Mickaël Marin Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Martin Dale ContributorThe Annecy Intl. Animation Festival is returning to a full-fledged in-person event in 2022, expecting more than 10,000 attendees, from more than 90 countries June 13-18.“The world’s animation community will be back in Annecy — the key meeting place for the industry and artists,” says fest director Mickaël Marin, beaming.The Annecy team has striven to maintain connections and momentum within the animation community during the pandemic, through the 2020 online edition and 2021 hybrid fest, complemented by yearround masterclasses, professional meetings, seminars and dedicated trips, including recent trips to Nigeria, Israel and Brazil.The fest also collaborates with events such as Ventana Sur in Argentina and the Animation Day in Cannes.

Naman Ramachandran A screening of Isabel Herguera‘s San Sebastian winner “Sultana’s Dream” will kickstart the inaugural edition of AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics, in Mumbai. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Herguera, alongside her Spanish and Indian crew, including Indian animation expert Upamanyu Bhattacharyya.

Naman Ramachandran High powered global experts will feature at the inaugural edition of AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics (AVGC-XR). The four-day event is by India’s Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF), which has partnered with the government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and France’s Annecy International Animation Festival. As revealed by Variety, the festival will take place Jan.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Annecy Animation Film Festival, which hosted the world premiered of Disney’s “Once Upon a Studio” and welcomed more than 16,000 people during its latest edition, is expanding its scope with a sprawling €26 million ($27.5 million) international institute dedicated to the world of animation. Called the Cité Internationale du Cinema d’Animation, the venue is expected to launch during the second half of 2025 and will boast a 330-seat screening room, an artists’ residency, special areas for training courses and cultural action, a space for temporary exhibitions, a permanent exhibition to showcase the animation film collections from Annecy’s Musée-Château, a bookstore and a gift shop.

Ben Croll Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll were but three of the shared subjects animating the Annecy Animation Showcase, presented as part of the Marché du Film at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. Marking its fifth edition, this year’s work-in-progress spotlight imparted a decidedly adult flavor, with a preponderance of showcased titles tackling outré material for mature crowds. “On the market side, adult-skewing projects are no longer a trend,” says Annecy chief Mickaël Marin. “The form is now well-established. Of course, global platforms have opened new doors and widened the field of possibilities, so we encourage financiers and broadcasters if not to take risks, then to at least explore new avenues beyond traditional family animation.”

Is there a better way to prove the virtue of the cinematic experience than to get 5,000 people on their feet giving a film a standing ovation?  Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux did just that on the opening night of his 14th Lumière Film Festival in Lyon with Louis Garrel’s romantic comedy “The Innocent.”  The movie played in the jam-packed Halle Tony Garnier before a star-studded crowd, including Garrel and his cast, Noémie Merlant and Roschdy Zem, as well as Sebastián Lelio, Costa Gavras, Leila Bekhti, Marina Fois, Lee Chang-dong, Nicole Garcia, Sabine Azema and Damien Bonnard. 

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentTwo of the most awaited European animation films of the year – Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” and Pierre Foldes’ “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” –  look set to world premiere in competition at France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the biggest animation festival in the world.Sneak peeks at Annecy’s Work in Progress strand, its industry cornerstone, include Cartoon Network’s “Unicorn: Warriors Eternal,” from legendary U.S.

Ben Croll Conceived in 2019 and fielding its first call for projects at last year’s edition, Annecy’s Festival Residency program bore fruit this year, shepherding three projects to pitch sessions at the festival’s MIFA market.