The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was attended by 18,200 badgeholders from 118 countries. The atmosphere was electric in the theatres and lakeside again this year. The Annecy Festival screened a host of sneak previews, greeted leading international talents and its Market celebrated its 40th anniversary.
The Festival finished on a high note with the closing ceremony and the presentation of the awards. The special awards were presented a day prior to presenting the other awards. The event was attended by Michel Gondry, Joanna Quinn, Didier Brunner, Genndy Tartakovsky, Julie Gayet, Jared Bush, Andy Serkis, Matt Groening, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Pete Docter, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Sepideh Farsi, Ron Clements, Michel Ocelot, Raman Djafari and Chris Sanders.
The 18,200 participants and 118 countries represented, including four new countries which are Afghanistan, Guatemala, Montenegro and Rwanda. 6,550 Mifa professionals, 196 stands, 400 journalists, more than 2,000 pupils and thousands of spectators every evening on Le Pâquier also joined our must-attend annual event. Additionally, over the course of the week, 23,500 festivalgoers and fans were able to discover the exclusive exhibition on the series Arcane. And a total of 650 volunteers were present during the event.
“Above and beyond the figures, it is your laughter, emotional silences in the darkened theatres, and your passionate discussions by the lake that gives this Festival its meaning and beauty. I also want to highlight the 10th anniversary of the 2015 edition dedicated to women in animation. This is a symbolic milestone, but more importantly a foundation to continue to take action, examine our methods, open new doors and create space for all voices. It is with this in mind that I announced this week that CITIA will create a residency especially for female feature film directors,” said CITIA CEO Mickaël Marin during the closing ceremony.
This year marked Mifa’s 40th anniversary and this opportunity was used to take stock of the Market’s role in the industry’s progress and evolution, to promote access to new technologies and address the crises and other new challenges that the sector may be facing globally. More than ever, this year was a chance to underline the unifying role that the Mifa plays in making animation more widely accessible in general, to new countries where it is still in the throes of development, and also to female filmmakers.
Still very much under-represented in the industry, many events were dedicated to them including the ‘Women in the Animation Industry: A Decade of Change, A Future to Shape’ conference, during which the creation of a residency devoted to female feature film directors was announced, and a workshop, at the Campus, jointly organised by the Lab Femmes de Cinéma, the Festival and the Mifa.
Highlights of the event are available on the festival’s YouTube page.
