The vitality of the French animation industry was on show through a rich lineup of international events during the last quarter of 2025 and the first half of 2026. From specialized festivals showcasing feature-length and short films to must-attend industry events and prestigious ceremonies like the Oscars, discover how French animation continues to captivate, innovate, and make its mark on the global stage.
French animation in international events
Berlinale
The 2026 Berlinale was held from February 12 to 22, 2026
● Film in Competition: A New Dawn by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (minority-French co-production), a visually exquisite debut animated feature film that combines family mystery, environmental themes, and the trials of adolescence.
European Film Awards
At the European Film Awards (January 17, 2026), two French films were nominated in the European Film and European Animated Feature Film categories:
● Arco by Ugo Bienvenu: Winner of the European Animated Feature Film Award. (Also nominated for the European Young Audience Award.)
● Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
● Tales From the Magic Garden (P. Pašš, D. Súkup, L. Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec)
Annie Awards
The Annie Awards were held on February 21, 2026, in Los Angeles, and recognized several major achievements in animated film:
● Arco by Ugo Bienvenu: Won the Annie Award for Best Independent Feature, after being nominated in several prestigious categories such as Best Direction, Best Storyboarding, Best Editorial, and Best Music.
● Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han: Received significant recognition with nominations for Best Feature, Best Character Animation - Feature, Best Direction, Best Storyboarding, Best Writing, Best Editorial, and Best Music.
● A Magnificent Life by Sylvain Chomet: Nominated in the Best Independent Feature category.
Academy Awards
At the 2026 Oscars, French animation shone in the short film categories:
● Butterfly cirected by Florence Miailhe (produced by Sacrebleu Productions and Xbo Films): Nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
The festival took place from June 21 to 27, 2026
The lineup for the 2026 edition once again confirmed the vitality of French filmmaking, with a strong presence across various sections, including six feature films in Competition:
Official Competition (feature films)
- Iron Boy by Louis Clichy: A highly anticipated title, which had already drawn attention upon its selection at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard category, the film went on to win the Jury Prize, the Audience Award, and the Gan Foundation Prize for Distribution. It received the Jury Award at Annecy.
- Viva Carmen by Sébastien Laudenbach: The director returned to the spotlight after winning the Cristal for a Feature Film in 2023 for Chicken for Linda!.
- Le Dossier de l'aube by Émilie Hitier-Phuong and Rupert Wyatt: An ambitious Franco-British collaboration blending Hollywood expertise with artistic finesse.
- Lucy Lost by Olivier Clert: A highly anticipated adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s masterpiece, promising a powerful maritime epic.
- We Are Aliens by Kohei Kadowaki: A bold and unique science fiction project.
Contrechamps
- Blaise by Jean-Paul Guigue and Dimitri Planchon, which won the Contrechamps Grand Prix.
- Mu Yi and the Handsome General by Julien Chheng
- A New Dawn by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, which won the Contrechamps Jury Award.
Midnight Specials
Annecy Presents
- Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs by Cherifa Bakhti
- La Fille dans les nuages by Philippe Riche
- Yugly by Jérémie Degruson and Yanis Belaid
Unifrance's presence at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival
This year, Unifrance’s program was expanded thanks to its participation in the Anima Mundi project, an initiative supported by the European Commission as part of the Horizon program (the European Union’s research and innovation program).
Through the Anima Mundi initiative, the goal was to connect and actively promote the animation ecosystem around three major pillars: aligning policy and industry strategies, mapping discoverability and audience engagement, and stimulating creativity and competitiveness.
Unifrance x Anima Mundi roundtable: Exporting European Co-productions
Moderated by Daniela Elstner (Executive Director of Unifrance), this roundtable brought together Katarzyna Siniarska (Head of Sales at New Europe Film Sales) and Sarah Colvin (SVP of Acquisitions at Neon) to analyze the major trends in the European animation market. The panel was introduced by a presentation on the Anima Mundi project and Unifrance’s involvement.
Prior to the roundtable, a Unifrance x Anima Mundi luncheon was organized to bring together, for the first time in Annecy, French and European industry professionals and institutional representatives. This special event allowed researchers from the Anima Mundi consortium to meet with industry stakeholders, discuss key challenges, and forge new synergies.
Unifrance's booth
The Unifrance booth at MIFA was located at site number G.09. The booth was made available free of charge to Unifrance members for holding their meetings. This year, the space was expanded to accommodate members of the Anima Mundi project.
"Voices of French Animation" interviews
The Unifrance team conducted several interviews with the people behind French films in Competition. These videos were intended to highlight the leading figures in French animation today. This series was further enriched by interviews with their European peers.
France-Taiwan meeting
A new meeting organized by Unifrance and TAICCA (Taiwan Creative Content Agency) was held to bring together French and Taiwanese producers with the aim of creating future opportunities for co-productions.
Animation festivals in the world
🇦🇲 ReAnimania Festival of Erevan (Armenia)
From October 19 to 25, 2025
Official Competition
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar
- Death Does Not Exist by Félix Dufour-Laperrière
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake by Irène Iborra
- A Magnificent Life by Sylvain Chomet
- The Songbirds' Secret by Antoine Lanciaux
🇪🇸 Gijón International Film Festival (Spain)
From November 14 to 22, 2025
Enfants Terribles
- Animal Tales of Christmas Magic by Camille Alméras, Caroline Attia Larrivière, Ceylan Beyoglu, Haruna Kishi, Olesya Shchukina, and Natalia Chernysheva
🇺🇸 Animation First (United States)
From February 3 to 8, 2026
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar: North American premiere (out of competition).
- Death Does Not Exist by Félix Dufour-Laperrière: American premiere.
- Heart of Darkness by Rogério Nunes: American premiere.
- Arco by Ugo Bienvenu: Highly awaited screening in New York.
- The Songbirds' Secret by Antoine Lanciaux and Tales From the Magic Garden: Enriching the programming lineup with their local premieres.
🇧🇪 Anima (Belgium)
From February 20 to March 1, 2026
Official Competition
- Death Does Not Exist by Félix Dufour-Laperrière
- Arco by Ugo Bienvenu
- The Songbirds' Secret by Antoine Lanciaux
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake by Irene Iborra
- A Magnificent Life by Sylvain Chomet
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
- The Legendaries by Guillaume Ivernel
- Mary Anning by Marcel Barelli
- Dandelion's Odyssey by Momoko Seto
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar: winner of the Award for Best Animated Feature.
- Tales From the Magic Garden by P. Pašš, D. Súkup, L. Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec: winner of the Award for Best Animated Feature for Children.
Out of competition
🇯🇵 Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF) (Japan)
From February 20 to 25, 2026
Official Compétition
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar (co-produced with Luxembourg, Belgium, and Canada).
🇯🇵 Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF) (Japan)
From March 13 to 16, 2026
Official Competition
Special Screening
- Arco by Ugo Bienvenu
🇳🇱 Kaboom Animation Festival (The Netherlands)
From March 13 to 22, 2026
Official Competition
- Death Does Not Exist by Félix Dufour-Laperrière
- Dandelion's Odyssey by Momoko Seto
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar: Winner of the Audience Award.
Special Screening
Spotlight on Florence Miailhe involving a masterclass and a re-screening of her feature film The Crossing (2021).
🇩🇪 Stuttgart Trickfilm International Film Festival (Germany)
From May 5 to 10, 2026
Official Competition
- Allah Is Not Obliged by Zaven Najjar
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
- La Vie de château - Mon enfance à Versailles by Nathaniel H'Limi and Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat
Kids & Family
- Tales From the Magic Garden by Patrik Pašš, David Súkup, Leon Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec
- Mary Anning by Marcel Barelli
🇲🇦 Meknes International Animation Film Festival (Morocco)
From May 15 to 20, 2026
Official Competition
- A Magnificent Life – In the presence of its director Sylvain Chomet
- Allah Is Not Obliged – In the presence of its director Zaven Najjar
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake – In the presence of its director Irene Iborra
- The Songbirds' Secret – In the presence of its director Antoine Lanciaux
- Arco – In the presence of its assistant director Annaelle Saba (directed by Ugo Bienvenu)
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – In the presence of its co-director Maïlys Vallade
- Death Does Not Exist – In the presence of its director Félix Dufour-Laperrière
🇭🇷 Animafest Zagreb (Croatia)
From June 8 to 13, 2026
Official Competition
Unifrance events: MyMetaStories and MyFrenchAnimationDays (MyFAD)
MyMetaStories: a lively and immersive third edition
The third edition of MyMetaStories, organized by Unifrance with support from the Creative Europe MEDIA program, took place from October 10 to November 2, 2025, showcasing 18 European films, including several French animated works: the short films Yuck! (which won the Audience Award in Minecraft®) and Forever, along with the feature film Living Large.
From October 10 to 12, in Minecraft®, players were able to watch the first four episodes of the French animated series Samuel directed by Émilie Tronche, and the exclusive trailer for Sylvain Chomet's latest animated feature, A Magnificent Life, along with short films screened in themed virtual theaters and numerous mini-games.
In total, more than 8,000 viewers followed the event in Minecraft via influencers’ Twitch livestreams, with nearly 10,000 views for all episodes of Samuel and more than 3,000 for the A Magnificent Life trailer. Whether it was the screening of short films or the exclusive premiere of the trailer for A Magnificent Life, animation has played a key role in the success of MyMetaStories throughout these three editions.
Over the course of three editions, MyMetaStories has established itself as a cutting-edge laboratory combining film and video games. The project has fulfilled its mission of building a bridge between young gamers and European cinema. Unifrance has successfully reached new audiences through an immersive format.
MyFrenchAnimationDays (MyFAD): A second edition to celebrate animation
Unifrance launched the second edition of MyFrenchAnimationDays (MyFAD), which took place from October 11 to 31 (dates corresponding to France's Fête du Cinéma). This initiative was designed to highlight the creativity of French animation and its industry, with the aim of raising awareness of this dynamic sector among audiences around the world. The event was organized with the support of its partners, particularly its member distributors, producers, and animation exporters. The 2025 edition centered on World Animation Day, celebrated on October 28 by ASIFA (International Animated Film Association).
Three highlights marked the event:
● Discovery workshops in schools: Devised for children ages 3 to 10 (from preschool through fifth grade), these workshops were intended to stimulate children's curiosity and develop their imagination through play-based learning. Developed in collaboration with a teacher, an educational kit was provided to educators, including an episode of a series for classroom screening, behind-the-scenes videos, teaching guides, and a contest. Three series were featured for this second edition: Alice & Lewis (Blue Spirit / STUDIO TF1 Distribution), Barbapapa en famille ! (Normaal Animation / FESTIVAAL Distribution), and Belfort & Lupin (Ellipse Animation / Mediatoon Distribution).
● Online discussion: Titled “French Animation: From Creation to International Development” and moderated by Daniela Elstner (Executive Director of Unifrance), this roundtable brought together Jean-François Tosti (TAT productions), who reflected on his studio’s 25-year journey, and Grégoire Melin (Kinology), who shared his expertise on film distribution abroad. Together, they provided valuable insights into the creation and distribution of French animation in international markets.
● Special In-Person Screenings: Audiences in several countries were able to discover a selection of exceptional French films in theaters, through local distributors or Instituts Français: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Arco, Pets on a Train, A Magnificent Life, and Maya, Give Me a Title.
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