by Kambole Campbell

I've been attending Annecy Animation Festival for a few years now, virtually at first during the lockdown in London for Covid-19 and I've been fortunate enough to go in person since that time. A massive hub for animation projects, pitches for animation projects and meetings for those hoping to break ground in the industry as well as an exhibition of animated films and series from around the world, it's the focal point of my year and probably my favorite festival, perhaps because of how different it feels to most other film festivals.

The reasons, broadly, are down to the audience and the breadth of the work shown which extends beyond even completed features. Works in TV and feature film which aren't even finished yet can demonstrate the artistry still ongoing through the Work-in-Progress strand; finished and unfinished works alike hold a captive audience of international animation workers and students eager to learn more about a common language. Even in the short time I've been going, the festival has become dominated by big companies (a friend has quipped to me that some of the queues are beginning to feel Comic-Con-esque) but the thrill of seeing the building blocks, the human hand behind these works, hasn't dulled yet.

This is also my busiest time of year. With that in mind, here's a little summary of what I'll be looking at throughout the week and what you may want to keep an eye on yourself.

Some films – We Are Aliens, Viva Carmen!, Iron Boy, Wildwood

A few of these have already shown at Cannes, and so I have already watched a couple of these with We Are Aliens and Viva Carmen! (see my interview about that for Animation Magazine here). Both are very beautiful films with a unique look as well as an interest in the perspectives of children, the deadpan humor of We Are Aliens feels particularly special, accentuated by a lot of detail in its character drawings and what I assume is rotoscoped animation.

One of the biggest films at the festival is of course the new Laika feature Wildwood, directed by studio head Travis Knight. This might be an indictment of my reading comprehension, but I think it's just some footage and BTS work being shown in a presentation rather than the full thing (if it is the full thing, that'll be a pleasant surprise I suppose). There'll also be an exhibition, which is great, because the most exciting thing about Travis Knight's films is seeing how Laika puts them together.

Some shows – Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, Sekiro, Ghost in the Shell

Yes, mostly anime, but there's some exciting premieres tucked away here ahead of the incoming Summer season. On Monday, I'll be watching the first two episodes of Science Saru's adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (look out for some coverage on that), while the studio's new work Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, directed by Naoko Yamada and Abel Gongora, screens in TV Competition (in a program alongside KyoAni's alt-history show Sparks of Tomorrow). One I'm quietly super excited for is Sekiro: No Defeat, which is showing as a feature film in the Midnight Specials category. I wrote about the trailer for Cartoon Brew a while back, and noted its incredibly idiosyncratic look: something more valuable than ever in a landscape increasingly saturated with anime and anime video game adaptations which all drift towards a homogenous aesthetic.

Some work in progress – Common Side Effects Season 2, Baahubali: The Eternal War

Like pretty much anyone else who keeps up with animation, I am super keen on the work of Green Street Pictures – Scavengers Reign is one of the best sci-fi series of the decade and the team's follow-up Common Side Effects is on its way there too; the first season was a captivating and funny satirical thriller which turns a corporate conspiracy into a treatise on the capitalist extortion of the American healthcare system. Joe Bennett and Steve Hely's show has some goofy sensibilities, but this doesn't take away from the incredibly precise craft of it, so seeing how they're putting the new season together is very exciting to me. (Again, watch this space!)

I'm still trying to figure out a way I can see the Ogresse presentation (I am REALLY excited for that one), but the other big one for me is the session for S.S. Rajamouli's Baahubali: The Eternal War, which, as Jamie Lang from Cartoon Brew says, "could mark a generational shift in India" and its animation industry.

A big fancy slate presentation – Adult Swim

Adult Swim is showing/announcing some new stuff! Probably! I don't know what's gonna happen here yet. But last year it announced the upcoming Genndy Tartakovsky show Heist Safari, so I'm hoping for a little bit more on that and whatever other excitement the session will bring — before I have to sprint to my shuttle to the airport.

/out of frame

📝 Kambole: Happy Friday! Literally my entire life has been Annecy prep at the moment but my pre-festival coverage is starting to publish now (such as this interview – featuring a TON of BTS imagery – with the director of China's biggest ever 2D animated film, Nobody) so that's cool. Meanwhile, on my return from Annecy I'm about to be part of a Q&A for Atlantis: The Lost Empire in the BFI IMAX on Saturday 27 June for London Climate Action Week. If you're based in London, please come along (and let me know)!

Lastly, rest in peace Tay Keith, who passed tragically young this week. A wonderful producer, here's one beat he did for Denzel Curry.

☀️ Rollin: It's summer! The first summer for re:frame, even! A small programming update for the season: we're going down to one send every other week until somewhere in August, most likely. So you'll get two sends one week, one send the next, then two sends, and so on. Turns out, this is our busy season. Who knew?

🏝️ Toussaint: Out for the next week for vacation in San Diego! Excited to take my son swimming, visit the zoo, and eat delicious food.