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ANNECY 2021

20 feature films set to compete in Annecy

by 

- Florence Miailhe, Michaela Pavlátová, Linda Hambäck, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Marcus H Rosenmüller and Santiago López Jover will topline the global animation event running 14 to 19 June

20 feature films set to compete in Annecy
The Crossing by Florence Miailhe

UPDATE (8 June): The Crossing [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France/Germany/Czech Republic) by Florence Miailhe has joined the Official Competition.
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After last year’s "resilience edition" organised entirely online, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival will celebrate its 60-year anniversary from 14 to 19 June 2021 in “combat” mode, according to its director Mickaël Marin, who unveiled the programme of the event which is set unfold in hybrid form on this occasion. This biggest gathering for global animation will be the first international festival to be able to take place in person post-Covid (with 65% capacity for cinema auditoriums and a curfew of 11pm), whilst also offering online content and events.

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Stealing focus on the menu, which has been concocted by artistic director Marcel Jean, are 20 titles screening across two feature film competitions (which won’t be viewable online). Among the ten candidates in the running for the 2021 Official Competition Crystal, four European productions shine bright: My Sunny Maad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michaela Pavlátová
film profile
]
 by Czech filmmaker Michaela Pavlátová (read our article), the majority Austrian production Snotty Boy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marcus H Rosenmüller and Sa…
film profile
]
by Germany’s Marcus H Rosenmüller and Spain’s Santiago López Jover, The Ape Star [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Danish director Linda Hambäck, and Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile
]
by her compatriot Jonas Poher Rasmussen (which scooped the Grand Prize within the Sundance Festival’s World Cinema Documentary section). They’ll be up against three Japanese feature films (including the festival’s opening film Josee, The Tiger and The Fish), one Chinese work, one Filipino title and a Canadian-American production.

As for the nine full-length films selected for the Contrechamp competition, two European features stand out among the line-up: Absolute Denial [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Brit Ryan Braund and the German-Chinese co-production Chicken of the Mound [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Chen Xi.

Works screening out of competition notably include Even Mice Belong in Heaven [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubenicek (uniting the production prowess of France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), the German-Belgian-Dutch production Coppelia by Jeff Tudor, Ben Tesseur and Steven De Beul, Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon by Richard Claus and Jose Zelada (steered by the Netherlands together with Peru) and the Oscar-nominated movie Wolfwalkers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Ross Stewart and Tomm Moore, not to mention films coming courtesy of Pixar, DreamWorks Animation – Universal Pictures, and Sony Pictures Animation – Netflix.

Well worth a mention among the Masterclasses on offer is the session dedicated to three women directors: Latvia’s Signe Baumane, the UK’s Joanna Quinn and Italy’s Martina Scarpelli, while the Making Of line-up will delve into projects in progress from DreamWorks Animation, Netflix and Baobab Studios.

This 2021 edition of the event is set to showcase African animation, as well as offering up, as ever, an ample selection of short films (44), graduate films, TV and commissioned films, and even VR works, all without forgetting the unmissable International Animated Film Market - Mifa, which will unspool between 15 and 18 June both in person (at the Imperial Palace, with no need for a health pass since attendees will be limited to under 1,000 individuals) and online, hosting its usual Pitches and Works in Progress sessions (news), in addition to its Campus initiative, of which Marguerite Abouet is the patron.

The feature films in competition are as follows:

Official

My Sunny Maad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michaela Pavlátová
film profile
]
- Michaela Pavlátová (Czech Republic/France/Slovakia)
The Ape Star [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Linda Hambäck (Denmark/Norway/Sweden)
Snotty Boy [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marcus H Rosenmüller and Sa…
film profile
]
- Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Santiago López Jover (Germany/Austria)
You Animal! The Nimfa Dimaano Story - Avid Liongoren (Philippines)
Poupelle of Chimney TownYusuke Hirota (Japan)
Jiang Ziya: The Legend of Deification - Li Wei, Cheng Teng (China)
The Deer King - Masashi Ando, Masayuki Miyaji (Japan)
Flee [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
film profile
]
- Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark/France/Norway/Sweden)
Lamya’s Poem - Alex Kronemer (Canada/USA)
Josee, The Tiger and the Fish - Kotaro Tamura (Japan)
The Crossing [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Florence Miailhe (France/Germany/Czech Republic)

Contrechamp

Le Mont Fuji vu d’un train en marche - Pierre Hébert (Canada)
Archipel - Félix Dufour-Laperrière (Canada)
Cryptozoo - Dash Shaw (USA)
Chicken of the Mound [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Chen Xi (Germany/China)
Climbing - Kim Hye-mi (South Korea)
Absolute Denial [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Ryan Braund (UK)
Bob Spit – We Do Not Like People - Cesar Cabral (Brazil)
My Uncle José - Ducca Rios (Brazil)
City of Lost Thing - Yee Chih-Yen (Taïwan)

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(Translated from French)

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