| The curtain has closed on the 30th edition of the International Animated Film Festival along with the 16th edition of the Animated Film Market (MIFA).
Italy was honored this year with 9 programs, an exhibition at the CITIA and a thirty strong delegation. Major moments during the week included the Robert Breer exhibition, tributes to Osvaldo Cavandoli, Yoshitaka Amano and Quino, and of course the honorary Cristal awarded to Tim Burton during the closing ceremony.
The 100 most outstanding animated films since its invention by Emile Cohl, established by a panel of 30 international at the end of this first century of animation, were also revealed at this ceremony.
There were a number of world "premiers" this year: to open the Festival, "U" by Gregoire Solotareff and Serge Elissalde, "Monster House" by Gil Kenan (produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis), "Piccolo, Saxo et Compagnie" by Eric Guttierez, and some sneak previews: "Azur et Asmar" by Michel Ocelot, Pixar's latest, "Cars" by John Lasseter, "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" by Hayao Miyasaki, "Nagasaki 1945 The Angelus Bells" by Seiji Arihara and Barefoot "Gen" by Mori Masaki.
Festival welcomed some distinguished guests including Michel Ocelot, Moebius, Quino, Carlos Saldanha, Osvaldo Cavandoli, Gil Kenan, Luc Demarchelier.
Other remarkable retrospectives including politically incorrect films, "The Silly Symphonies" and "When Animation Meets the Living", confirmed that this year's Festival was based on diversity and talent in all fields of animation.
The screening-debates organized at the Theatre were also much appreciated: DreamWorks (talking about their latest production "Over the Hedge" ), Sony Pictures Animation (with a presentation of the making of "Open Season", their first animated feature), Pixar ("Cars" ) and "Azur et Asmar" with a presentation of the making of from the director, the producer and the studio.
100,000 tickets were counted, 5,700 accredited professionals including 161 buyers and 290 journalists covered the event.
The new-look MIFA started in 2005 continued to appeal to the 250 exhibitors and 14,000 professionals from 62 countries with its Chill Out, Buyers' Club and digital video library.
The Creative Focus and Job Fair confirmed its importance as the place for creators and talent scouts to meet, and the 10th International Project Competition revealed the artists of the future.
This year's program of professional conferences was particularly rich, with the biennial edition of the NPAR symposium, bringing together computer scientists and animators to present the latest research in non-photorealistic animation and rendering along with conferences on HD, animation for mobiles and new approaches in animation.
From the almost 500 films screened throughout the week, 260 made up the Annecy 2006 official selection, with 213 in competition from 35 countries.
The best moments from the Festival can be seen in Paris from 21 to 25 June at the BPI, Centre Pompidou and the Louvre Auditorium from 14 June.
www.annecy.org |
