Meet the Animation Belgian(s) in Annecy!
A whole lot of Belgian backed projects are presented this year, along with great MIFA pitches, intriguing shorts, and outrageous classics. Also, I will be there, happy to connect !
Consistency is always an issue with this kind of passion projects, especially when one’s nearing a big event such as the Annecy Animation Festival.
Yet I could not go without a specific post regarding the big Belgian presence at this year’s edition!
So, as many lucky professionals are now making their last preparations before heading to the idyllic lakeside city, here’s a non-exhaustive overview of what Belgium will bring to Annecy this year.
Belgian-backed gems
In the Official feature competition, no less than four films are co-produced with Belgium. Here’s a quick line-up:
Allah is not Obliged
Zaven Najjar’s feature directorial debut makes it premiere Monday in Annecy, and this powerful story — adapted from eponymous novel by Ahmadou Kourouma — is an impressive piece of art, co-produced with Belgian studio Lunanime and co-producer Need Productions.
I was already on board with the project after last year’s WIP, and my interview with Najjar for Cinergie. But discovering the finished film today is a truly moving experience, one I was very happy to discuss with the director.
I will share this second interview in an upcoming note, and in the meantime I very much recommend that you secure a spot to one of the numerous Annecy screenings next week. Full program here.
“Animation allows me to convey emotions and tell stories that touch me, and make me question the world we live in.”
Zaven Najjar
Dandelion’s Odyssey
Miyu never cease to amaze me with their bold, weird, one-of-a-kind projects. The studio/distribution company heads to Annecy with 12 projects selected throughout various categories, and Dandelion’s Odyssey is one of the most unique. Backed by Umedia in Belgium, the feature by visual artist and animator Momoko Seto is a non-dialogue interplanetary adventure following the journey of four dandelion seeds. What more do you need to be on board?
Mixing real footage and live creatures with 3d animation, time-lapse and slow-motion cutting edge techniques, Dandelion’s Odyssey is a voyage into the wonders of our own nature transcended by a sci-fi setting.
“A seed’s journey is one of wandering between ecosystems, some hostile and dangerous, with the ultimate goal of finding the right spot to settle oneself. And in telling this tale, you change size, time and movement as a whole. It’s wildly different than just changing the human scale, it’s a whole other feeling that I wanted to share with this Indiana Jones-like plant adventure.”
Momoko Seto - read full interview on Cartoon Brew
A Magnificent Life
I have to admit, Sylvain Chomet’s work is little-known to me, on account that I don’t completely connect with his aesthetics. Yet it’s undeniable how much Chomet has had an influence on European animation in the past decades. With A Magnificent Life, Chomet returns to Annecy fifteen years after The Illusionist, this time focusing on French author Marcel Pagnol as he turns 60. An acclaimed playwright, novelist and filmmaker, Pagnol is visited by a vision of his childhood self, allowing him to look back on his own life and his connection to cinema.
Flemish renowned studio Walking the Dog co-produces the film, which was also featured in Cannes. I’m looking forward to discovering it, and will definitely try to catch up with the Belgian team to understand more about their involvement in this feature.
Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake
Stop-motion! Belgium! Panique Productions! I’m actually really looking forward to this one, being a big stop-motion fan. So I hope I’ll be able to cover it here or for other outlets very soon. The feature’s approach on film intertwined within the narrative also appeals to me, so I really can’t wait to see it in Annecy with the festival’s amazing audience.
What’s it about?
Olivia, 12, her little brother Tim and their mother are forced to leave their apartment and move to a new neighborhood. To shield Tim from this upsetting situation, Olivia has him believe that this is all part of a film in which he's the main character. Through laughter, tears, magic and the solidarity of new friends, they will find out that they are the heroes of their own life.
The Songbird’s Secret premieres at Annecy
As part of the Special Screenings, Antoine Lanciaux’s cut-out animated wonder The Songird’s Secret premieres next Saturday in Annecy, a very good reason to stay even longer at the festival! The French-Belgian co-production (with both Lunanime and Stéphane Lhoest Dragons Films on the Belgian side) as a lot to offer, and its heartfelt story in a real warm happy cuddle. Aline Quertain also animated on this feature, so feel free to re-discover our article about her short Wild Tale!
Daring shorts
Belgium’s representation is the shorts section is also very strong this year, congratulations to all artists. Here’s a quick round-up, as I unfortunately haven’t had the time to discover any of these yet.
Vader Ademt
Visual artist and material softener Juliette Pons presents Vader Ademt in the Off-Limits section. Drawing the viewer in the jazz world of Flemish-Norwegian band Donder, Pons takes us in a mysterious and visceral world where textures, shapes and notes all breathe in unison. A fusion of sculpture and animated narrative. You can already discover the clip on Youtube, treat yourself with that journey right now.
Murmuration
A Dutch-Belgian coproduction, Murmuration by Janneke Swinkels and Tim Frijsinger tells the story of Piet, an elderly man in a nursing home who finds himself limited in his actions when he suddenly begins to transform into a bird. Although he is still accepted within the group, he feels that it's time to join a new flock. Contrary to what the vignette below might lead you to believe, the film appears to be a luminous story, and the animation is beautiful. Miyu Distribution has already picked up this one, and that’s saying something.
The film is part of this year’s Official short selection.
Signal
Also in the Official competition, Signal —also a puppets short— follows Claudie, a scientist with a peculiar job: probing space for signs of extraterrestrial life in the hope of making contact. Absorbed by her mission, she gradually loses touch with those around her... and with reality.
Helmed by duo Emma Carré and Mathilde Parquet, with the collaboration of Belgian talents such as Iris Alexandre, the 16-minute short is a sci-fi musical that promises a lot of great animation. In this project and many other, we find Annemie Degryse (Lunanime) as producer, and I definetely want to have a long conversation with her decade-spanning career in the Belgian animation industry.
The Carp and the Child
Arnaud Demuynck returns to Annecy with many and more projects in his bag, precisely and brilliantly woven to conquer the hearts of children and parents alike.
Among these is The Carp and the Child, which Demuynck also signs as a writer, and co-directs with Morgane Simon. The film —part of the Young audiences selection— is a joyful daily-life adventure of a child who goes carp fishing, but he has the bad idea of bringing his little dog with him. Between the puppy, a frog and a duck, catching a fish isn’t easy. You can discover this very cute short and its awe-inspiring visuals through a teaser below.
“A film like a haiku, a fleeting moment of poetry and humour.”
Arnaud Demuynck
The Night Tunnel
Also produced by Arnaud Demuynck’s La Boîte… Productions is The Night Tunnel, that will compete as well in the Young Audiences section of Annecy’s competition. Directed by Annechien Strouven, The Night Tunnel is a non-dialogue 2d animated short about two kids from different sides of the world, who meet each other while digging a tunnel on the beach. Together, they dig their way to the North Pole, where they discover a magical way to go back home. Co-produced with Belgian animation studio Animal Tank, Maantunnel (its original Dutch title) will delight Annecy. A festival Strouven is very familiar with, having worked on features such as The Siren and Le Parfum d’Irak, along with many shorts.
And three graduation shorts!
Pillow talks by Amandine Vautrin (Atelier de la Cambre), Lights, Haze by Tata Managadze (a short produced by the RE:ANIMA - EUROPEAN JOINT MASTER IN ANIMATION initiative) and Sphere Supreme by Hasan Pastaci (KASK Gent) are all competing in this year’s student selection. I’ll try to catch up with those creators on site, on later after Annecy, as discussing the art form with students is always very refreshing and insightful.
TV productions a-plenty
Among the 30 projects selected in this competition category, at least five have Belgian DNA in them. From Dandelooo’s The Upside Down River (co-produced by Vivi Film) to Goat Girl (co-produced by Thuristar and co-created by Belgian animator Lauri Saunders), there’s a lot of Belgian talent infused in those many productions, in which I hope to dive in later this year.
Belgian producer Olivier Nomen (Bardaf Productions) is also on board of Big Lizard, a Belgian-British-French preschool TV series partly available on Youtube, and we find Panique! production company also in Flippé — a funny and witty 2d-animated series created by French comic book author Théo Grosjean — and Jeremy Super Caribou, aimed at a younger audience but as funny as Flippé. Both series are coproductions with French production company Autour de Minuit.
And at the MIFA…
Dreamwalker, a feature-film project we’ve already talked about, has been selected for MIFA feature pitching this year. Helmed by Vivi Film, this feature is a 2d animated fantastic and thrilling adventure into the world of dreams, aimed at children audiences. Vivi Film’s expertise on projects such as Ewilan’s Quest, The Polar Bear Prince or Titina seem to shine in this dreamspace, and I’m very looking forward to covering this session for Variety this year. More to come.
Also pitching at MIFA is the French-US-Slovakian-Belgian coproduction Erased, a A historical series that tells the story of the invisibilization of oppressed communities’ struggles in Europe since the late 18th century, using archive footage, animation and European hip-hop artists. Squarefish is the Belgian coproducer on that one, a studio with which I also want to discuss their feature film project Rudy, the Flying Boy Prophecy, presented at Cartoon Movie last year.
To wrap up because one still has to pack its own suitcase, and there’s still a lot of preparations to make, Belgian artists and producers will swarm towards Annecy in a few days!
Also, apologies if I have missed out on some Belgian projects, I know there are some projects (Chickenhare 2) and some production companies (Take Five) I couldn’t include here, so if you see something missing, please do tell me about it in Annecy of before!
Feel free to join the Belgians at MIFA or in front of the big screen, and let’s meet each other at the Benelux party on Wednesday or before, if we bump into each other around Bonlieu or the Impérial.
As always, it’s a pleasure to share such beautiful projects with the readers. Thank you for your interest in Belgian animation, and have a great animated Annecy!
Kevin (who probably won’t be looking as fresh as this portrait below when we meet in person)
