Three feature length films, five short films and an animation series episode with Spanish participation will feature in Annecy Film Festival 2023

Annecy Festival is one of the most important International appointments of the film animation industry. Its 2023 edition will be held from 11 to 17 July in this French city, with a wide range of Spanish (co-)productions within the main competitive sections, from the Official Selection (feature length films and short films), through Contrechamp section, as well as in programmes devoted to commission and school works.

Up to 9 Spanish-participated films -3 feature films, 5 short films and one series episode- will be presented within several sections of this year's Annecy Festival.

Official Competition and Contrechamp Feature Films

Jérémie Degruson’s ‘The Inseparables’ will be presented in the official competition for feature length film. A Belgium, Spain and France co-production and an amusing story on the friendship between a puppet on the run and an abandoned pet, it’s a feature length film produced by Nwave Digital, Matthieu Gondinet, Octopolis, Matthieu Zeller, A Contracorriente Films and Eduardo Escudero.

In Contrechamp Feature Films, the section whose goal is showcasing the most unique feature films ‘Heavies tendres/ Tender Metalheads' will be presented. It’s a 1 hour 20 minutes Spanish film by Carlos Perez-Reche and Joan Francesc on two teenager’s friendship in 1991’ Barcelona. La Productora de Juanjo Saez, Joan Francesc Tomas Monfort and Juan José Sáez Domper are in charge of the production.

In this section will be presented as well ‘Robot Dreams', a Spain and France co-production based on Sara Varón’s graphic novel about Dog and Robot, “the best friends in the world”. Directed by Pablo Berger, this 1 hour 40 minutes long film has been produced by Les Films du Worso, Sylvie Pialat, Arcadia Motion Pictures, Sandra Tapia, Noodles Production and Jérôme Vidal.

Other sections

In addition to the aforementioned feature films, five Spanish or co-produced short films will participate in this year's edition of Annecy. These are the following titles and sections.

Maria Lorenzo Hernández’s ‘Fashion Victims 2.0, a 2 minutes short produced by UPV - Universitat Politécnica de Valencia and the film director will be presented at Perspectives Short Films section.

Also, in the area of the programme dedicated to short films, Andrés Alejandro Bartos Amory and Lucija Stojevic’s 4 minutes work ‘Lost at See’, co-produced by Spain and the United Kingdom, will be screened.

In the section that the French festival devotes to school films ‘Conej Steps Out' by Pablo Río will be presented. A 7 minutes length short film produced by Digipen Institute of Technology Europe Bilbao Sergio Martínez, this work has already had its presentation at the Málaga Short Corner as a part of the New Spanish Shorts - 2cool4school Vol.3 collection, an ICAA initiative, presented as well at the Cannes Short Film Corner previously this year (21-24 May).

Additionally, in the section that the festival dedicates to TV series Guillermo García Carsí’ Spain-USA co-production ‘Baby Bot Season 1’ / ‘Episode 9: Baby Bot Knows Bees', produced by Lingokids, Jaime Fiestas, Meredith Chasney, Carmen Gutierrez, Elena del Moral and Eneko Elbira will be presented.

On the other hand, in the Advertising films section two short films will be screened: ‘Google: “Heroes Small Business. Casa Botín”, a Spain-United Kingdom almost 2 minutes long co-production on the most antique restaurant in the World directed by Jeanette Norgaard, and Mariano Ríos’ 1 minute short film ‘Relevo: '’The Rules are Changing’ produced by Ladoble, Rodrigo Lema, Diego Lizewski, Tango, Jose Arnal and Irene Choclan.

Take a look at the full Annecy Festival 2023 programme here.

MIFA Pitches-Digital Experiences

In addition to the aforementioned titles to be presented in the festival, the Marché section of this festival will hold the pitches of four Spanish (or co-production) works in progress selected for the Digital Experiences section. These are as follows:

• ‘Lumen’, directed by Enric Sant, produced by Vanova, Maria Burgués and with a script by Maria Burgués, Enric Sant and Julio A. Serrano.
• 'El día que Ewan McGregor me presentó a sus padres', feature length film directed by Marta Puig; production: Mr Miyagi Films, David Matamoros and Ángeles Hernandez with script by Marta Puig, Xenia Puiggros, Aldana Juarez. Graphic design is also Marta Puig’s.
• ‘Cuidadoras’ (Animation du Monde) / ‘Caregivers’, Chile, Ecuador and Spain co-production, this short film is directed by Daniela Cuenca Valdez, produced by Agita Studio and the film 's director.
• ‘Titan Tofu’ (7 min × 26 episodes series), directed by María Luquero García, produced by Uniko Estudio Creativo, Iván Miñambres, Abano Producións and Chelo Loureiro. Both the script and graphic design have been performed by the film director.

More information on the works selected for MIFA Pitches 2023 here.