The Annecy International Film Festival was held from Monday 13th – Saturday 18th July. The Japan Media Arts Festival had a booth at the MIFA sample fair and hosted a Japan reception to introduce Japan Media Arts Festival and other Japanese content widely.
Shuzo Shiota, a member of the international competition jury, and five Japanese animation directors who had made the final cut for the competition were introduced at the reception. It all provided a splendid opportunity for lively exchanges between the animation directors and producers and festival directors from around the world.
Date: June 16th Thursday, 19:00 – 21:00
Venue: Chill Out Area, MIFA

Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2016
Period: 2016.6.13-6.18
Venue: Bonlieu, L’Imperial Palace, Annecy, France

Overview

Annecy is one of the world’s biggest animated film festivals. It started out as the animation division of the Cannes International Festival before becoming an independent official event recognized by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) in 1960. The festival is held on the banks on Lake Annecy in the mountains of eastern France, close to the Swiss border. Besides the official screenings, the wide-ranging activities also include conferences, the industry fair etc. In addition to animation business people from all over the world, many student and other ordinary citizens also visit.

The festival is divided into six divisions, including sections for feature films, shorts and a student competition. 2,700 works were entered from around the world with 194 selected for screening in the final competition.
The industry fair introduced diverse content from all over the world with more than 1,200 companies participating from 68 countries. President François Hollande of France and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg also visited the venue on the 16th.

In 2015, Keiichi Hara won a Jury Award for in the feature film division for Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai, July Selections at the 2015 Japan Media Arts Festival and Boris Labbé’s Rhizome, Grand Prize winner at the 2015 Japan Media Arts Festival, won the Prix André Martin for the best French film in the short film section. Many other Japanese directors have also won high acclaim each year in Annecy. This year, nine Japanese works were nominated but none was selected for award.

Award Winners for the Annecy 2016

〔FEATURE FILMS〕
Cristal & Audience Award: “My Life As a Courgette” Claude Barras（France, Switzerland）
Jury Distinction: “La Jeune Fille sans mains” Sébastien Laudenbach（France）
〔SHORT FILMS〕
Cristal: ”The Head Vanishes” Franck Dion（Canada, France）
Jury Distinction: “Moms on Fire” Joanna Rytel（Sweden）
Jury Award: “Blind Vaysha” Theodore Ushev（Canada）
Audience Award: “Peripheria” David Coquard-Dassault（France）
Award for a First Film:　“An Ordinary Blue Monday Morning” Naomi Van Niekerk（South Africa）
〔GRADUATION FILMS〕
Cristal:　“Depart at 22” Wiep Teeuwisse （Netheland）
〔TV films〕
Cristal: “Stick Man” Jeroen Jaspaert, Daniel Snaddon（United Kingdom）
〔Commissioned films〕
Cristal: “The New York Times "Modern Love – A Kiss, Deferred"” Moth Collective（United Kingdom）

Nominees from Japan

〔SHORT FILMS〕
“Satie's "Parade"” YAMAMURA Koji
“Datum Point”　ORIKASA　Ryo
〔GRADUATION FILMS〕
“FEED” OKAZAKI Eri
“Nothing You Need to See” ITO Keigo（Jury Selections, Animation Division of Japan Media Arts Festival 2015）
“At the Mouth of Summer”　LIU Xinxin
〔TV films〕
“Super Short Comics “Into the Pocket””　MATSUMOTO Keisuke
〔Commissioned films〕
“Sasanomaly “The Synesthesia Ghost”” MAKINO Atsushi
“The Eye of the Storm” HIRAOKA Masanobu
“DDWIWDD: Dan Deacon When I Was Done Dying” HIRAOKA Masanobu

[Feature Films out of Competition]
“Gamba”　OGAWA Yoichi, KAWAMURA Tomohiro, KOMORI Yoshihiro
“The Anthem of the Heart” NAGAI Tatsuyuki (Jury Selections, Animation Division of Japan Media Arts Festival 2015)

[Screening Events]
“Belladonna of Sadness”　YAMAMOTO Eiichi

[Special Programmes]
“La Grenadière” FUKADA Kôji

[Open-air Screenings]
“The Boy and the Beast” HOSODA Mamoru

[Meetings - Work in Progress Feature]
“In This Corner of the World” Speakers: MARUYAMA Masao, MAKI Taro, Jerome MAZANDARANI

[MIFA – Territory Focus]
Focus on Tokyo Speakers: TAKAYAMA Akira, FUKASE Saya, YOSHIDA Ken, KATO Taka