Artificial intelligence and industry criticism of Canal+ are on the agenda at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 21-27), according to three of its lead executives.
“What we’ve wanted to achieve in the last two or three years is to be the place where we can debate, exchange ideas,” says Mickael Marin, CEO at festival parent organisation CITIA. “It’s a good thing to have people who can disagree, and then maybe find a common language, a new way of working together.”
The animation sector has faced the arrival of artificial intelligence head-on for several years; a film that used generative AI software was booed by audience members at. Annecy’s opening in 2024.
This year’s event offers multiple opportunities for discussion of the challenges and opportunities of AI, including Think Tank AI4Animation, described by the festival as “a day of collective brainstorming to establish the foundations” for a white paper on AI in animation, to be published in 2029.
“The idea is to gather the professionals [and ask] what are their issues? What are the trends? How do they feel?” says Veronique Encrenaz, director of Annecy’s Mifa market. “Everything will be written down during the day, and at the end we will produce a document with comments and diverse information that can help structure the animation industry around AI.”
Annecy artistic director Marcel Jean says it is for the studios and major companies, most of which attend Annecy every year, to speak on AI, and how it will affect the career prospects of the hundreds of animators who attend Annecy every year for job interviews. “I don’t have a crystal ball. It would be presumptuous of me to say something too precise,” says Jean, who notes the work of animation schools such as Germany’s Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in preparing students for the AI age.
Palette
This year’s festival will host around 18,400 badgeholders, on a par with last year’s event. It has expanded its use of the town’s Pathe cinemas venue to all 10 screening rooms and has converted its Midnight Shorts genre section to a competitive strand. “The idea is to have a larger palette of sections and screenings to allow festivalgoers to make their programme according to their own taste,” says Jean.
The major change for 2026 is the long-awaited opening of the Cité Internationale du Cinéma d’animation, a permanent hub for animation on a former horse farm site in the town centre, which houses a 332-seat cinema, a 650m² exhibition space, smaller workshop areas and a café.
The Cité officially opened on Friday, June 19, two days ahead of the festival, with a first screening in the cinema of Michel Ocelot’s 1998 Kirikou And The Sorceress before three days of free events, exhibitions and workshops.
The venue is now in full use across the festival, including for ‘Wildwood: A First Glimpse into a Handmade World’. The exhibition will include a miniature set and puppets from Travis Knight’s upcoming feature, with presentations on the film and a panel on stop-motion specialist producers Laika also scheduled for Annecy.
Running across the week, the Cité Screenings programme will include an array of international guests to present screenings, including Natalie Portman for Don Bluth’s An American Tale, Alfonso Cuaron for Marcell Jankovics’ Son Of The White Mare, and Audrey Tatou for Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s A Cat In Paris.
Major US studios and streamers will make their annual showcases. The festival opened on July 21 with the world premiere of Universal’s Minions & Monsters, while a Netflix presentation will include early looks at features Charlie Vs. the Chocolate Factory and Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn.
DreamWorks will present a preview of adventure title Forgotten Island, while Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is showing footage from its The Cat In The Hat animated film.
Friday, typically ‘Disney day’ at Annecy, will include a behind-the-scenes look at the studio’s upcoming original feature Hexed, and Pixar’s hand-painted Gatto, about a black cat in Venice.
Visible
The Mifa market is expecting around 6,550 industry attendees, also on a par with last year. “In certain countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, there’s a strong push on animation, so we see them coming with bigger pavilions,” says Encrenaz, who notes all Japanese companies will gather in the same area for the first time.
With its thriving animation industry, Southeast Asia is a key territory for Annecy’s festival and market. Conflict in the Middle East has affected attendance from the region at some European events, but Encrenaz says that has not been an issue for Annecy.
The French industry is still processing the flare-up around Canal+ during Cannes, when CEO Maxime Saada said the company would not work with signatories of a letter criticising main shareholder Vincent Bollore’s involvement. Saada clarified his comments later on last month.
The festival’s main competition features Canal+-distributed titles including Sebastien Laudenbach’s Viva Carmen! and Olivier Clert’s Lucy Lost, both of which launched at Cannes. Marin says he was “surprised and disappointed” at Saada’s comments, but adds, “We need [partners such as] Canal+ and France Televisions. We need strong partners that can finance cinema, short films TV. It’s good to exchange different ideas to see what we can do best, all together.”
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