Annecy Unveils 2023 Competition Line-Ups & First Details Of Studio Sneak Peek Presentations

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival unveiled the line-up for its 2023 edition, running from June 11 to 17.

More than 13,000 animation professionals are set to descend on the French festival’s lakeside setting for its traditional mix of screenings programs across all formats, Work-in-Progress and First-Look sneak peeks, and presentations going behind the scenes of upcoming animation productions.

Competition title Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Winds by French director Benoît Chieux opens the festival. The fantasy follows the adventures of two young sisters as they try to make their way home after getting trapped in the world of their favorite book.

A Cat In Paris and Phantom Boy director Alain Gagnol co-wrote the screenplay for the feature lead produced by Paris-based Sacrebleu Productions.

The film, which world premieres in Annecy, is among 11 titles competing for the festival’s Crystal award.

Another three French productions debut in Competition: Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s hand-drawn mother and daughter tale Chicken For Linda!; Jéremie Périn’s sci-fi adventure Mars Express and Jéremie Degruson’s Toy Story-inspired buddy comedy The Inseparables.

Further world premieres include Kirk Henry and Neil Boyle’s shipwreck tale Kensuke’s Kingdom, featuring Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkes in the voice cast.

Jim Capobiano and Pierre-Luc Granjon’s Leonardo Da Vinci-inspired family animation The Inventor – featuring Stephen Fry, Daisy Ridley and Marion Cotillard in the voice cast – also debuts in Competition.

Two 2023 Berlinale titles have made the cut: Chinese director Liu Jian’s Art College 1994 and Sepideh Farsi’s The Siren.

Hungarian director Aron Gauder, who won the Crystal for Nyócker! in 2005, returns to Competition with Four Souls Of Coyote, about four Native American teenagers who oppose an oil pipeline project close to their ancestral land.

Japan anime has a strong presence with Keiichi Hara’s fantasy Lonely Castle In The Mirror and Tomohisa Taguchi’s The Tunnel To Summer, the Exit Of Goodbyes.

The sixth edition of the Contrechamp Competition, aimed at more innovative works, features 12 productions (scroll down for full list).

Highlights include Katrin Rothe’s animated documentary Johnny & Me – A Journey Through Time With John Heartfield, exploring the life of the titular German antifascist artist; Bill Plympton’s Slide, and Robot Dreams, a New York-set tale of the friendship between a dog and a robot by Pablo Berger, best known for silent film Blancanieves.

The line-up also features a rare Middle Eastern entry, Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha’s Saleem, about a displaced young boy who finds a treasure map.

Production Presentations

The festival also revealed the first details of its presentation events giving sneak peeks and insights into upcoming animations from the US studios, streamers and European independent production houses.

Sony Pictures Animation will show the short film The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, a spin-off Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in which protagonist Miles Morales/Spiderman copes with the stresses of teenage life, and also reveal a first look for Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed.

Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Animation Studios will tease Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Mutant.

Warner Bros. will tease The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim by Kenji Kamiyama and Rick and Morty”: 10 Years of Intergalactic Adventures.

There will also be presentations for Tim Harper’s Ozi, Voice of the Forest, produced by GCI Film, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ramsay McBean and Keith Chapman Productions; the Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment joint production Migration by Benjamin Renner, and Dreamworks Animation’s Ruby Gillman, Teenager Kraken and Trolls Band Together.

Pixar Animation Studios will present an early look at never-before-seen materials from its first-ever original series Win or Lose, ahead of its launch on Disney+. The studio is also at the festival with Elemental.

As previously announced, Netflix will also be out in force at Annecy this year with its line-up including a special screening and presentation of Nimona as well as events teasing Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget, Leo, Exploding Kittens and Blue Eye Samurai.

There will be several events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Animation Studios. A new short from the studio by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham will be screened during the opening ceremony.

Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee will return to Annecy to share details about the new original feature Wish, on which she is both an executive producer and a writer.

There will also be a screening of Fantasia 2000, attended by one of the directors Eric Goldberg and Lee.

Another highlight of this year’s program is a special focus on Mexican animation giving an historical overview of the country’s entire production and influences including its archaeological sites, Indigenous culture and so-called Guadalajara School.

Annecy regulars Guillermo del Toro and Jorge R. Gutierrez will be attending as part of the focus.

Official Competition 2023 Line-up

Art College 1994 (China)
Dir. Liu Jian

Four Souls of Coyote (Hu)
Dir. Áron Gauder

Kensuke’s Kingdom (UK-Lux)
Dir. Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry

The Siren (Ger-Bel-Fr-Lux)
Dir. Sepideh Farsi

Chicken for Linda! (Fr-It)
Dir. Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach

Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Jp)
Dir. Keiichi Hara

Mars Express (Fr)
Dir. Jérémie Périn

Sirocco And The Kingdom Of Winds (Bel-Fr)
Dir. Benoît Chieux

The Inseparables (Bel-Sp-Fr)
Dir.Jérémie Degruson

The Inventor (US-Fr-Ire)
Dir.Jim Capobianco and Pierre-Luc Granjon