When it comes to animation festivals, there aren’t many bigger than Annecy. With the Official Selection featuring short films (in five different categories), TV films, Commissioned Films, VR work and features (in both the Official and Contretemps sections) some of the biggest names in the sector will gather in the South East of France to watch/discuss all things animation for a week.

As is the case with most festivals we preview on S/W, this year’s programme offers an exciting selection of shorts from all over the world, including a number from our previously featured filmmakers.

New Shorts from Alums

Outside of the eight titles from alums in the Official Short Films competition (and a handful of others in the remaining short film line-ups), you’ll find work from Lori Malépart-Traversy and Victoria Vincent alongside Netflix big-hitters Robin Robin and The House in the TV Films section and the long-awaited Unicorn Wars from Alberto Vázquez (Birdboy, Decorado) in the Official Feature Films selection.

As the shorts are the real foundation of everything we do here at S/W, that’s where our interest lies in these festival line-ups and with that in mind, these are our recommendations for the titles you should check out at Annecy 2022:

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Deux Sœurs

by Anna Budanova

Synopsis: Twin sisters in synchronicity live on the outskirts of a hostile forest of which they are afraid to approach. But curiosity prevails.

Director: With it’s haunting black-and-white aesthetic and a narrative inspired by ancient folklore Anna Budanova’s previous short, Among the Black Waves, is a film not easily forgotten. A hand-drawn animation, her new film Deux sœurs promises to be every bit as bold and beautiful.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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Drone

by Sean Buckelew

Synopsis: A malfunction at a CIA press event causes a Predator drone installed with an ethical AI personality to go rogue as it attempts to understand its purpose in the world.

Director: First featured on our site back in 2013, with his Cal Arts film Another, before returning four years later with the excellent Lovestreams, Sean Buckelew is a filmmaker with strong ties to S/W and we’ve been eagerly following the progress of Drone as he’s published regular updates online. Centered around themes of technology and the ethics behind them, you can expect a thought-provoking narrative laced with humor in Buckelew’s new short.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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Luce and the Rock

by Britt Raes

Synopsis: One day, out of nowhere, a giant Rock lands in the middle of the peaceful little village where Luce lives. The villagers can’t even open the door to their houses anymore! Luce is angry: go away Rock, you don’t belong here! And why are you here anyway?

Director: With her previous short Catherine praised on our site for its clean, colorful aesthetic, it’s easy to see why the work of Britt Raes is a good fit for the Young Audiences section of Annecy. With a strong festival run already behind it, having played Anima, Berlin and Go Short, Luce and the Rock should provide an entertaining watch for audiences of all ages.

Screening: Young Audiences Short Films in Competition

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Scale

by Joseph Pierce

Synopsis: Driving along the motorway, Will loses his sense of scale. As his condition deepens, he struggles to unpick the sequence of events that led to this predicament, before he’s lost forever.

Director: Having been featured on our site four times (Stand Up, A Family Portrait, The Pub & The Baby Shower) over the last 10+years, we’re excited to see Pierce return to his rotoscope roots (he ventured into live-action with his previous short The Baby Shower) for his latest short Scale. Adapted from the Will Self novella of the same name (from the Grey Area anthology, published in 1994), Scale has already played Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2022.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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Steakhouse

by Spela Cadez

Synopsis: The steak has been marinating for a few days now. The pan is heated. Franc’s stomach is rumbling. But Liza’s co-workers surprise her with a birthday party.  Will she be home on time?

Director: The intoxicating story of a drunk badger, Spela Cadez’s Nighthawk was the talk of the festival circuit back in 2017. Returning with a much more grounded film, which keeps viewers hooked with its intriguing build-up, Steakhouse is another unforgettable film that just get darker and darker throughout its 10-minute duration.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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The Debutante

by Elizabeth Hobbs

Synopsis: A spirited young woman persuades a hyena from London Zoo to take her place at a dreaded dinner dance being held in her honour. Their plan requires a surprising amount of artistry and violence. The Debutante is based on a short story written by the artist Leonora Carrington, who was presented at the court of King George V and herself became a debutante in 1936.

Director: Featured on our site twice in the past, with I’m OK and The Flounder, it’s hard not be instantly impressed by Elizabeth Hobbs’ energetic visuals and eye for a strong storyline. With a preference for historical narratives (her previous films have explored the life of Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka and the fate of Napoleon’s penis), the filmmaker once again returns to the past with this tale of hyena attending a formal dinner dance.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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The Flying Sailor

by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby

Synopsis: Inspired by true events, the highly anticipated new film by Oscar-nominated duo Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis is a meditation on a sailor’s unexpected voyage.

Director: Having been working together for over 20-years now and with those two aforementioned Academy Award nominations to their name, it’s no wonder The Flying Sailor comes with the ‘highly anticipated’ label attached. Their third short film over this time (after When the Day Breaks and Wild Life), the duo are not exactly what you’d call prolific but with each short comes critical acclaim (including a Best Animated Short Film award at Annecy 1999) and further anticipation to see what they’ll do next.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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Yugo

by Carlos Gomez Salamanca

Synopsis: A and N, a couple of peasants create an informal metallurgy workshop in the outskirts of Bogotá in the hope of a better life. The social, environmental and organic consequences they must endure in order to adapt to the industrial capitalism that storms Latin America affects dramatically their relationship and their history.

Director: With its fragmented approach to storytelling and mixed-media aesthetic Carlos Gomez Salamanca’s Lupus was the type of film that would be well-suited to any short film festival line-up. With an equally ambitious premise and a dizzying array of techniques employed, including powder, CG and hand-drawn animation, Yugo is further proof of Salamanca’s innovative, exciting filmmaking.

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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Watch Shorts Online

With films already online in both the Official and Graduation Shorts categories, Annecy is another of the many festivals that will programme shorts that already available for viewing over the internet. 

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La Neige Incertaine

by Marion Boisrond, Marie-Liesse Coumau, Ada Hernaez, Gwendoline Legendre & Romane Tisseau

Synopsis: On the lookout for polar bears in the Arctic, a wildlife photographer realizes she may have missed more than a shot.

The standout short from the Gobelins Class of 2021, we loved La Neige Incertaine (The Uncertain Snow) so much here at S/W, we awarded it our Best Animation prize at our 2022 Short Awards. Showcasing a maturity above and beyond that you usually expect to find in a student production, this is an animation of impressive quality in both story and craft [read the full review].

Screening: Graduation short Films in Competition

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Sprite Fright

by Matthew Luhn & Hjalti Hjalmarsson

Synopsis: When a group of rowdy teenagers trek into an isolated forest, they discover peaceful mushroom creatures that turn out to be an unexpected force of nature.

Inspired by a “love for 80’s horror/supernatural films, like Gremlins“, despite following an assortment of stereotypical characters into the woods, Sprite Fright isn’t your typical Slasher movie. Created in Blender, after quite a lighthearted opening this 3D animation launches into full-on warfare as the humans are forced to go head-to-head in an epic battle royale with a clan of sinister fungus-headed nymphs [read the full review].

Screening: Official Short Films in Competition

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