Since the beginning of February 2022, events specialising in animation have allowed French animated productions to be seen by many festival-goers around the world. French animated films have been highly visible in recent months, starting with Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen (a minority-French production) which received the Annie Award for Best Independent Film during an online ceremony on February 26.
Cartoon Movie
As we announced in early March, the European pitching and coproduction forum, Cartoon Movie, welcomed 24 French projects (or French coproductions). Every year, this event is the occasion for Eurimages to announce its Coproduction Development Award, with the recipient receiving €20,000. This year, six French projects were among the nominees for this award: Flow, produced in France by Sacrebleu Productions, Living Large, produced in France by Novanima, Melville, produced by Creative Touch Studios and Special Touch Studios in France, Starseed, also produced by Special Touch Studios for the French part, Trip to Teulada, produced in France by Isla Productions and 2d3D Animations, and Young Vincent, produced in France by Tchack.
The Belgian-French project Melvile, codirected by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier, won the award this year.
The Cartoon Tributes were also awarded during this edition, after a year's absence due to the 2021 edition moving online. The Tribute for Best Director of the Year was awarded to Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the director of Flee (a minority French coproduction). The Tribute for Best Distributor of the Year went to Charades, while the Tribute for Best Producers of the Year was awarded to Fresh Films (Czech Republic), Les Films du Cygne (France), Cinemart (Slovakia), and Animoon (Poland) for their work on Even Mice Belong in Heaven.
Tokyo Anime Award Festival
The 9th edition of the TAAF was held from March 11 through 14, 2022. Twenty French animation titles were presented, including the feature film My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlátová. French animation met with success as both Grand Prizes were awarded to French works: My Sunny Maad received the Feature Animation Grand Prize and Souvenir Souvenir by Bastien Dubois was awarded the Short Animation Grand Prize.
GLAS Animation
In total, 21 French animated shorts were presented to the Californian public during the 2022 edition of GLAS Animation. This year the festival took place online from April 6 through 10. At the end of the event, four French works were on the list of winners: Pests received the Grand Prix, Goodbye Jerome! took home the New Talent Award, Luce and the Rock won the Family Competition Award, and Noir-soleil was singled out for a Special Mention.
Japan Media Arts Award
Many awards and mentions were given to French animated films at the 25th edition of the Japan Media Arts Award, in the category dedicated to animation. The feature Dozens of Norths by Koji Yamamura received the Excellence Award for Animated Feature Film, while Letter to a Pig by Tal Kantor received the Excellence Award for Animated Short. Among the Mentions of the jury, we find five French titles, including four short films and the feature film Calamity by Rémi Chayé: Yallah !, Anxious Body, The Seine's Tears, and Steakhouse.
Cartoon Next
The European association Cartoon organized for the first time an event around "the future of animation," called CartoonNext. Animation professionals met in Marseille from April 12 through 15 for conferences and pitch sessions for virtual reality and/or multimedia projects. Four French projects (or French coproductions) were presented at this event:
- Eyes of Shame by Tomas Tamosaitis, produced by Joni Art (Lithuania), Insomniak (France), and the Institute for Transmedia Design (Slovenia).
- Here by Daniel Calabuig, Aymeric Castaing, and Beatriz Osorio, produced by Patrones y Escondites (Spain) and Umanimation (France)
- Lumières ! by Agnès Bovet-Pavy, Fabien Bourdier, and Jean-Baptiste Marot, produced by Les Films du Tambour de Soie (France), Small Creative (France), and Auteurs et Cies (France).
- Sakamon Castle by Franck Salomé and Mathieu Lenourry, produced by Mondo TV (France)
Stuttgart Trickfilm International Animated Film Festival
Stuttgart Trickfilm International Animated Film Festival took place in a hybrid version from May 3 through 8. With 41 French films on the bill, we can say that Trickfilm is a great place for French animation production.
There were 13 French shorts or French coproductions in the International Competition, 14 in the Young Animation competition and six in Tricks for Kids (The Immoral and The Soloists were in competition in two categories each). Four short films from France featured in the Trickstar Nature Award which goes to a work on ecology, environment, or nature.
The AniMovie feature film competition had a strong French presence as four French feature films (or coproductions) were screened: Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlátová, The Crossing by Florence Miailhe, and Even Mice Belong in Heaven by Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubenicek. The list of French feature films presented at this edition was complemented by the presence of Josep by Aurel and Belleville Rendez-vous by Sylvain Chomet in the non-competitive Open-Air strand.
The AniMovie Award went to Flee, while The Immoral received the Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award for Animated Film, and The Soloists took away the FANtastic Award. The feature My Sunny Maad was given a Special Mention, as were the shorts Steakhouse, The Seine's Tears, and Mum is Pouring Rain.
FICAM
The Festival International de Cinéma d’Animation de Meknès took place from May 6 through 11 in Morocco. This festival was an opportunity for the Moroccan public to discover 12 excellent French animated feature films:
- The Summit of the Gods
- Le Pharaon, le sauvage et la princesse
- Wolfwalkers
- The Island
- My Sunny Maad
- The Crossing
- Even Mice Belong in Heaven
- Icarus
- Dragon Princess
- My Neighbors’ Neighbors
- Fireheart
- Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness
The French presence was completed by a large program of French animated shorts as well as conferences, round tables, workshops, and other meetings highlighting French creation. Click here for more details.
Animafest Zagreb
The 2022 edition of Animafest Zagreb will take place from June 6 through 11 in Zagreb and will offer an opportunity to see a fine selection of French animation on the big screen.
Indeed, there are 36 French (or partially French) animated shorts in the different dedicated categories: 11 appear in the Grand Competition as well as in the Films for Children Competition, 10 in the Student Film Competition and four in the non-competitive "World Panorama" category.
In addition to this fine selection of French shorts, there are three French feature films in the Grand Competition: Dozens of Norths by Koji Yamamura, The Crossing by Florence Miailhe, and My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlátová.
Hiroshima Animation Season
The first edition of the Hiroshima Animation Season will take place in Japan from August 17 through 21, 2022. This sterling initiative is also accompanied by a residency program in which three artists-animators are hosted for a period of six months to develop a project.
Nine French animated shorts will share the bill this year:
- Bird in the Peninsula by Atsushi Wada
- Flowing Home by Sandra Desmazières
- A Story for 2 Trumpets by Amandine Meyer
- Precious by Paul Mas
- I'm Late by Sawako Kabuki
- Swallow the Universe by Nieto
- The Summer Holidays by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier
Click here for more information about the Hiroshima Animation Season 2022.
The next deadlines for entries in animation festivals
| Festival | Format(s) | Deadline |
| Fantoche | Short films | 05/15/2022 |
| Ottawa International Animation Festival - OIAF | All formats | 05/31/2022 |
| Bucheon International Animation Festival – BIAF | Short, student, television, and commissioned films | 06/30/2022 |
| Anim’Est | All formats | 06/20/2022 |
| Bucheon International Animation Festival – BIAF | Feature films and VR | 07/31/2022 |
* If you would like to let us know about a film selection, award, or success story that we have not mentioned, please contact us: carla.negre@unifrance.org
