The Annecy Festival is one of the most important global events in the animation film industry. Its 2023 edition will be held from 11 to 17 June in the French town, with a wide range of Spanish (co-)productions in the main competitive sections, from the Official Selection (feature films and shorts) to Contrechamp, as well as in the programmes dedicated to commissioned and school films.
The titles with Spanish participation included in the different sections of the Annecy programme this year amount to 9 titles, 3 of which are feature films, 5 short films, as well as an episode of an animated series.
Official competition and Contrechamp Feature Films
In the official competition section for feature films, Jérémie Degruson’s ‘The Inseparables’ will be presented. A co-production between Belgium, Spain and France and a funny story about the friendship between a runaway puppet with a boundless imagination and an abandoned stuffed animal, it is a feature film produced by Nwave Digital, Matthieu Gondinet, Octopolis, Matthieu Zeller, A Contracorriente Films and Eduardo Escudero.
In Contrechamp Feature Films, a section that aims to give visibility to the most unique feature films and those that create the most challenges for the audience, ‘Heavies Tendres/ Tender Metalheads’, a 1 hour and 20 minute Spanish film directed by Carlos Perez-Reche and Joan Francesc about the friendship of two teenagers in Barcelona in 1991, will be screened. The Juanjo Saez Production Company, Joan Francesc Tomas Monfort and Juan José Sáez Domper are responsible for the production.
This section will also present ‘Robot Dreams’, a co-production between Spain and France based on the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varón about Dog and Robot who are “the best friends in the world”. Directed by Pablo Berger, this 1-hour 40-minute feature film is produced by Les Films du Worso, Sylvie Pialat, Arcadia Motion Pictures, Sandra Tapia, Noodles Production and Jérôme Vidal.
Other sections
In addition to the feature films mentioned above, five Spanish short films or co-productions will be taking part in this year’s Annecy. These are the following titles and sections.
In Perspectives Short Films, ‘Fashion Victims 2.0’ by Maria Lorenzo Hernández, a 2-minute short film produced by the UPV – Universitat Politécnica de Valencia and the director herself, will be presented.
In addition, the section dedicated to short films will screen ‘Lost at See’, a 4-minute film directed by Andrés Alejandro Bartos Amory and Lucija Stojevic, a Spain-UK co-production.
In the section of the French competition dedicated to film school films, ‘Conej Steps Out’ by Pablo Río, a 7-minute short film produced by Digipen Institute of Technology Europe Bilbao, Sergio Martínez, will be screened. This work has already been presented at the Malaga Short Corner as part of the collection New Spanish Shorts – 2cool4school Vol.3, an initiative of the ICAA, which will also be presented at the Cannes Short Film Corner this year from 21 to 24 May.
In addition, the festival’s TV series section will feature ‘Baby Bot Season 1’ / ‘Episode 9: Baby Bot Knows Bees’ by Guillermo García Carsí, produced by Lingokids, Jaime Fiestas, Meredith Chasney, Carmen Gutierrez, Elena del Moral and Eneko Elbira. It is a co-production between Spain and the United States.
On the other hand, in the Advertising films section, two short films will be presented. They are ‘Google: “Heroes Small Business. Casa Botín”, a co-production between Spain and the United Kingdom of almost 2 minutes about the oldest restaurant in the world directed by Jeanette Norgaard and ‘Relevo: ”The Rules are Changing”, a 1 minute short film by Mariano Ríos produced by Ladoble, Rodrigo Lema, Diego Lizewski, Tango, Jose Arnal and Irene Choclan.
You can see the original news on the Spain Audiovisual HUB website https://spainaudiovisualhub.mineco.gob.es/es/actualidad/presencia-animacion-espanola-annecy-2023
