Annecy Festival’s film market MIFA (International Animation Film Market) commenced on 11 June, the third day of the world’s largest animation film festival.
Comprising over 160 events, 190 stands in the Exhibition Area and an XR&Games Area, Mifa is being held from 11 to 14 June at Annecy’s Impérial Palace. This year, Mifa encompasses 22 Pitch sessions, 12 conferences, demo sessions, industry panels, targeted meet-ups, short film forums and more. The conferences span four categories: Creation, Tech, Business and XR.
Mifa’s very first Talent panel was a masterclass by filmmaker and Annecy 2024’s poster creator Regina Pessoa, on her creative process. The Portuguese artist spoke about expressing her personal, distinct, and creative artistic vision in her films as well as working with a variety of animated graving techniques which she incorporated when directing several animation films, many of which were screened on the first day of the festival.
The Industry panel, The Oscars: Eligibility Essentials, Understanding the Submission Requirements for the 97th Academy Awards, gave the attendees an insight into rules for feature film eligibility and the submission process, the expanded theatrical eligibility requirements, and the key dates and submission deadlines. The panel featured The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Meredith Shea (chief membership, impact, and industry officer) and Michael Benedict (associate director, member relations and awards).
Multiple sessions attracted students and aspiring animators – Paneurama: Soft Skills and Work Environment (on the state of the work environment and soft skills in the European animation and games industry today), Careers in Feature Film Animation at Laika (career opportunities throughout the studio’s production pipeline), Right Here, Right Meow: Careers at DNEG Animation (how to prepare for a career in animation with tips on CVs, reels etc.).
Meanwhile, at Annecy, Warner Bros. Animation, New Line Cinema, and Sola Entertainment screened 20 minutes of its upcoming anime feature film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. Actor Andy Serkis – who has played Gollum in the LOTR and The Hobbit series – hosted a conversation with the film’s director Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series) and producers Joseph Chou (Blade Runner: Black Lotus TV series) and Philippa Boyens (LOTR and The Hobbit trilogies). The War of the Rohirrim is set around 185 years before the events in The Lord of the Rings and tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. The film will hit the big screens in North America on 13 December and internationally on 11 December 2024.
At Mifa Partner Pitches, countries like São Paulo, Nigeria, Canada, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam presented upcoming animation projects from their countries, showcasing the emerging talent, and a diversity of voices and styles that represent the future of animation in their countries.
The day ended with open-air screenings of the Oscar-nominated Robot Dreams, How to Train Your Dragon, and Annecy’s Midnight Specials Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (South Korean feature film).
Annecy Film Festival 2024 is being held from 9 to 15 June in the town of Annecy, France.
Also read: Annecy ’24 Day 2: Sessions by WIA World Summit, open air screenings and more