SPECIAL PROGRAMS | Best of Annecy: French Masterworks

Best of Annecy

This year, the Annecy festival celebrates its 60th anniversary. We thank the Animafest team for inviting us to present this program, which highlights the long friendship that unites our two festivals. Indeed, for about 30 years, Annecy and Zagreb took place alternately, Annecy in odd years and Zagreb in even years. During that long period, marked by the Cold War, Annecy and Zagreb were the annual meetings where the animation film community could find itself beyond the differences.

Over the past few years, we have worked together many times: a program of Croatian puppet films was curated by Daniel Šuljić to be screened at Annecy 2014. The same year, I was honoured to receive the Animafest Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies.

The program that we are offering you on the occasion of our 60th anniversary consists of French short films that have marked the history of the Annecy festival. I wanted the Festival's six decades of history to be represented. Three of the eight films in the program have won the Annecy Grand Prix, the most recent being Memorable, by Bruno Collet.

Long live to Animafest and to our friendship!

Marcel Jean, Artistic Director, Annecy International Animation Film Festival