Forty-eight projects selected for the Graduation Films Competition, with an additional 24 projects selected for the TV Films category; 35 projects will compete in the Commissioned Films category.
Directed by Simon Wilches-Castro for HBO, ‘The Emperor’s Newest Clothes’ is one of 24 projects selected to compete in the TV Films category at Annecy 2018.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has announced the Graduation, TV and Commissioned Films selected to compete at this year’s edition, which runs June 10-15.
The festival received more than 3,000 submissions across all competition categories from 86 countries, with the bulk of entries coming from the U.S., France and the U.K. Forty-eight projects were selected for the Graduation Films Competition, with an additional 24 projects selected for the TV Films category; 35 projects will compete in the Commissioned Films category.
Selections for Annecy 2019 were led by festival artistic director Marcel Jean and the Films & Program Planning Team, which includes Laurent Million, Yves Nougarède and Sébastien Sperer. Additional selection committee members included Peggy Zejgman-Lecarme, director of La Cinémathèque de Grenoble; Marie-Pauline Mollaret, editor-in-chief of the online magazine ecrannoir.fr; Clémence Bragard, and independent project manager, who specializes in developing animation film projects and is the program planner for the National Animation Film Festival for the AFCA; and Isabelle Vanini, program planner at the Forum des images (Carrefour du cinéma d’animation, etc.) and an animation expert for the CNC, the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Ciclic and the César.
“The 2019 Graduation Films competition selection is especially inspiring,” Jean commented. “The question of identity (starting with gender identity) comes to the surface and is a preoccupation for several young filmmakers. This year we have noticed a number of powerfully aesthetic proposals and many technical experimental pieces. We confirm that young women are increasingly present in animation schools, as 62.5% of the films selected were directed or co-directed by women!”
This year’s Graduation Films selections come from 24 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Belarus, which are represented via international schools such as CalArts (USA), the Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonia), EMCA (France), Gobelins (France), Moholy Nagy University (Hungary), Bezalel Academy of Art and Design (Israel), Tokyo Academy of the Arts (Japan), Lodz Film School (Poland), FAMU (Czeck Republic), Royal College of Arts (United Kingdom) and HSLU (Switzerland).
“The TV and Commissioned Films selection is innovative and reflects the incredible diversity of contemporary programming,” Jean continued. “From the conception of the diverse platforms and increase in channels, this results in more audacious and niche productions. We were particularly thrilled with the diversity and quality of the American TV productions, and the British commissioned film productions. We also notice that women are involved in less than a third of the selected television productions. Yet this is more balanced as 43% of the Commissioned Films chosen were directed or co-directed by women.”
The full list of selections in the Graduation, TV and Commissioned Films categories is shown below:
Graduation Short Films in Competition
- _ImEdge
Xiaowen Huang (China) - Alef B’Tamuz
Yael Reisfeld (Israel) - Baransu
Alice Lahourcade (France) - Bath House of Whales
Kiyama Mizuki (Japan) - Big Boy
Jonathan Phanhsay-Chamson (France) - Bigoudis
Marta Gennari (France) - Bird Milk
Christopher Strickler (Canada) - Chionophile
Giulia BIANCHI, Nicolina Sterbet (Italy) - Dcera
Daria Kashcheeva (Czech Republic) - Deepness of the Fry
Peter August Skov Niclasen (Denmark) - DiM
Bogdan ANIFRANI (Canada) - Dreams of Elsewhere
Naama Shohet (Israel) - Duszyczka
Barbara Rupik (Poland) - Elise
Valentine Moser (Switzerland) - Entropia
Flora Anna Buda (Hungary) - Happy Ending
EunJu Ara Choi (United Kingdom) - Heatwave
Fokion Xenos (United Kingdom) - Hedge
Amanda Bonaiuto (USA) - Keep Forgetting
Takahiro Shibata (Japan) - Les Lèvres gercées
Fabien Corre, Kelsi Phung (France) - Me and the Magnet and a Dead Friend
Maoning Liu (China) - Mold
Sujin Kim (USA, South Korea) - Nie masz dystansu
Karina Paciorkowska (Poland) - Orkesh
Ivan Ardashov (Kazakhstan) - Ovule
Natalia Durszewicz (Poland) - Play for Today
Darya Dziadok (Belarus) - Poetika Anima
Kriss Sagan (Slovakia) - Récit de soi
Géraldine Charpentier (Belgium) - Rules of Play
Merlin Fluegel (Germany) - Sahara Palace
Zélie Durand (France) - Sample Text
Amélie Cochet (Switzerland) - Social Molds Manual
Raghad Albarqi (Saudi Arabia) - Somewhere Soft
Satoe Yoshinari (Norway, Japan) - Sounds Good
Sander Joon (Estonia) - Spolu sami
Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic) - Starvation
Zahra Rostampour (Iran) - Swatted
Ismaël Joffroy-Chandoutis (France) - Sweet Sweat
Jung Hyun Kim (Estonia) - Symbiose
Paul Raillard (France) - The Act of Breathing
Yamazaki Hana (Hungary) - The Hunter
Jari Vaara (Japan) - The Little Ship
Anastasia Makhlina (Russia) - The Ostrich Politic
Mohammad Houhou (France) - The Redness of Red
Emily Downe (United Kingdom) - The Stained Club
Marie Ciesielski, Alice Jaunet, Chan Stéphie Peang, Béatrice Viguier, Mélanie Lopez, Simon Boucly (France) - These Things in My Head - Side A
Luke Bourne (United Kingdom) - Toiduahel
Mari Kivi, Liis Kokk (Estonia) - Zdravstvujte, rodniye
Sasha Alexander Vasiliev (Russia)
TV Films in Competition
- 101 Dalmatian Street “Walkies on the Wild Side”
Miklos Weigert (United Kingdom) - Apple & Onion “Fafafel’s Fun Day”
Nick Edwards (USA) - Becca’s Bunch “Wishing Stone”
Alan Shannon, Conor Finnegan (Ireland) - Big Mouth “The Planned Parenthood Show”
Bryan Francis (USA) - Crias “Crocodiles”
Camille Authouart, Mélia Gilson (France, Portugal) - Crisis Jung “Despair”
Baptiste Gaubert, Jérémie Hoarau (France) - Dino Girl Gauko “Dad’s Secret”
Akira Shigino (Japan) - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie “Dog’s Day Out”
Emmanuelle (Emma) Gignac (USA) - Kiri and Lou “Funny Feeling”
Harry Sinclair (New Zealand) - Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny “Enter the Dragon Master”
Lane Lueras (USA) - La stella di Andra e Tati
Rosalba Vitellaro, Alessandro Belli (Italy) - La Vie de château
Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat, Nathaniel H-Limi (France) - Le Parfum d’Irak “Le Cowboy de Fallujah”
Léonard Cohen (France) - Mr. Magoo “Dances with Walruses”
Hugo Gittard (France) - Panique au village “La Foire agricole”
Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier (Belgium) - Petit “I Don’t Want Anymore Surprises”
Bernardita Ojeda (Argentina, Chile, Colombia) - The Emperor’s Newest Clothes
Simon Wilches-Castro (USA) - The Powerpuff Girls “The Spoon”
Nicholas Jennings, Bob Boyle (USA) - The Shivering Truth “Chaos Beknownst”
Solen Cat, Vernon Chatman (USA) - Tigtone “Tigtone and Those Elemental Kings”
Freddy Cristy, Benjamin Martian (USA) - Une espèce à part “Une seconde sur Terre”
Franck Courchamp, Clément Morin (France) - Vitello “Vitello får en klam kæreste”
Dorte Bengtson (Denmark, United Kingdom) - Vos en Haas “Birthday”
Tom Van Gestel, Mascha Halberstad (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands) - Zog
Max Lang, Daniel Snaddon (United Kingdom)
Commissioned Films in Competition
- #TakeOnHistory “Wimbledon”
Smith & Foulkes (United Kingdom) - Animafest Zagreb 2018 “Festivalska špica”
Stipan Tadic (Croatia) - Apple “Power to the Pro”
Buck Design (USA) - Balkanima 2018 “Hypno Swarm”
Stefan Katanic (Serbia) - Bienvenue à Banoni City “Nya échappe au mariage précoce”
Marguerite Abouet (Ivory Coast, France, United Kingdom) - Cheerios “It’s All Family”
Johnny Kelly (United Kingdom) - CutOut Fest 10 “Opening Titles”
Andrea Mondragãn Garcã (Mexico) - Deseisaocho (D6A8) “Limones”
Daniela Godel (Spain, France) - Fraude “Dieselgate”
Roman Klochkov (Belgium) - Gorillaz “Tranz”
Nicos Livesey, Jamie Hewlett (France) - GWR “Five & The Missing Jewels”
Pete Candeland (United Kingdom) - Knauf “Inclusive Theater”
Hristina Belousova (Uzbekistan) - KROK 2018 “Steps”
Suresh Eriyat (India) - Locarno Festival 2018 “Il viaggio”
Michaela Müller (Switzerland) - Lotte Reiniger: The Unsung Heroine of Early Animation
Anna Humphries (United Kingdom) - Manor “The Gift”
Againstallodds (France) - My Best Friend “Rewinds”
Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson (United Kingdom) - OIAF 2018 Signal Film
Chintis Lundgren (Croatia, Estonia) - Powder “New Tribe”
Toru Adachi, Shunsuke Itakura (Japan) - Radi-Aid “How to Get More Likes on Social Media?”
Stian Sydsaeter, Julian Nazario Vargas (Norway) - Rick & Morty “Carnival”
Daniel (Dan) Garcia, Jaime Restrepo (USA) - Samantha & Sabrina “Saba”
Marie Larrivé, Lucas Malbrun (France) - Selfridges and Sustainability
Hannah Jacobs, Anna Ginsburg (United Kingdom) - Short Cuts “Edward aux mains d’argent”
Céline Devaux (France) - Stuck in the Sound “Alright”
Clément Desnos (France) - Tatran “White Lies”
Shahaf Ram (Israel) - Ted-Ed “Accents”
Robertino Zambrano (Australia, USA) - Ted-Ed “Why Should You Read ‘Waiting for Godot’?”
Tomás Pichardo (USA) - Tehran 2019 Trailer
Group Work (Iran) - The Art of Change “Climate Change”
Elisa Morais, María Álvarez (United Kingdom) - The Beatles “Glass Onion”
Alasdair Brotherston, Jock Mooney (United Kingdom) - Travel Oregon “Only Slightly Exaggerated”
Kylie Matulick, Todd Mueller (USA) - Tricky Women/Tricky Realities 2019
Marta Pajek (Austria, Poland) - UN Women “HeForShe”
Kyungwon Song (USA) - Xmas Hold ‘Em
Camille Jalabert, Oscar Malet, Quentin Camus Durand, Maryka Laudet, Corentin Yvergniaux (United Kingdom)
Feature Films in competition and Virtual Reality selections will be announced during a press conference to be held on April 15.
Source: Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
