With more than 200 selections listed for this newsletter, we can say that French animation has had a prominent place in the selections of international animation festivals and festivals dedicated to young audiences in recent months. This trend will continue in the coming months.
Manchester Animation Festival
More than 31 French works, including the feature films Flee (minority French production) and My Sunny Maad (minority), were part of the selection of the Manchester Animation Festival which took place from November 14 to 30, 2021. At the end of this edition, three French films were awarded: Flee won the prize for Best Feature Film and Blue Curry was awarded Best Children's Film.
Cinanima
Three French films featured in the awards list of the 2021 edition of Cinanima in Portugal: Maalbeek received Best Short in the "Documentary Animation" category, Souvenir Souvenir garnered a Special Mention in the same category, and Coffin scooped a Special Mention in the "Students Films" category.
FIAF Animation First
The only festival dedicated to French animation in the U.S., Animation First will take place in a hybrid format this year with physical events on the first weekend, from Friday, February 11 to Sunday, February 13, and then an online extension for the rest of the festival from February 14 to 21. Florence Miailhe will be the guest of honor for this edition and will travel to the festival with the support of Unifrance.
Eight feature films are in the strand dedicated to them: The Crossing by Florence Miailhe will open the festival and The Summit of the Gods by Patrick Imbert will close it. Dragon Princess, My Neighbors’ Neighbors, My Sunny Maad, Little Vampire, The Bears' Famous Invasion, and The Tower complete this strand.
In terms of shorts, 67 titles from France will be shown this year, including 13 films in the Short Film Competition and 19 in the Students Shorts Competition. The rest of the short films presented will be in non-competitive programs.
Five Work in Progress titles also join this vast selection. Season 2 of the Last Man series will be presented by its director Jérémie Hoarau, the feature project Interdit aux chiens et aux italiens will be presented by Alain Ughetto, Le Petit Nicolas will be presented by Benjamin Massoubre and Amandine Fredon, The Inventor will be presented by Jim Capobianco, accompanied by executive producer Ilan Urroz, and L’Étrange Collection will be presented bt Izù Troin, Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli, Fabrice Luang-Vija, Benoît Razy, Morten Riisberg Hansen, and Hefang Wei.
Anima
Anima, the Brussels International Animation Festival, will be held this year in a hybrid version from February 25 through March 4. Once again, France features strongly in the selection, with more than sixty French works in various categories:
The Summit of the Gods by Patrick Imbert will open the festival and 11 other French features, including French-minority productions, will be shown to Belgian audiences during the event:
- Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
- My Neighbors’ Neighbors by Anne-Laure Daffis and Léo Marchand
- My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlátová
- Charlotte by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana
- The Crossing by Florence Miailhe
- The Island by Anca Damian
- Dragon Princess by Anthony Roux and Jean-Jacques Denis
- Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness by Ben Stassen and Benjamin Mousquet
- Even Mice Belong in Heaven by Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubenicek
- Where Is Anne Frank by Ari Folman
- Pil by Julien Fournet
In terms of shorts, 49 French titles feature in different categories, with nine French films in International Competition, another nine in the International Competition dedicated to young audiences, and four coproductions with Belgium in the National Competition. Click here for the full Anima 2022 lineup.
Let us also note that Futuranima, the professional meetings organized in parallel to the festival, will be devoted to Franco-Belgian cooperation this year:
- An information session on opportunities, aimed at students, in French schools is scheduled for March 1, followed by a screening of French graduation films called "French Air."
- Yuku et la fleur de l’Himalaya, a Franco-Belgian feature project, will be presented the same day.
- The following day, Futuranima participants may attend a Work in Progress by Nayola, a coproduction in Portugal, France, The Netherlands, and Belgium.
- A conference ("Franco-Belgian coproductions: what opportunities?") will take place on March 4.
- Lastly, three French films will be presented in the presence of their respective filmmakers at several evening events: My Sunny Maad, The Crossing, and The Summit of the Gods.
Tokyo Anime Awards
The films nominated for the Tokyo Anime Award Festival were announced at the end of the December and this 2022 edition is going to be rich in French animation! We find My Sunny Maad in the Feature Film Competition and 19 French titles in the Short Film Competition. Click here to discover all the films nominated for TAAF 2022.
In brief
- The Molang (photo) series won the Best Animated Series Award at the International Original Animation Competition in Xi’an
- Wolfwalkers won the Best Feature at the Italian festival Cartoon on the Bay
- The Crossing by Florence Miailhe received the Gedanken-Aufschluss Award at DOK Leipzig. This prize is awarded by a jury of juvenile inmates of the Regis-Breitingen detention center
- Three French works were among the award-winners at the Belgian festival Filem’on focused on children and youth: the feature Even Mice Belong in Heaven received the Press Award UFK-UCC, the series Non-non rétrécit won theTV Animation Award, and the short Kiko and the Animals took home the ECFA Short Award.
- The VIEW Awards, announced during the VIEW conference, included three French works: Louis's Shoes was awarded Grand Prix, while the Prix du Jury (Ex-Aequo) went to Yallah ! and The Seine's Tears
- 14 French shorts feature in the Children's Film Festival Seattle.
Calls for films from international festivals and markets
| Event | Formats | Deadline | Contact |
| Annecy International Animated Film Market (MIFA) | MIFA pitches (all formats) | 08/02 | |
| Annecy International Animation Film Festival | Shorts, television, commissioned, and student films | 15/02 | laurentmillion@citia.org |
| Hiroshima Animation Season | Shorts and features | 28/02 | info@animation.hiroshimafest.org |
| Annecy International Animation Film Festival | Features | 15/03 | laurentmillion@citia.org |
| Animafest Zagreb | Features and VR | 15/03 | entries@animafest.hr |
| VR works | 6/04 | laurentmillion@citia.org | |
| Fantoche | Shorts | 15/05 | film@fantoche.ch |
For your information, the first edition of Hiroshima Animation Season is accompanied by the opening of a residency open to animation professionals from around the world. Applications are available from February 1 and will be accepted until the maximum number of applications is reached. For more information, please visit the festival website or contact info@animation.hiroshimafest.org.
*If you would like to tell us about a selection, an award, a success that is not mentioned, please contact us: carla.negre@unifrance.org
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