The Annecy International Animation Film Festival announced on Monday the official selection of films that will be screened in competition during the event. In addition to the traditional Features category, this year’s event will have a new Contrechamp category, which replaces the Out-of-Competition section. Films in the Contrechamp category are still in competition, but the section features the “most unique feature films, as well as those that create more challenges vis-à-vis the audience.”
Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU‘s Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara (titled in the festival as Ride Your Wave), Yūhei Sakuragi and Craftar‘s The Relative Worlds (Sōtai Sekai), and Keiichi Hara‘s The Wonderland(Birthday Wonderland) will compete in the Features category. Ayumu Watanabe and Studio 4°C‘s Children of the Sea (Kaijū no Kodomo) will compete in the Contrechamp category.
In addition, Makoto Shinkai‘s new film Weathering with You (Tenki no Ko) and Netflix‘s four-episode original anime Eden will screen at the festival as works in progress. A 4K remaster of the 1989 film Venus Wars will also screen with English subtitles to mark the anime’s 30th anniversary.
Established in 1960, Annecy is the world’s oldest and largest animation film festival. This year, it runs from June 10-15 at the French community of the same name.
Akira Shigino‘s Dino Girl Gauko “Dad’s Secret”, will compete in the TV Films category. Mirai Mizue’s “The Dawn of Ape” will screen in competition in the Short Films category. Shunsaku Hayashi’s “Leaking Life” will screen in the Off-Limits experimental short film category. Kayuma Mizuki’s “Bath House of Whales” will screen in the Graduation Short Films category. AC-bu‘s Powder “New Tribe” is screening in the Commisioned Films category. No Japanese works are competing in the Perspectives Short Films and Young Audiences Short Films categories.