In June 2020 CITIA launched the arts residency "Graphic development for animation feature film" to assist creation.
Discover the new winning writers and their projects selected to join the Annecy Festival Residency 2023.
Download the "Annecy Festival Residency" brochure!
With backing from the Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Département de la Haute-Savoie, Drac, CNC and Netflix, as well as MSI, Wacom, Toon Boom and TVPaint helping with technical aspects, CITIA, the organisers of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Mifa, wanted to continue supporting animation feature film writers by giving them the time and a place to create, to network, to provide increased visibility, and continuous project support.
The Annecy Festival Residency provides a tailor-made offer to each of the selected projects, in an inspiring and stimulating ecosystem, as well as connecting with esteemed mentors in the animation sector.
In response to the call for projects, 33 projects were received this summer from all 4 corners of the world (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Spain, France, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, and United Kingdom), 14 of which were led by women, 15 by men and 4 by man/woman duos.
From this geographic diversity and the array of genres and styles, the selection committee, composed of Damien Brunner (Producer, Folivari), Laurence Petit (Distributor, Haut et Court), Aurel (Artist, Director) and Jean-Christophe Roger (Director), chose 3 projects.
Discover the three animation feature film projects selected to the 2023 Annecy Festival Residency:
Discover the writers of these future animated feature films who will be joining the Annecy Residency from April this year.
Caroline Cherrier is an Animation Film Director. Specialised in traditional drawing and painting, she uses a colourful and poetic universe, leaving room for your imagination and the pleasure of words.
She directed the short film Horacio (2020, Ikki Films), and the short films for TV: Fusée-signal (2016, Tant Mieux Prod for France Télévisions) and Prince of Darkness (2021, Caïmans Prod for Arte). She studied at GOBELINS, l'école de l'image, where she co-directed the graduation film Not Much in 2015.
Alongside, she has worked on many films and series as a storyboarder, director or concept artist.
She is part of the Souviens Ten-Zan collective who make animation video clips and capsules.
Le Dernier des cailloux is her first feature film.
"I am delighted to have been selected for this Annecy Residency! I’m lucky to be able to develop Le Dernier des Cailloux in such a welcoming, caring, and professional environment. See you in June to show you my latest research :-)!"
Areito Echevarria is an Academy-Award winning artist and researcher with over 21 years of visual effects experience. His passion is for storytelling by way of a computational design approach. His work has been screened at the Tribeca, Cannes, and Venice Film Festivals. Areito’s research explores generative machine learning approaches to creating emotionally engaging human performance animation.
Areito & Raqi’s VR experience Minimum Mass won the 2020 Annecy Festival Cristal Award for Best VR.
"We are so thrilled to be invited to the Annecy Residency, the support and time to create is a precious opportunity!"
Wesley Rodrigues is an illustrator, comic book artist, and one of the most acclaimed animators in Brazil.
Influenced by Hayao Miyazaki, he illustrated several books and comics, including Yuka: O Pescador de Ilusões by Marcelo Yuka. He was Animation Director for the short O Ogro and worked on Até que a Sbórnia nos Separe, winner of the Brazilian Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and selected at Annecy.
In 2013, he directed the short Far West: An Authentic Western, winning several major awards including Best Brazilian Animation at Anima Mundi. The film was screened at a special Brazilian showcase at Annecy 2018. In 2014 and 2017, he released Trip in the Rain and The Ghost Guitarist, both nominated for Best Animated Short at the Brazilian Academy Awards.
In 2018, Wesley was honored at the Anima Mundi Festival for his graphic novel Imaginário Coletivo (Darkside Books), which received four nominations at the HQ Mix 2019 – the country's most significant comic book awards. In 2022, his film Indígenas em Travessia, co-directed with Julia Vellutini, won Best Animated Short at the Brazilian Academy Awards.
Now, Wesley is developing his first feature film, The Bird Kingdom, which was presented at Animation! Ventana Sur, where it won top prizes to pitch at Mifa/Annecy and Quirino.
"I'm thrilled and excited to be selected to the Annecy Residency. Being chosen among other projects from around the world to develop The Bird Kingdom at the residency is an important recognition for a Brazilian project. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity."
Raqi Syed began her animation career as a Lighting Artist for Disney Feature Animation, and then went on to work as a Senior Technical Director with Weta Digital on films like Avatar, The Planet of the Apes, and The Hobbit. In 2017, The Los Angeles Times pegged Raqi for its list of 100 Industry Professionals Who Can Help Fix Hollywood’s Diversity Problem. She is a 2018 Sundance and Turner Fellow, and a 2020 Ucross Fellow.
Areito & Raqi’s VR experience Minimum Mass won the 2020 Annecy Festival Cristal Award for Best VR.
"We are so thrilled to be invited to the Annecy Residency, the support and time to create is a precious opportunity!"
During the first Annecy Festival Residency, held from 4th April to 30th June 2022, three projects were chosen and hosted:
(Re)discover these projects, their directors and the mentors who assisted them during their residency.
Check out the Festival Offer. >>> more info
Find out the films competing for prizes. >>> more info
Check out the prizewinning films. >>> more info
Take a look back over the Festivals since 1960. >>> more info
In Spring 2023, the Annecy Festival Residency will be holding its 3rd edition and is thrilled by the attraction it sparks among animation feature film authors from around the world.
Between pleasure and ecstasy, the selection process is always as complex and thrilling as ever.
This year once again we received more than thirty submissions, all of them different, demanding, and unusual, and we are impressed with the continual growth in quality.
The selection committee appreciated the projects’ seriousness, commitment, and rich narratives and noticed that the world’s current affairs, exposed more than ever to shocks and brutality, inspire authors – and particularly artists – to remain committed and unified in the face of adversity.
To move, challenge, shock, pull together and enlighten, animation has this ability and strength to use aesthetics to soften the rhetoric.
This is the wager with which the committee declares its selection "explosive"!
An eclecticism that relies on artistic performances which are both outrageous and perfectly complementary! Between pictural art, plastic art, and photorealism, from traditional animation to 3D real-time computer graphics, from Brazil to New Zealand via France: the committee reveals a wide-ranging selection!
Last year we talked about "happy cohabitation"; this continues to be this edition’s slant where each artist can thrive on a personal level and boost themselves from the work of others.
Our institution is allied to cultural mixes and this aim is particularly vital at such a crucial time in the world. We believe this skilful mix of cultures, genres, nationalities, and generations will bear its fruit. So, see you in Annecy in June 2023 to discover these 3 projects "for real"!
10th June 2022
Registration opens
9th September 2022
Registration closes
November 2022
Selection announcement
3th April to 30th June 2023
Residency
Head of Education & Projects Mifa
Mifa