French animated works have been widely selected in general film festivals in recent months. Among the selections of the Locarno Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), Venice International Film Festival, and BIFF, 22 French creations were shown, 16 of which were in Competition, with four of the latter shown in two different events.
Locarno Film Festival
This festival was the opportunity to discover various French works, short and long, exclusively in competition. Alain Ughetto's No Dogs or Italians Allowed featured in the Piazza Grande strand. Then came two films in Locarno Kids: Dragon Princess by Anthony 'Tot' Roux and Jean-Jacques Denis, and Yuku and the Flower of the Himalayas directed by Arnaud Demuynck and Rémi Durin. And Shadow of the Butterflies by Sofia El Khyari and Watch the fire or burn inside it directed by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel competed in the Corti d’autore Competition.
Venice International Film Festival
Among the nine French animation films presented in Venice, seven were part of the competitive selection for the Venice immersive category which honored virtual reality works:
- All Unsaved Progress Will Be Lost by Mélanie Courtinat
- Ascenders by Jonathan Astruc and Jonathan Tamene
- Mandala - A brief Moment in Time by Thomas Villepoux
- Eternelle Notre-Dame by Guillaume Martini
- Fight Back by Céline Tricart
- Okawari by Landia Egal and Amaury La Burthe
- Rencontre(s) by Mathias Chelebourg
Another French virtual reality creation was presented in the Venice VR category: On the Morning You Wake (To The End Of The World) by the trio Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, and Pierre Zandrowicz. The French animation selection in Venice also included a short film by Tom CJ Brown entitled Christopher at Sea in the Orizzonti strand.
TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival)
After its appearance in Locarno, Shadow of the Butterflies by Sofia El Khyari was invited to Toronto in the Shorts Cuts strand, accompanied by two other short films in the same section: Ice Merchants by João Gonzalez and Backflip by Nikita Diakur. Another French work joined them, namely Pierre Földes's feature film Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman in the Contemporary World Cinema section.
BIFF
From October 5 through 14, 2022 the BIFF took place in which two French works were presented respectively in the World Cinema and Open Cinéma strands:
- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Pierre Földes, which had presented one month earlier at Toronto.
- The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess by Michel Ocelot
MIA International Audiovisual Market in Rome
This year, four film projects in development or in production were presented to an audience of European professionals gathered for the first Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum:
- Félix ! Il peut tout expliquer ! de Thomas Leclercq, Ludovic Lefebvre and Lucas de Thier (produced by Sacrebleu Productions)
- Camarades by Olivier Patté (produced by Blick Productions)
- Sidi Kaba et la porte du retour by Rony Hotin (produced by Special Touch Studios)
- Round and Round The Wishing Well by Hugo De Faucompret (produced by Laïdak Films)
BFI London Film Festival
During the same period, Michel Ocelot's film, mentioned above, was also presented at the BFI London Film Festival in the Family strand. In addition, there was an eclectic selection of four other French films. Among them, two animated features, Unicorn Wars by Alberto Vázquez in the Cult section and Nayola by José Miguel Ribeiro in Journey. A short was in Official Competition, Bird in the Peninsula by Atsushi Wada, and rounding off the French titles, two reality works in LFF Expanded: Missing Pictures 1 - Abel Ferrara, Birds of Prey by Clément Deneux, and All Unsaved Progress Will Be Lost by Mélanie Courtinat which, as noted above, had also been shown at the Venice International Film Festival .
Festa do Cinema Francês
Two French animated feature films were shown at the Festa do Cinema Francês in Portugal, from October 26 to November 20:
Semaine du film français de Berlin
The 22nd French Film Week in Berlin offered two animated films in its youth program:
- Ernest and Célestine : A Journey in Charabia by Julien Chheng, Jean-Christophe Roger
- Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be by Amandine Fredon, Benjamin Massoubre
Festival du film français en République tchèque
The French Film Festival in the Czech Republic hosted the country's premiere of Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be. Three French animated shorts were also part of the evening's program dedicated to short films:
- Terra Incognita by Adrian Dexter and Pernille Kjaer
- Skinned by Joachim Hérissé
- The Umbrella by Claire Ledru
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal (FNC)
The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma took place from October 5 through 16, Montreal avec une belle présence de l’animation tricolore. Alberto Vázquez's feature Unicorn Wars was presented in the Temps Zéro, the immersive works Biolum, On the Morning You Wake (To The End Of The World) and Kubo Walks the City were in the FNC eXPlore competition and two French shorts were in International Competition, with six others in the Youth Competition.
The short film Backflip was awarded the Best Animation in the Nouveaux Alchimistes Competition.
Festival du film français au Japon
Within the framework of the French Film Festival in Yokohama,organized every year by Unifrance in Yokohama, Unifrance has created a focus on stop-motion with the support of the Ambassade de France in Japan. On this occasion, the directors Alain Ughetto, Héloïse Ferlay, Violette Delvoye, Chloé Alliez, Bruno Collet, Sarah Van Den Boom, Frédéric Even, Louise Mercadier came to present their works in stop-motion to the Japanese public. This delegation of directors was accompanied by the producer Mathieu Courtois (Vivement Lundi !).
On Friday, December 2, the whole delegation participated in a professional day at the Institut Français of Tokyo where they were able to exchange with Japanese professionals who work in stop-motion or more generally in animation.
On Saturday December 3, a screening of short films took place in the presence of the directors. The following films were presented:
- The Girls of the Wind by Héloïse Ferlay
- To the Dusty Sea by Héloïse Ferlay
- Sororal by Louise Mercadier and Frédéric Even
- Raymonde or the Vertical Escape by Sarah Van Den Boom
- Memorable by Bruno Collet
- Inglorious Liaisons by Violette Delvoye and Chloé Alliez
A screening of No Dogs or Italians Allowed, directed by Alain Ughetto, also took place the same day.
Rounding off this festival report, a master class focusing on No Dogs or Italians Allowed was held on December 4. The film's coproducer Mathieu Courtois (Vivement Lundi !) and director Bruno Collet, who was an animator on this film, outlined the production challenges posed by the film and the manufacturing methods used.
Short takes:
- Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be delighted audiences at the 30th French Film Festival UK.
- Michel Ocelot latest film, The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess, was presented in the Alice Nella Cita strand of the Festa del Cinema in Rome.
- The Siren by Sepideh Farsi will receive its world premiere in the Panorama competitive section of the Berlin International Film Festival - 2023.
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