Annecy Unveils 20 Features In Competition Lineups

Annecy is returning to an entirely in-person format this year, and today announced the impressive competition lineup which will welcome guests back to Europe’s leading animation festival in June.

Four of Cartoon Brew’s 5 Mature Films To Look Forward To In 2022 will compete at Annecy this year, including Eric Warin and Tahir Rana’s Charlotte, Alberto Vazquez’s Unicorn Wars and Pierre Foldes’ Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman in the Feature Competition, and Nuno Beato’s My Grandfather’s Demons in the Contrechamp section.

Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre’s Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be will arrive in Annecy shortly after world premiering at Cannes, as will Signe Baumane’s My Love Affair with Marriage after premiering in competition at Tribeca.

“I’d like to remind you of the state of mind in which we have worked these past few months,” said Mickaël Marinm, CEO of Annecy parent CITIA, as he described the impulses which determined this year’s lineup. “I know we all had our hearts set on meeting again fully, totally; on reconnecting with the soul of this festival composed of encounters and sharing, to spark that movie theater throb once again. We imagined this year’s festival as fireworks of creativity and diversity to display the vibrant power of a cinema that we are so proud to serve.”

“The festival’s 2022 selection is diverse and surprising,” added Marcel Jean, Annecy’s artistic director. “It bears witness to the vitality of animation and to the outstanding development of worldwide production over the course of the past few years. The qualities and quantities are such that one feels almost cramped for space in the world’s largest animation festival!”

Annecy did not provide an exact count of the number of features that were submitted, but said there approximately one hundred entries. Short films in competition were announced earlier. The festival will take place in France from June 13-18.

Below, the full lists of Annecy’s Feature and Contrechamp Competition sections, with comments from Jean regarding their selection.

Feature Competition

• Charlotte – Eric Warin, Tahir Rana (Belgium, Canada, France)

“The all too short life of the German-Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon, who died at 26 in Auschwitz, is portrayed in this gripping movie which explores an outstanding artistic temperament swept up in the whirlwinds of History.”

• Goodbye, DonGlees! – Atsuko Ishizuka (Japan)

“Goodbye DonGlees!, released in Japan in February, is both a story of friendship and of rite of passage. Funny, moving, close to nature, a film which will delight anime fans.”

• No Dogs or Italians Allowed – Alain Ughetto (France, Italy)

“Jasmine was the revelation of the 2013 Annecy Festival. Now, nearly ten years later, Alain Ughetto is back with a film that again draws deeply from autobiography, a film in which the narrative device is once again built on representation of the film’s production resources. Annecy Festival is thrilled to renew its acquaintance with this too-rare author.”

• Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be – Amandine Fredon, Benjamin Massoubre (France, Luxembourg)

“Using animation to redraw Sempé’s strokes and add color to the artist’s drawings was certainly a great challenge. A challenge taken up by a talented team that never took the easy way out and that ensures we feel right at home with Goscinny’s verve and Sempé’s agility. A major popular movie which – we do trust – will easily bridge the generation gap!”

• The House of the Lost on the Cape – by Shinya Kawatsura (Japan)

“A meticulous adaptation of Kashiwaba’s novel, this feature film rekindles memories of the tragic 2011 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Although the make-up of this film’s first few minutes may appear relatively conventional, the rest is definitely full of surprises with segments of it on the cusp of experimental.”

• My Love Affair with Marriage – Signe Baumane (U.S.A., Latvia, Luxembourg)

“One of the great forces of contemporary feminist animation, here Signe Baumane offers us a second feature film pursuing an approach that’s both unique and consistent. It is equally intimate and drole, without forgetting the joy brought us by the songs interspersed throughout the story.”

• Nayola – José Miguel Ribeiro (Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, France)

“Political and social, José Miguel Ribeiro delves into Angolan history to relate the fate of three women from the same family, a tribute to the struggle of brave Angolan women whose lives are imprinted with the violence of history. This is a highly successful passage from short formats to feature film by a reputed short filmmaker.”

• Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman – Pierre Foldes (Canada, France, Luxembourg)

“This may very well be the most eagerly-awaited animation feature of the year! Adapted freely from several of Haruki Murakami’s short stories, the film is highly unique, its structure honoring the traits of the novellas which inspired the filmmaker.”

• The Island – Anca Damian (Romania, France, Belgium)

“Using her unique and always surprising style, Anca Damian, winner of the 2012 Feature Film Cristal, freely revisits the myth of Robinson Crusoe, treating viewers with a dive into her baroque realm.”

• Unicorn Wars – Alberto Vazquez (Spain, France)

“Prolific and gifted, the Spaniard Alberto Vazquez favors us with his second feature film, so striking with its visual opulence, its generous staging and its originality. A pleasure not only for the eyes but for the spirit as well!”

Contrechamp Competition

• Aurora’s Sunrise – Inna Sahakyan (Germany, Armenia, Lithuania)

“In this animated documentary so impeccably directed by Inna Sahakyan, Aurora Mardiganian, star of silent movies, comes back to life to tell the story of the genocide she survived. This is a work which draws its breath from the winds of history.”

• Home Is Somewhere Else – Carlos Hagerman, Jorge Villalobos (U.S.A., Mexico)

“Another animated documentary here focused on the fates and dreams of young Mexicans migrating to the U.S. Three stories with as many graphic and technical styles, a film of burning topicality.”

• Dozens of Norths – Koji Yamamura (France, Japan)

“A regular of the Festival, Koji Yamamura brings us a contemplative and enigmatic first feature which builds languid fascination while his neat graphics unfold subtly. Definitely a film to discover.”

• Khamsa – The Well of Oblivion – Khaled Chiheb (Algeria)

“What bliss to welcome an Algerian feature film to this competition for the very first time! Leisurely, contemplative and almost esoteric, Khamsa reminds us of Laloux at times and of Laguionie’s Gwen at others… In the end, the result is eminently personal and promises beautiful tomorrows for North African animation.”

• The Other Shape – Diego Guzman (Colombia)

“This year, the honor of representing South America in the Contrechamp category goes to Colombian Diego Guzman. He offers us a dialogue-free futuristic film, an intriguing trip through a hallucinatory world.”

• My Grandfather’s Demons – Nuno Beato (Spain, France, Portugal)

“A real swoop down into the family novel, My Grandfather’s Demons surprises by its transition from one technique to the next, as well as by the density of its discourse on roots and the impact of the latter on our social relationships.”

• Quantum Cowboys – Geoff Marslett (U.S.A.)

“Now here is a very strange Western in which the director uses rotoscoping and adds elements of time travel. An eye-opener for the selection committee and a film we want to share today with festival-goers.”

• Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish – Lei Lei (U.S.A., Netherlands)

“The Chinese artist Lei Lei is back, with this teeming feature where he explores his family past, creating a kind of huge surrealistic collage dotted with pop art references. First shown in Rotterdam, Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish is one of the most singular objects of the 2022 Annecy selection.”

• Chun Tae-il: A Flame That Lives On – Jun-pyo Hong (South Korea)

“This is a film that sweeps us into the heart of the Seoul tailors’ labor struggles. Of classic composition, this moving social drama is sourced in the true story of one of the labor movement’s most emblematic figures.”

• Yaya e Lennie – The Walking Liberty – The Walking Liberty – Alessandro Rak (Italy)

“For his third representation in Annecy competition, the Italian Alessandro Rak is back with a lighthearted film, an ecological sci-fi fable. At times Yaya e Lennie seems as if it is transposing Of Mice and Men into a post-apocalyptic scene.”

Images, from l-to-r: “Nayola,” “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,” “Unicorn Wars”