Annecy International Animation Film Festival opened its doors to the world on 9 June, and the enthusiasm was at the peak during the second day, 11 June.
This year, the festival is shining a spotlight on the WIA (Women in Animation) World Summit, a crucial segment dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by under-represented gender identities in the animation industry. With the theme for this year’s WIA World Summit summit being Stronger Together: The Equitable Future of Animation, esteemed executives, filmmakers, and creatives from across the globe gathered at Annecy to delve into industry innovations and the profound impact of community in shaping the evolving animation landscape.
The second day of Annecy commenced with a WIA World Summit session What Now?: Global Opportunities in Animation, featuring speakers Deepa Joshi (Incessant Rain Studios co-CEO), Agnes Soyode-Johnson (Limitless Studios chief executive officer) and Marta Balaga (Variety film journalist). The session was presented by Marge Dean (Skybound Entertainment head of animation studio and WIA president).
In another WIA World Summit session, speakers discussed the transformation driven by technological advancements in the animation industry. Titled Harnessing New Business Models to Navigate Animation’s Future, the session featured Kate O’Connor (Animation UK executive chair), Yukiko Koike (Studio Chizu CFO/managing director), Vivienne Medrano (showrunner, writer and creator of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss) and Jinko Gotoh (producer and WIA vice president).
Annecy’s Bonlieu – Grande Salle theatre saw a full house in the morning, as the audience waited for Chinese animation film The Storm, directed by Zhigang Yang aka Busifan, produced by Yang and CMC Pictures China. The story synopsis reads: Torrential rain leads you into a colorful world of traditional Chinese ink art. A century-old sunken ship emerges, mysterious theater troupes come to life again. With countless masks worn by people and a world filled with intricate changes, what kind of bizarre story is unfolding?
Apart from Storm, the other feature films in the competition screened were Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Japan), Sauvages (Switzerland, France, Belgium), Living Large (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France), The Colors Within (Japan), The Glassworker (Pakistan), Journey of Shadows (Switzerland), Ghost Cat Anzu (Japan, France), Memori of a Snail (Australia) and more.
From 10 June, the festival started screening VR projects that are in competition, with films ranging from 12 minutes to 55 minutes. The day also saw the screening of multiple short films, which have been nominated for the competition under the Graduation Films category.
Of the short films selected for the competition screened, one was India’s Maatitel directed by Govinda Sao. The synopsis of the eight-minute short reads: A rural family of four faces challenges as the parents prepare for dinner after a joyful day. An argument unfolds in front of their children, escalating to unbearable vehemence.
In a highly anticipated session of the day, the audience was treated to the first Transformers animation film – a work-in-progress version – since the 1986 original. Directed by Josh Cooley, the film is set entirely on Cybertron and tells the story of how two brothers-in-arms, Optimus Prime and Megatron, became sworn enemies, resulting in the worst combat ever between the Autobots and Decepticons. Also present at the festival were Cooley, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, and Ramsey Naito to talk about the film.
In another screening of a heart-rending film Black Butterflies, director David Baute tells the story of Lobuin, Vanesa and Soma – three women from very different parts of the world who face the same problem: climate change. They will lose everything because of the effects of global warming and they will be forced to emigrate to survive. The film is set in India, Dubai, France, and Nairobi, and features multiple languages including Spanish, Bangla, French, Arabic, and English. It is unique in its portrayal of the hardships faced by women during crisis, and sees the lives of immigrants and refugees through their lens.
The day ended with a bang, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was played at Annecy Festival’s most-awaited and most-attended Open Air Screenings.