Originality and audacity paid off! It is Memoir Of A Snail by Adam Eliott, our big favorite, who won the Grand Prix at the Annecy Festival. We bet that this reward will help him get out to France as quickly as possible. The Australian director produced this tale about a complex young girl surrounded by eccentric characters with complete independence and without digital effects.
“Annecy is important to me because it allows me to show that my work is recognized throughout the world,” he explained to 20 minutes. It took me years to make this film and seeing it appreciated by an audience including so many professionals reassures me that I must not give up. » Many students came to consult this master of “stop motion” or “volume animation”, a technique celebrated this year by the projection of the first images of the new Wallace & Gromit and the presence of Henry Selick, director of the cult Coraline.
Always at the forefront
Flow, the cat who was no longer afraid of water by Gints Zilbalodis, at the cinema on October 30, also proved that ambition can seduce by obtaining the Jury Prize and that of the public seduced by this wordless fable about a cat trying to survive a flood which caused the disappearance humans. With 17,400 accredited people and 103 countries represented in the selections of short and feature films, the Annecy festival is always more flourishing for both professionals and an extremely enthusiastic public.
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The festival also had its share of great moments when Terry Gilliam was honored or when Andy Serkis came to present the new animated part of the saga of Lord of the Rings: The War Of Rohirrim which will be in theaters on December 11. The festival-goers also reserved a triumph for Alain Chabat. He made them even more impatient to discover his Asterix series inspired by Battle of the leaders showing very promising passages. The Americans were not left out with revelations about Moana 2the Disney Christmas 2024, and the screening of Vice Versa 2in theaters on June 19, confirming that Pixar studios have not said their last word on emotions.
The pulse of animation
Like every year, Annecy allowed us to take the pulse of animation around the world by reassuring us that artificial intelligence is not yet ready to replace artists despite the concerns it generates. The booed screening of the music video for the group Chien Vicious Shooting star confirmed that creators and spectators are united so that AI does not take precedence over human beings.
Some very beautiful films have hit the nail on the head. If only in France, Claude Barras (Wild)Michel Hazanavicius (The Most Valuable of Goods) and Jean-François Laguionie (Slocum and me) impressed with their sense of poetry and their ability to tackle fascinating subjects. All of them will be available in cinemas very soon.