poland
Extinction by Behnoud Nekooei
Produced by: Magic Picture Films / Malaysia
Fox and Hare Save the Forest by Mascha Halberstad
Produced by: Submarine Animation B.V. / Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium
Give It All (Ganbatte Ikimasshoi) by Yuhei Sakuragi
Produced by: MOE/REIRS / Japan
The Garfield Movie by Mark Dindal
Produced by: DNEG Animation, Alcon Entertainment / USA
Christmas Tales of Christmas Magic (Le Grand Noël des animaux) by Camille Alméras, Caroline Attia Larivière, Ceylan Beyoglu, Haruna Kishi, Natalia Chernysheva, Olesya Shchukina
Produced by: Les Valseurs / France, Germany
Out of the Nest by Arturo Hernandez
Produced by: T&B Media Global Thailand co., Ltd. / Thailand, China
Sand Land by Toshihisa Yokoshima
Produced by: Bandai Namco Filmworks / Japan
The Sloth Lane by Tania Vincent, Ricard Cussó
Produced by: Like a Photon Creative / Australia
The Worlds Divide by Denver Jackson
Produced by: Cloudrise Pictures / Canada
Screening Events
June 9
Honorary Cristal to be presented to Terry Gilliam
Opening film: The Most Precious of Cargoes by Michel Hazanavicius
June 10
- Sneak preview of Transformers One directed byJosh Cooley. Produced by: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Animation Studio
June 11
- First look: The Wild Robot directed by Chris Sanders
Produced by: DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures - First look at the Asterix and the Big Fight series by Alain Chabat, in his presence. Produced by: Alain Goldman & TAT
June 12
- Next on Netflix Animation
- First look at the Twilight of the Gods series by Zack Snyder and Jay Oliva, in their presence. Produced by: Stone Quarry Animation, KRAKN Animation, Xilam
- Sneak preview screening of Ultraman: Rising directed by Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima . Produced by: Netflix Animation, Tsuburaya Productions co., Ltd., ILM – Industrial Light & Magic
June 13
- Panel on Transformers One
- Making of Ultraman: Rising / Netflix
- Masterclass by Wes Anderson
June 14
- First look at Inside Out 2 directed by Kelsey Mann. Produced by: Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures
- First look at Moana 2 directed by Dave Derrick Jr. et Jason Hand. Produced by: Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Sneak preview of Despicable Me 4 by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage. Produced by: Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures
