May 2, 2022

Annecy Announces 20 Features in Competition Lineup

Annecy International Animated Film Festival returns to a fully face-to-face format this year, announcing today an impressive competition lineup that welcomes guests back to Europe's leading animation festival in June.

Four of Cartoon Brew's "Five Mature Films to Look Forward to in 2022" will be in Annecy this year. Charlotte, directed by Eric Wallin and Tahir Rana, Unicorn Wars, directed by Alberto Vazquez, and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, directed by Pierre Foldes, in the Feature Competition; and in the Contrôle Champs. Nuno Beato's "My Grandfather's Demons" will be entered.

Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre's Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be will arrive in Annecy shortly after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. [Mickaël Marinm, CEO of Annecy's parent company, CITIA, said of the impulse that determined this year's lineup. To reconnect with the soul of the festival, which is composed of encounters and sharing, and to rekindle the high spirits of the cinema." We imagined that this year's festival would be a firework of creativity and diversity, showcasing the vibrant power of cinema, of which we are so proud"

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"The Festival's 2022 selection is diverse and remarkable. It is a testament to the vitality of animation and the remarkable growth in global production over the last few years." The quality and quantity is such that it feels cramped within the largest animation festival in the world."

Annecy did not have an exact count of the number of feature-length films submitted, but stated that approximately 100 submissions were received. The short films in Competition were announced earlier. The festival will be held in France from June 13 to 18.

Below is the full list of Annecy's feature and contretemps competition films, as well as Director Jean's comments on their selection.

"The all-too-brief life of Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish painter who died at the age of 26 in Auschwitz, is portrayed in a gripping film that explores the temperament of an outstanding artist caught in the vortex of history."

"Goodbye Donglise, which opened in Japan in February, is both a story of friendship and a rite of passage. Funny, touching, and close to nature, it is a film that will delight anime fans."

"'Goodbye Donglise.

"'Jasmine' was a standout at the 2013 Annecy Film Festival. Now, nearly a decade later, Alain Uget is back with another film that delves deeply into his autobiography. The Annecy Film Festival is thrilled to be reunited with this all too rare auteur.

"Using animation to redraw Sampe's strokes and add color to the artist's drawings was certainly a great challenge. It is a challenge taken on by a talented team that never takes the easy way out and never feels uncomfortable with Goscinny's liveliness and Sempé's agility. It's a big, popular film that easily bridges the generation gap.

"This feature film, a meticulous adaptation of Kashiwaba's novel, evokes memories of the tragic 2011 disaster. While the structure of the film's first few minutes may seem relatively conventional, the rest of the film is undoubtedly full of surprises, some of which could be described as experimental.

"Signe Baumanné, one of the great forces in contemporary feminist animation, offers us a second feature film that pursues a unique and consistent approach. Intimate yet tear-jerking without forgetting the joy brought by the songs interspersed throughout the story. "

"Politically and socially, José Miguel Ribeiro delves into Angolan history and the fate of three women from the same family. It is a tribute to the struggles of these brave Angolan women whose lives have been marked by the violence of history. It is a highly successful transition from short format to feature film by an acclaimed short filmmaker.

"This may well be the most eagerly awaited animated feature of the year. This free adaptation of several of Haruki Murakami's short stories is quite unique, and its structure respects the characteristics of the novels that inspired the filmmaker.

"Winner of the 2012 Cristal for Best Feature Film, Anka Damian, in her unique and always surprising style, freely revisits the myth of Robinson Crusoe, treating the audience to a dive into her baroque territory."

"The second feature film from the prolific and talented Spaniard Alberto Vazquez captivates us with its visual splendor, spare staging, and originality. It delights not only the eye, but the spirit as well. [In this animated documentary, flawlessly directed by Inna Sahakyan, silent film star Aurora Mardiganian is brought back to life to tell the story of the genocide she survived. This is a film that has come back to life from the winds of history."

"Here again, an animated documentary focusing on the fate and dreams of young Mexican immigrants to the U.S. Three stories, told in many graphic and technical styles, with a burning topicality."

"Festival regular Koji Yamamura delivers a meditative and enigmatic first feature that builds a languid charm as his neat graphics delicately unfold. Definitely a film to discover.

"What bliss to welcome an Algerian feature film to this competition for the first time. Laid-back, contemplative, almost esoteric, Khamsa reminds me at times of Laloux and at others of Laguionie's Gwen.... Ultimately, the result is extremely personal and promises a beautiful tomorrow for North African animation.

"The honor of representing South America in the Contre-Champion category this year goes to Diego Guzman of Colombia. He delivers a futuristic film with no dialogue and an intriguing journey through a hallucinatory world.

"'Grandfather Devil' surprises by its transition from one technique to the next and by the density of discourse on roots and the impact of roots on our social relations."

"Here is a very strange western in which the director uses rotoscoping and adds a time travel element. It is an eye-opener for the selection committee and a film we would like to share with festival-goers today."

"Chinese artist Lei Lei is back. Exploring his family's past, he has created a giant surrealistic collage-like work interspersed with Pop Art references. Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish," premiered in Rotterdam, is one of the most singular works in the 2022 Annecy selection.

"This is a film that transports us to the heart of the labor dispute among the tailors of Seoul. Classically structured, this moving social drama is based on the true story of one of the labor movement's most iconic figures.

"For his third entry in Competition at Annecy, Italian director Alessandro Lacque returns with a light-hearted film that is an ecological sci-fi fable...Yaya e Lennie is like a post-apocalyptic scene from Of Mice and Men as if it had been replaced by a post-apocalyptic scene.

Images, left to right: "Nayora," "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman," "Unicorn Wars"