Annecy Reveals Programming Details For Its 2021 Hybrid Edition

Annecy has unveiled more programming for what is set to be its first hybrid edition, taking place on June 14–19. Those who can make it to the Alpine town in France will be presented with in-person screenings and industry events, while the rest of us — Cartoon Brew’s team included — will tune into the online platform, like at last year’s all-virtual festival.

The program is a mix of elements carried over from 2020’s disrupted edition and new events. Last year marked the 60th anniversary of this longest-running of animation festivals, but the birthday celebrations will be held this time around. The festival has said that in-person attendance will be capped at 5,000 participants, which is 60% less than the pre-pandemic high.

“The 60th — the screening,” which will take place onsite, will feature a line-up of one-minute shorts by 11 Annecy-winning directors, a short by Bruno Bozzetto that played in competition at the inaugural edition in 1960, and the world premiere of the Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) short film Far From the Tree.

This year also sees the Africa spotlight that was originally planned for 2020. The recently announced Disney+ sci-fi series Iwájú will be presented by WDAS and pan-African entertainment company Kugali.

Over at MIFA, the festival’s accompanying market, South African artist and animator William Kentridge will appear in conversation with N’Goné Fall, general curator of France’s Africa2020 Season (of which Annecy’s spotlight is a part). Kentridge will also get a retrospective at the festival. Meanwhile, Ivorian comics artist Marguerite Abouet and other guests will speak about the animation industry and their ties with Africa.

There will be making-of presentations on Dreamworks’ latest features The Boss Baby 2: Family Business and Spirit Untamed, Netflix’s anthology series Love, Death + Robots (whose second season premiered this month), and Baobab Studios’ Namoo, which has both a vr and a theatrical incarnation and is directed by Erick Oh. A keynote presentation on the state of immersive entertainment will include a sneak peek at Evolver — Prologue, a vr experience led by Terrence Malick.

Finally, three women directors — Signe Baumane, Joanna Quinn, Martina Scarpelli — will speak in a masterclass about their career choices and the themes underlying their works.

Many other events were previously announced, including:

• 17 work-in-progress presentations
• A screening of animation from the Maghreb
• Lady Buckit & the Motley Mopsters, a Nigerian feature film by Adebisi Adetayo
• The MIFA conference “Understand African Animation: Collaboration at the Core of Today and Tomorrow’s Strategies”
• A MIFA presentation of 21 projects from Africa (plus one comic book project for adaptation)
• MIFA pitches for features, shorts, tv series and specials, digital experiences, and comics

To discover the films in competition this year, click here for features and here for everything else. To explore the festival and MIFA programs in full, head to Annecy’s website.

Stay tuned to Cartoon Brew for full coverage of Annecy — including more information on the online offering.