Annecy 2016: British Films in Competition
This month the Annecy Festival returns and brings with it a batch of features, shorts, presentations of works in progress, retrospectives and signings that are sure to delight animation fans. In many cases most of the films will be screened for the first time as Annecy is the goal of any film makers who hold it in high regard, there is no finer international animation platform to unleash your film onto the world.
As the festival is an international platform for animated shorts, graduate films and commissioned films giving the audience an experience we are all looking forward to, we thought it would be nice to highlight some of the UK made films that are screening in competition to give festival goers a heads up on the home grown talent to look out for.
Short Films in Competition
Stems
Dir. Ainslie Henderson
After scooping the McLaren Award and winning at the British Animation Awards Ainslie Henderson’s two minute love letter to animation charts the craft of stop motion animation with a swelling musical accompaniment sprinkled with a heartbreaking hint of tragedy. No stranger to success at Annecy, Henderson won a special jury prize in 2014 for I Am Tom Moody.
Graduation Films in Competition
The Alan Dimension
Dir. Jac Clinch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsWELlReArQ
Alan Brown uses divine powers of precognition to foresee the fate of mankind and breakfast. Meanwhile, Wendy has had enough of being married to “the next step in cognitive evolution”.
The Wrong End of the Stick
Dir. Terri Matthews
Malcolm Fetcher is a neurotic, middle-aged teacher lost in a dull marriage to his wife of twenty years, Beverly. As he faces an all-consuming identity crisis, their marriage disintegrates and he is forced to express a deep, hidden desire.
Both of the films in this competition come from the NFTS, whose graduate Nina Gantz won both the Jury award and a special prize for Edmond last year and in 2014 Daisy Jacob’s The Bigger Picture won the Cristal, so the NFTS have a good track record. The UK has a history of strong graduation films, whenever an animated film is nominated for a BAFTA or even an Oscar, the chances are that it will be a graduation film from the NFTS or the RCA.
Commissioned Films in Competition
It is quite the relief to see that we have a huge amount of films in competition in the commissioned films category.
A Self Compassion Exercise
Dir. Joe Birchard
Barriers “Girl Effect”
Dir. Mustashrik Mahbub
Forest 500
Dirs. Moth Collective
James “To My Surprise”
Dir Kris Merc
NSPCC “Pete’s Story”
Dir. Daniel Bruson
Private Parts
Dir. Anna Ginsburg
Slack “Animals”
Dirs. Smith and Foulkes
Stromae “Carmen”
Dir. Sylvain Chomet (Yes, we know he’s French but it was made in the UK)
The A-Z of YouTube
Dirs. Hoku Uchiyama, Adam Bolt
The New York Times “Modern Love – A Kiss, Deferred”
Dirs. Moth Collective
TV Films in Competition
Stick Man
Dirs. Jeroen Jaspaert and Daniel Snaddon.
By now a firm family favourite, adapted from the popular book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Schefler. Past delegates will remember Room on the Broom, a similar short based on work by the same author/illustrator team and produced by Magic Light Pictures which won the Cristal in 2013.
If you’re watching short films out of competition look out for Hannah Jacobs and Lara Lee’s The Darkest Truth About Love.
Although there may seem to be a lack of UK short films in competition or in the graduation categories the UK are excelling in the commissioned film category. What makes the festival so endearing is the variety of worldwide films available in all of it’s screenings that give pass holders an enlightening vision of the international animation landscape. The rest of the competition from other countries looks good so far, and we at Skwigly cannot wait to see them all together for ourselves.
The Annecy festival returns on the 13th June and runs until the 18th. Stay tuned to Skwigly during the week for coverage on the festival as it happens. As ever you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with proceedings.