The hugely successful 2023 edition of the Annecy Festival came to a dramatic close with the announcement of the winners of this year’s selection of prizes, following a high-profile week of premieres, works-in-progress presentations, screenings and panels.
The Italian-French 2D-animated feature, Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s Chicken For Linda! took home the the top Cristal award for best film. The feature, which is produced by Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions and Dorje films and will be released by GKIDS in the U.S., follows a mother and daughter who struggle to survive after their lives are impacted by a personal tragedy. The mother goes on a mission to cook her daughter her favorite dish of chicken with peppers, while the country is going through a national strike.
Hungarian director Áron Gauder’s 2D-animated feature Four Souls of Coyote, was the winner of the Jury Prize. The stylized tale, which is inspired by Native American creation myths, tackles environmental issues as four teenagers attempt to save their ancestorial land from an oil pipeline project. Gauder also won the Cristal Prize for Best Film for his 2004 feature The District. The film is produced by Budapest-based Cinemon Entertainment, and Gebeka International handles worldwide rights.
You can read our interview with Gauder here:
The Cristal for best short went to Hungarian director Flóra Anna Buda’s 27. The short, which also won the prestigious Palme D’Or for Best Short at the Cannes Festival in May, centers on a 27-year-old woman named Alice who feels suffocated by her surroundings as she still lives with her parents and her annoying younger brother. She finds escape from her boring life by escaping into her dream world. One night after attending a psychedelic party on the roof of a factory and a serious bike accident, she is forced to make some changes in her life. The memorable short is distributed by Miyu.
Watch the trailer below:
“More than ever, Annecy deserves its status as world capital of animation film,” said Mickaël Marin, CEO of CITIA. “This new attendance record symbolizes the acknowledgement and trust of industry professionals. It is a community that couldn’t imagine missing this gathering and who showed their commitment a few days after the events that shook our city. It also highlights the dynamism of an industry and the artists’ creativity. CITIA is immensely proud to be a mainstay in such an admirable sector.”
The rest of the night’s big winners included:
Features:
Paul Grimauld Award: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Dir: Tomohisa Taguchi)
Audience Award: Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds (Bénoît Chieux)
Grand Foundation Award for Distribution: Chicken for Linda!
Contrechamp Grand Prize: Robot Dreams (Dir: Pablo Berger)
Contrechamp Jury Prize: Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light (Dir: Filip Pošivač)
Shorts:
Jury Award: Drijf (Dir: Levi Stoops)
Alexeieff Parker Award: Eeva (Dir:Morten Tšinakov and Lucija Mrzljak)
Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film: Our Uniform (Dir: Yeganeh Moghaddam)
Off-Limits Awards: Is Heaven Blue? #2 (Dir: Menno De Nooijer and Paul De Nooijer)
TV and Commissioned Films
Cristal for Commissioned Film: Number Ultra “Come Into My Arms”
Jury Award for a Commissioned Film: The Beatles “I’m Only Sleeping” (Dir: Em Cooper)
Cristal for a TV Production: La Colline aux cailloux (Marjolaine Perreten)
First Jury Award for a TV Series: Shape Island “Square’s Big Prank” (Drew Hodges)
Second Jury Award for a TV Series: Scavenger’s Reign “The Wall” (Vincent Tsui)
Graduation Films:
Cristal for a Graduation Film: La Notte. (Martina Generali, Simone Pratola, Francesca Rosso)
Jury Prize: Havnesjefen (The Harbormaster) (Mia Henrikeen, Konrad Hjelmi)
Lotte Reiniger Award: Mano (Toke Madsen)
Cristal for Best VR Work: Red Tail (Dir: Fish Wang)
The 2024 edition of the festival will spotlight Portuguese animation. Regina Pessoa, José Miguel Ribeiro made the announcement via video during the closing night festivities.
The 2023 edition of the Annecy festival proved to be one of the biggest editions of the event in its 63-year history. According to the organizers, 15,820 accredited guests attended this year’s event, which was an increase of 19% from last year’s record attendance of 13,248.
For the complete list of winners, visit www.annecyfestival.com/the-festival/award
