Photo : ANNECY FESTIVAL/E. Perdu
"In 2015, Annecy Festival devoted an entire edition to women in animation.
Since then, we have relentlessly continued in this vein to promote gender equality in the juries, on our Board of Directors, supporting talent and partnerships with committed associations – such as the Collectif 50/50, Les Femmes s'Animent and Women in Animation – whom I would like to thank for their exemplary work and their valuable inspiration" emphasises Mickaël Marin, CITIA CEO.
"Ten years on, we wanted to mark this decade with renewed vigour in order to keep evolving and raising the glass ceiling; to clearly assert our desire to give pride of place to works, voices and careers of women in our industry."
The 2025 edition reaffirms its commitment to promoting gender equality by taking stock of the progress made so far and giving a voice to current female creators and animation professionals by way of a special programme, several highlights at the International Animation Film Market (Mifa) and the announcement of some brand-new initiatives.
Progress has been made, but there is still no real parity between women and men in the industry.
According to the Observatoire 2025 de l'égalité entre femmes et hommes dans la culture et la communication (French Ministry of Culture, 2025), women accounted for 46% of animation short film directors in 2023 but only 27% if we take into account feature films approved by the CNC in 2023 (Source: the CNC, 2025) compared to 21% in 2013.
The report from the workshop organised last year by Le Lab Femmes de Cinéma and Les Femmes s'Animent at Annecy shows that between 2018 and 2022, a mere 19% of the animation feature films in Europe were directed by women.
"Women and Animation, 10 years": A Programme of Iconic Short Films
Marcel Jean, the Festival's Artistic Director, has chosen ten short films to be screened in the presence of seven of their directors, among whom Joanna Quinn will receive an Honorary Cristal in recognition of her lifetime achievement. The films reflect the diversity of vision, aesthetics and stories told by women from around the world over the last decade.
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"A Tribute to Hungarian Animation: Women Directors": A Short Film Programme Taking a Critical Look on Modern Hungarian Society
Anna Ida Orosz, the programme's curator and animation specialist at the Film Archive of the National Film Institute Hungary (NFI), a partner of Annecy 2025, emphasises the key roles of artists such as Nadja Andrasev, Zsuzsanna Kreif, Luca Tóth and Flóra Anna Buda, winner of the Cristal for a Short Film in 2023 for her film 27. These female directors devote their films to criticising complex prejudices concerning the female body and the role of women, and in so doing play an integral part in shaping today's Hungarian society.
- Limbo Limbo Travel by Zsuzsanna Kreif and Borbála Zétényi (2014)
- The Noise of Licking by Nadja Andrasev (2015)
- Superbia by Luca Tóth (2016)
- Volcanic Island by Anna Katalin Lovrity (2016)
- Sellők és rinocéroszok by Viktória Traub (2017)
- Symbiosis by Nadja Andrasev (2019)
- 27 by Flóra Anna Buda (2023)
Juries with equal representation
To ensure balanced representation at all levels of artistic decision-making, 8 out of the 15 official jury members at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival are women. Two women jurors have been invited to represent Hungarian animation, which is in the spotlight this year, namely Director and Painter Réka Bucsi who will sit on the Graduation Films & Off-Limits Short Films jury, while Director, Scriptwriter and Production Manager Nadja Andrasev will sit on the Contrechamp Feature Films jury. Other members of the jury include Sepideh Farsi (Iran), Director of The Siren, in competition in 2023 on the Official Feature Films jury; Jessica Poce (United Kingdom, Italy), Strategic Executive Leader in Animation Distribution, Contrechamp Feature Films jury; Director and Painter Shiva Sadegh Asadi (Iran), Official Short Films jury; Director and Mutlidisciplinary Artist Naomi Van Niekerk (South Africa), Graduation Films & Off-Limits Short Films jury; Author, Director and Producer Linda Hambäck (Sweden), TV & Commissioned Films jury as well as Dominique Seutin (Belgium), Co-Director and Programmer of the Anima Festival Anima in Belgium, who will also sit on the VR Works jury.
Global animation professionals take the stage at the Mifa
The Annecy International Animation Film Market also hosts major international initiatives, such as the "Women x Stories: Emerging Female Voices" programme launched by Women in Animation (WIA) in 2022 and supported by The Walt Disney Company and UNESCO. This scheme aims to facilitate access to international opportunities for women in the audiovisual industry from emerging film and audiovisual animation communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. To be eligible, projects must be led by a team in which at least one woman has a central role, either that of director, producer or scriptwriter.
Each year, the shortlisted projects benefit from a series of mentoring and coaching sessions led by internationally renowned animation experts to prepare them for presenting their projects at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. After 115 eligible applications this year, the following 5 projects will be presented at the Mifa Partners Pitch session on Tuesday 10th June from 9:00 am to 10:15 am at the Salle Haendel at the Impérial Palace.
Further afield, the Mifa will be highlighting the key role of associations set up by animation professionals on every continent, and the support they receive from Annecy.
Likewise, on the Market's programme, "Women in the Animation Industry: A Decade of Change, A Future to Shape", a conference introduced by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on Wednesday 11th June at 3:00 pm, which will bring together institutional figures, professionals and emerging talent to discuss current issues of equality.
This edition will also enjoy a brand-new partnership with the Festival Sœurs Jumelles, which is devoted to the fusion between music and the image. Three composers: Joëlle Nager (Switzerland), Nina Humphreys (United Kingdom) and Audrey Ismaël (France) will join the actress, director and producer Julie Gayet to talk about their profession and approach to music and images during a panel discussion "Animation Film Music: 'Female Composers Talk', Presented by Festival Sœurs Jumelles" on Friday 13th June at 12:45 pm.
"I vividly remember the first time I came to the Annecy Festival, the world's biggest ever animation film event! I was invited by Les Femmes s’Animent, who try to break new ground for women's roles in animation in France, following in the footsteps of Women in Animation, which has been active in the United States for more than 20 years. In 2019, I was fortunate to have an unforgettable experience as President of the jury with the astounding I Lost My Body, whose music was composed by Dan Levy. It was at that precise moment that I realised just how much music is an inseparable element of a film work, and even more so in animation where it plays an integral part in the story by setting the tone, rhythm and accentuating emotions.
So naturally we wanted to forge these links with the creation of my Festival Sœurs Jumelles – la Rencontre de la Musique et de l'Image in Rochefort. On 13th June in Annecy, Sœurs Jumelles will be presenting a panel discussion at the Mifa with international female composers, to combine two commitments that are close to my heart: women and music for film. On 27th June in Rochefort during a day dedicated to animation, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival will be presenting a selection of animation music videos" reveals Julie Gayet, Founder and President of Festival Sœurs Jumelles.
"Animation Film Music: 'Female Composers Talk'" an Industry Panel presented in partnership with the Festival Sœurs Jumelles, created and directed by Julie Gayet, will feature discussions with women composers.
On Thursday 12th June at 4:30 pm at Le Campus Mifa, young talents will be able to attend a collaborative workshop "Gender Equality in Film and Animation, in Front of and Behind the Camera", organised with the Femmes de Cinéma Lab.
Continuing to celebrate women's work, promote their emergence and tackle the existing traditional obstacles remains a key priority for the Annecy Festival team.
Annecy 2025 for women in figures
40% of female directors in the short film selection (Official Short Films, VR Works, Video Game Cinematic Works & Game Trailers Competition, Graduation Films, TV Films and Commissioned Films).
17% of female directors in the Official Feature Film selection.
8 female jurors out of the official 15 jury members are women.
48% of the Mifa Pitch projects are led by women.
