First established in 1960, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival is the oldest event in the world devoted to the animated form in all its incarnations (film, television, music videos, commercials, immersive experiences), and one of four festivals sponsored by ASIFA (the International Animated Film Association), alongside Ottawa, Hiroshima and Zagreb. Over the decades, its reputation as the unmissable summer destination for animation lovers has grown, and many big industry names enjoy returning to the French lakeside city whenever they can. In 2023, that roster includes filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro, with a Masterclass on his well-known stance that animation is cinema and not a genre as well as his connection to this year’s country in focus, Mexico; Disney’s Jennifer Lee, who will unveil early footage from the upcoming film Wish; and Aardman’s Peter Lord, who will do the same for the highly anticipated Chicken Run sequel, coming to Netflix in the very near future.
The aforementioned talks and presentations are a key aspect of Annecy’s appeal, as the festival and its numerous attendees (15,640 accredited visitors – press, professionals, students – from 103 countries, per the event’s opening day press release) show an interest in what’s to come as well as in what’s ready to be shown to the audience. The main theater in the Bonlieu building regularly fills up with aficionados curious to get a glimpse, with detailed explanations of the techniques used, of titles that won’t be finished for another few months, or sometimes even a full year (in fact, work-in-progress films, which have their own dedicated section, often come back in their completed form the year after).
Annecy is also about finding tomorrow’s talents: MIFA, the festival’s international film market, offers opportunities for animation students – some of whom may also be in the Official Selection with their graduation shorts – to talk to recruiters from companies from all over the world, and the famed animation school Les Gobelins, based in Paris, is a regular partner of the event by producing a series of trailers which pay tribute to the edition’s guest country and play on a rotating basis before each festival screening. The school’s alumni have gone on to forge admirable careers in France and elsewhere: one notable name, described by Annecy’s Artistic Delegate Marcel Jean as “an honorary citizen”, is Pierre Coffin, the co-director of the first three Despicable Me movies and main voice actor for the Minions.
And while the festival did conduct its business remotely under Covid, audience participation remains the most essential ingredient of its success, to the extent that the opening jingle – which changes every year – has often incorporated viewers’ regular habits, such as their fascination with rabbits (it is mandatory to point rabbits out when they appear on screen) and throwing paper planes onto the main stage at Bonlieu. In fact, for some screenings (including this year’s opening ceremony), paper is specifically provided for the creation of said planes. All part of the pre-show ritual, before the lights go down and everyone silently diverts their attention towards the main attraction.