“Our 2023 Competition is certainly more experimental, but also more mature.” - Yves Nougarède, Gala Frecon (Annecy Festival)

2023-05-29

The world’s leading animation event (cinema, television, XR…) returns to Lake Annecy from June 11 to 17, with a fine edition that confirms the health of the sector and the event itself. On the new media front, festival-goers can look forward to a wide range of events, from the Competition to pitches and Work-In-Progress presentations.

Cover: IMMORTELLE

Annecy 2023, already a great year

Yves Nougarède – Annecy Festival is back in top form this year, after a 2022 edition that exceeded all our expectations – and our capacity! We’re seeing a gradual increase in the number of films in the official selection, and in the number of accredited guests. To compensate, we’re starting a day earlier, and trying to offer new screenings. For the team, these are new challenges, but it’s all very positive!

Gala Frecon – On the XR side, we received just as many experiments as last year, but with a much more experimental component, experimenting with sound and ambience, and generally with a shorter average duration… As a result, our selection has been affected, and offers 7 works (instead of 8) that are more daring, more original than in the past – and with a real female component! All this selection work has reassured us about the state of the XR market and its capacity for innovation.

Focus on the VR Competition

Y. N. – The selection process was a tricky one, as we received few projects in advance (around forty out of the hundred or so we received), and didn’t retain many of them, and a large majority in the last few days before our deadline. The VR 2023 Competition reflects a clear realization that we need to look for less mainstream, sometimes more adult works that stand out. In previous editions, we have often selected more mainstream works that could speak to the general public. This year, we’re delighted to welcome works that are more mature in their themes, or in their willingness to explore these new formats.

Annecy Festival 2023 – VR Competition

BLACK HOLE MUSEUM + BODY BROWSER
FROM THE MAIN SQUARE
I TOOK A LETHAL DOSE OF HERBS
IMMORTELLE
RED TAIL
SHADOW
SOL-AIR

Y. N. – We welcome experiences that will require special mediation, as we come up with creations that are visually demanding (like IMMORTELLE with lots of flashes of light) or explore social themes that may not be obvious. And for the most part, apart from FROM THE MAIN SQUARE, these are works that haven’t toured much – but are the result of a close watch of other events, like I TOOK A LETHAL DOSE OF HERBS spotted at CPH:DOX.

Y. N. – FROM THE MAIN SQUARE also appealed to us because of its status as a school film – which is a category we work on at Annecy, with a very student audience and a large number of university visits every year. The work on this German project, and its success at the festival, is impressive. On the other hand, we didn’t retain certain projects from studios used to coming to Annecy, but we’re sure we’ll find them again next year.

G. F. – By choosing shorter works, and one less, we can offer more viewing slots. And with easier logistics. It’s a real learning point for us, enabling us to work on a more homogeneous selection.

Y. N. – With this year’s selection, we wanted to move towards more original content. There was a trend in XR, linked to the financing of the first projects, which saw the successive arrival of 1, 2 or 3 episodes that could be multi-selected. We’re trying to limit this now, to offer more space to independent productions and really finished projects. This is part of our desire to move forward with the industry. The same goes for content already available (often free of charge) on the stores. With their growth, it seems less relevant to us today to welcome them in Competition.

Annecy Festival 2023 – Work-In-Progress

Ceci est mon cœur
Empereur
Sunset Motel

G. F. – We will be offering a 2nd prize in the VR section of the Festivals Connexion jury (which has been awarding a prize for the international short film competition for many years) alongside the official jury. For the latter, we’re delighted to welcome Mexican director Jorge R. Gutierrez, Swiss producer Manu Weiss and Canadian director Chris Lavis. All three are regulars in the medium, and we’re looking forward to seeing what they come up with. The Festival Connexion jury will be made up of Maral Mohsenin (Program Manager at GIFF), Jean Sébastien Esnault (General Delegate of the Grand Bivouac Festival) and Fabien De Macedo (Programmer and General Manager of the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival).

Et au MIFA ?

Y. N. – On the MIFA side, Benoît Blanchard has taken over responsibility for conferences and related events this year. We’re talking more generally about welcoming XR to the festival. One of our first points of reflection is to highlight the designers in the selection. But it’s a long-term job to find the right place for new writing within a world-class festival that grows every year.

Pitchs MIFA – Digital Experiences