It is the largest animation festival in the world and every summer attracts thousands of people, mainly creators, producers, screenwriters, as well as new talents involved in this film genre.

Yes, International Animated Film Festival in fabulous Annecy in the southeast of France, it stands out for accepting applications even from countries with limited production, such as Greece. So, in our country, specifically in Athens, the leaders of the Festival and the Agora met a few days ago. Michael Maren And Veronique Ankrenage accordingly, for an open discussion with friends of the animation as part of their event ASIFA HELLAS – Greek Animation Association.

“Animation is a good medium for breaking boundaries. They can cover difficult topics but keep their distance. If the film is good, then it travels the world,” says Maren to “K” before meeting with the Greek audience.

Greece’s participation is on the rise

In the last decade, Greece has had a significant presence in Annecy and the response from visitors to domestic productions has been very positive.

“After 2010 we get more and more Greek animated films. We feel like an ecosystem has been created and we are confident that in the future we will have more and more Greek projects, even awards,” highlights Maren s Ankrenaz, adding that “we had a lot of themed events with the Greek community: there are permanent presence, we are discussing, and we always have the opportunity to come to Greece for cooperation.”

ASIFA Hellas has been following Anesi’s proposals very closely for many years, and as noted by the President of ASIFA and Animasyros Vassilis Karamitsanis“one of the reasons the local authorities supported us was to include national films and films from smaller communities.”

“Vision Changed”

The festival has such a dedicated fanbase that it didn’t stop when the pandemic made it necessary to host the 2020 and 2021 events online. Of course, this was facilitated by new technologies, as a result of which moviegoers came from many parts of the world. “We have been working as an online publication for the last two years. It was quite successful because we welcomed nearly 16,000 members online. In 2021, we were the first festival held in France after the pandemic, because while Cannes changed dates, we (as a festival) continued. However, in 2022 things were somewhat more limited, so the participants were mostly professionals and students,” explains the event leader.

For the Agora, this change proved more difficult. “The question was whether we can hold meetings remotely. In the end it worked as we were able to organize them through some kind of platform. We thought to keep this hybrid model and continue it in the coming years. The vision has changed,” says Ankrenaz.

Evolution

The development of animation in film, from Disney’s Snow White in 1937 to the present day, has been impressive. More and more impressive achievements are being made in this area, most recently there has been a transition from 2D animation to 3D animation. But what are the current trends? “Innovation is about video games. On the creative side, what we’re seeing at Annesi – and that’s a bit of a problem for us – is that the short films are longer. This is a nightmare for a film crew. We get 3,000 films, but most of them are short films. In addition, one of the biggest trends, especially for feature films, is that more and more cartoons are aimed at adults and young people (for example, the movie “Run”).

High quality and a large number of films

The 2023 event will take place from from 11 to 17 June. This year and for the first time the festival lasts a little longer due to the large number of films. What is the team doing? “In the upcoming event, we will focus on cartoons from Mexico. The quality is higher year by year, we need more space to act. And the Agora is expanding in terms of content,” Maren says, and explains: “We are creating new opportunities for students. We aim to improve the industry by connecting with new talent. We support and accompany the creators not only during the Festival, but also at every stage of their project, right up to its implementation.”