Stop-motion film is celebrating a major comeback, everyone is talking about AI and film legends such as Nick Park, Wes Anderson and Terry Gilliam are making a rendezvous. This year's animated film festival in Annecy once again attracted thousands of guests to the French Alps, Jürgen Keuneke was there for Grafikmagazin .
The Annecy International Festival of Animated Film in the middle of June 2024 - the global Mecca for everything to do with animation - was even bigger than the previous year's event. The organization team led by festival director Marcel Jean had to change a few things this time around to ensure that the event and the associated MIFA animated film market didn't burst at the seams. The balance between independent auteur films and the increasingly dominant major studios should not be thrown out of kilter. 17,000 accredited visitors meant that 3000 more badge holders wanted to book into the events (film competitions/ conferences/ workshops etc.) than in 2023! On the deadline for online ticketing, the most popular programs were all fully booked within 20 minutes! Finally, additional screenings and more repetitions of program items had to be offered in order to avoid long queues in front of the venues. However, this was not quite satisfactory this year and should be evaluated.
One phenomenon of the festival is the unbroken popularity of stop-motion film, which celebrated a big comeback this time. Young animators also adore this traditional genre! The Netflix convention at the Bonlieu Theater was the most popular event, as Aardman Animation from Bristol presented the long-awaited new film about its claymation heroes "Wallace & Gromit". Their creator, animation legend Nick Park (also "Creature Comforts", "Shaun the Sheep", "Chicken Run", among others) was on hand to present the new film "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance most Fowl" together with chief animator Merlin Crossingham himself (and spend hours signing autographs in the foyer of the Bonlieu).
In addition to "W&G", fans also celebrated the unexpected return of one of the duo's nastiest antagonists: the winged master thief Feather (a dangerous penguin disguised as a chicken), who was already in "The Wrong Trousers", is up to mischief again. Part of the completed stop motion film has now premiered for animation fans in Annecy, before the entire film will be available to all viewers on the BBC and Netflix at the end of the year. Original figures from the new "W&G" film were also presented in an exhibition at the Bonlieu-Centre in Annecy. Aardman's animator Adrian also showed visitors the technical details of the plasticine figures and animated exemplary movement sequences.
The additional stop-motion icing on the cake was winning the main award "Crystal of Annecy" for the feature film "Memoir of a Snail" by Adam Elliot from Australia, which tells a highly emotional story about a pair of twin siblings who are torn apart as orphans. In addition to the outstanding puppet animation, the film also impresses with its humor (as well as its sophisticated story)! The main female character Grace Poodle suffers from a lack of self-confidence, likes to withdraw into her "snail shell" and also collects everything that can be found on the market in the way of articles, pictures and sculptures about snails. The uniqueness of this animated film - an ode to courage, love and friendship - cannot be described in words. You simply have to see the feature!
Elliot, who already won an Oscar in 2004 for his animated puppet film "Harvie Krumpet", says of his new film (which he and his team worked on for a whole 8 years): "Making the film was also a kind of therapy for me. Like our female protagonist in her fictional life, I learned a lot during the creative process. Stop motion is a slowly evolving art form. You can spend a lot of time on every detail. The production process also involves spontaneity. Not everything is realized as originally planned. The animation process changes many things in practice. Many things often become even better with a new expression: funnier and more concise!"
The topic of AI is on everyone's lips in terms of multimedia and is being discussed more and more in the animation scene in addition to its use in live-action films. In addition to last year's VR section, the festival organization also set up the new "XR & Games Area" (1,000 m²) in Annecy this year. It included a workshop for animated film creation with the help of artificial intelligence. A test group was in action throughout the entire festival week, which ultimately drew a mixed conclusion in the "Animation & Artificial Intelligence" practical test. It will probably be quite some time before AI software can convince animated film makers in practice. Even the younger creatives were not convinced by the results that came out of the machine learning test in the combination of "fantasy and reality".
The organizers of the Annecy Festival have not failed to notice that there is clear criticism of the event, particularly from artistic animators, which many of them feel has become too mainstream. But with more platforms for animated film, above all streaming service providers, the commercial pressure on the festival has become ever greater. After all, the affiliated animated film market MIFA is also an ever-growing mainstay for Annecy. This marketplace for films, projects, jobs and merchandising is also the most important and largest of its kind in the world. Companies present themselves here, showing new software and other products. Congresses, workshops and meetings take place in the neighboring Imperial Palace. Parties can also be held here in the evenings directly on Lake Annecy. One of the highlights at the opening of MIFA was the "German Reception", organized by German Films, AG Kurzfilm and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, among others. Here, the professional audience was able to inform themselves intensively about New German Animations.
This year, Annecy set new records, and not just in terms of the number of participants! Animated film makers from 103 countries gathered in 2024 on the festival grounds around the Bonlieu Center with its two theaters, in the medieval old town with the "Pierre Lamy" film hall, the adjacent new town with the Pathé multiplex, several other cinemas and the event complex around the Imperial Palace (with the MIFA). Exhibitions in the Bonlieu-Centre itself, in Annecy Castle and the municipal animation museum rounded off the whole experience.
There were other interesting film projects that were presented in Annecy. The director of Justice League, Zack Snyder, presented "Twilight of the Gods", a new 2D animated film set in Scandinavian mythology. It tells the prequel story that ultimately leads to the destruction of Midgard and Asgard. Snyder was supported in the discussion forum by producer Deborah Snyder and director Silmane Aniss from executive studio Xilam Animation. Shannon Tindle's American superhero animated film "Ultraman: Rising" also celebrated its premiere in Annecy 2024, accompanied by making-of insights from the production team. There was a small sensation in Annecy for all lovers of traditional animated films, as Warner Brother presented a brand new film from the famous "Looney Toons" series. Under the motto "Porky Pig and Daffy Duck reunite, and that's not all, folks!", director Peter Browngardt has produced "The Day the Earth Blew Up", a long-awaited feature-length film with the heroes from the old cartoon days. Browngardt really wanted to celebrate the premiere of the film in Annecy!
In addition to animation legends such as Henry Selick, Peter Lord and Nick Park, other greats from the world of animation were on hand in Annecy to present themselves to interested young talent in discussion rounds, workshops and signing sessions: Director Wes Anderson (e.g. "Fantastic Mr. Fox"/"Grand Budapest Hotel") and star cartoonist and director Terry Gilliam (e.g. "Monthy Pyton") presented their work and careers.
The traditional 2D animated film - once the beacon of the Western animated film world - has not disappeared after its still incomprehensible demise at Disney and the triumph of 3D CGI! He has simply moved on to the Far East, where he is now returning to Europe with increasing success thanks to his work in the Asian animé genre in particular. This is also one of the reasons why animated film is celebrating a boom and inspiring young people in particular everywhere. If there is now a lack of drawing manpower in the West for large professional animated film projects due to the neglect of 2D animated films, Asian animators and studios are simply stepping into the breach.
Because the key 2D specialists are currently working in Asia, the new 2D animated "Lord of the Rings" film "War of the Rohirrim" is being produced in the Far East. With a Japanese director - Kenji Kamiyama - but with the well-known producers around Peter Jackson. The fact that Jackson is executive producer alongside Fran Walsh was announced as big news at Annecy, where an already completed part of the film celebrated its premiere. Jackson joined the Annecy audience via video. The finished "HdR" animated film will be shown in cinemas at Christmas 2024. Gollum/Smeagol actor Andy Serkis, known from the real-life Tolkien films by Peter Jackson and himself the director of the upcoming real-life HdR bridge film "Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum", presented "War of the Rohirrim" in person on stage at the Bonlieu Theater and later also haunted other Annecy programmes with his typical Gollum voice.
Annecy's pre-selection jury had selected a large contingent of films from Germany for the 2024 programs. The feature film "Sultana's Dream" (an artistic statement for equal rights for women in all cultures) by Isabel Herguera and Studio Fabian & Fred was screened in the feature competition. Among the short films, the shorts "Joko" by Izabela Plucinska and "Moral Support" by Vuk Jevremovic took off. In addition to other films in the side programs, "Moving Mountains" by Jessica Poon (Medienakademie Köln) and "Carrotica" by Daniel Sterlin-Altmann (Film-Uni Babelsberg) were in the competition program for student films. In the VR section, Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen (Reynardsfilms) presented the application "Emperor". Further German productions were shown in the Off Limits and Commissioned Films programs. Despite ever decreasing film funding in Germany, there was plenty of quality to marvel at here, which was ultimately recognized with the presentation of major awards by the various Annecy jury members. Here is an overview of the most important Annecy Awards 2024:
Crystal for Feature Film: "Memoir of a Snail" / Adam Elliot (Australia)
Jury Award Feature Film: "Flow" / Gints Zilbalodis (France, Belgium and Lithuania)
Paul Grimauld Award Feature Film: "The little Girl at the Window", Shinnosuke Yakuwa, (Japan)
Crystal for Short Film: "Percebes" / Alexandra Ramires and Laura Concalves (Portugal and France)
Contrechamp Grand Prix: "Sultana's Dream" / Isabel Herguera, Fabian&Fred (Spain, Germany)
Audience Award Feature Film: "Flow" / Gints Zilbalodis (France, Belgium and Lithuania)
Crystal & Jury Award & Audience Award TV Film: "The Drifting Guitar" / Sophie Roze (France and Switzerland)
Crystal for Student Film: "Carrotica" / Daniel Sterlin-Altmann (Germany/ Film-Uni Babelsberg)
Best Original Music Award: "Joko" / Aliaksandr Yasinski (Germany, Poland)
Crystal for TV Commercial: "Pictoplasma - Opener 2023" / Will Anderson (Great Britain)
Jury Award TV Series: "My life in Versailles: Versailles Ghost" / Nathaniel H'Limi (France and Luxembourg)
Crystal for Best VR Work: "Gargoyle Doyle" / Ethan Shaftel (USA/Argentina)
Festivals Connexion VR Award: "Emperor" / Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen (France and Germany)
The short film "Percebes" from this year's Annecy Festival host country Portugal, which was awarded the Annecy Crystal, impressed the award jury not only with its content but also with its good animation and the artistic expression in the style of its realization. The story shows the natural life of people in the Algarve and their everyday life with flora and fauna. The detailed depiction of the entire life cycle of the mollusc Percebes is incorporated as a "common thread" throughout the film. The existence of the normal population in this region by the sea (with the integration of gentle tourism) should be better understood by the viewer through this successful artistic work.
It is worthwhile for anyone interested in film and art to visit the Annecy Festival again next year. There is no better place to see all the different styles side by side and get an overview of the entire spectrum of animated film. Various well-known artistic styles, from modern art to contemporary art, can also be admired in moving images, especially in auteur film. Stop motion with factual, puppet and clay animation. 2D animation, clay animation and CGI 3D computer animation in all shades and VR applications! Enjoy amazing stories and products in high quality on the big screen, in an idyllic natural setting, with a beautiful medieval lakeside town in the French Alps. It doesn't get any better than that! However, the Annecy Festival should refrain from even greater growth in future in the context of the resources already available. It would also be important for the art of animation to defy the growing pressure from the major studios. The small studios, the auteur filmmakers, the animation students and the lovers of the most diverse traditional and unusual animated styles would thank the organizing team around Marcel Jean for this!
Author: Jürgen Keuneke
