ANIMATED FILM IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT ANNECY
Every year in June, the idyllic town of Annecy is transformed into the center of the animation world: the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Market (MIFA), the leading event in this sector, regularly attracts the industry’s Who is Who. This year, animated films from Germany used the platform in variously different ways to present themselves. The festival program presented no less than ten films in the competition sections and the prize for the Best Student Film was awarded to Jonatan Schwenk for his short animated film SOG. The British production REVOLTING RHYMES by the German directors Jan Lachauer, Jakob Schuh und Bin-Han To received the prize for the Best TV Production.
TEHRAN TABOO by Ali Soozandeh – straight from its world premiere in Cannes – filled one of the larger cinemas in the Feature Film Competition in Annecy. A big delegation headed up by the directors Toby Genkel and Reza Memari presented RICHARD THE STORK as an Out of Competition screening. The enthusiasm of the audience in Annecy yet again confirmed the film’s remarkable international success story. The international premiere of 1917 - THE REAL OCTOBER was also very well received as another Out of Competition screening with director Katrin Rothe in attendance.
German Films also collaborated with the MFG Baden-Württemberg, the International Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart (ITFS), the FMX, the Animation Production Day and the German Short Film Association to organize the traditional German reception on the shores of the Lac d’Annecy for informal networking.
And the first event organized by a new initiative called Animation Germany focused on German-Italian cooperation and attracted a lot of interest from the international industry. A number of short keynotes about opportunities for funding and co-production in Germany was then followed by numerous German animation producers coming together with representatives of 19 companies from this year’s partner country Italy. The aim of Animation Germany is to make the German animation industry more visible on an international level, to network and promote co-productions. More events are being planned with other partner countries.