Annecy 2015 Line-up Announced

It was just recently confirmed that the eagerly awaited The Prophet will open this year's Annecy International Animation Festival. Now though, the full line-up has been revealed for the festival which runs from June 15th-20th this year. "The Cannes Of Animation" is held annually in the French town of Annecy, and attracts talent from around the world.

The Cannes comparison is actually pretty apt-  much like that famous film festival, Annecy shows films both in and out of competition.In total eight features will compete for the top prize. Perhaps reflecting the wide scope of animated features being made today, none of the selected features are from the US. There are films from France, Spain, Columbia and others, while two are Japanese made. The line-up is as follows:

• Adama (France, Simon Rouby)
• April and The Twisted World (France/Canada/Belgium, Franck Ekinci and Christian Desmares)
• Mune (France, Alexandre Heboyan, Benoît Phillipon)
• Pos eso (Spain, Sam Orti)
• Sabogal (Colombia,  Juan José Lozano, Sergio Mejia Forero)
• Miss Hokusai (Japan, Keiichi Hara)
  
• The Case of Hana and Alice (Japan, Shunji Iwai)
• Long Way North (France/Denmark, Remi Chaye)

There's also a list of shorts, student films  and  TV episodes that will be competing for prizes too. Out of competition, a further nine features will screen. Even amongst these films, the only US made production is Signe Bauman's independent feature Rocks In My Pockets- and even that is a co-production. The other features hail from various countries including Japan, China and Colombia (again).

Miss Hokusai from Production IG

So, are the major Hollywood animation studios completely shut out then? Nope, as out of competition screenings are planned for Pixar's Inside Out, Illumination's Minions and Disney's Frozen Fever. There will also be exclusive preview events for Pixar's The Good Dinosaur and the first footage from Disney Feature Animation's Zootopia. Also screening are the new Ghost In The Shell movie and the classic The Thief and The Cobbler.

A series of open-air screenings will also take place including Shaun the Sheep, The Book Of Life and Sita Sings The Blues.

This year's festival aims to shine a light on women working in animation and will feature an all-female jury for the first time.

For full details and information on how to attend visit the festival's website.