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For 2025, Annecy has selected 21 animated features to screen in its two competiton programs: the Official Competition and the Contrechamp [Reverse Shot] Competition, the latter category designed to honor edgier and quirkier features that might otherwise not receive the attention they deserve.
These are complex, challenging, and fascinating films that deserve to be seen and discussed every bit as much as this year’s mainstream studio efforts like Bad Guys 2 and Zootopia 2, but you’ll rarely ever hear these films discussed online with the same fervor and enthusiasm as people reserve for the umpteenth sequel of a Hollywood franchise.
But things may be slowly changing. Last year, one of the features that screened in competition at Annecy was a small European co-production from Belgium, Latvia, and France called Flow. That film went on to become a huge social media phenomenon and shocked the animation world by winning the Academy Award last month.
That’s why it’s more important to pay attention to the films on this list. There are numerous Oscar contenders on the lists below, as well as many films that aren’t meant for year-end awards but are still plenty deserving of your attention. Most of them will be more widely available to view in some form or another over the next 12 months, and it’s worth bookmarking this page to refer to later.
Five of the films in competition originate from Asian countries, while four have roots in Latin America. Ironically, three Canadian directors and one Mexican director have films in competition, but not a single American film was selected. France was involved in the production of eight of the 21 features in competition.
Below is a list of the titles in competition accompanied by commentary from the Annecy Festival’s artistic director Marcel Jean about why each film was selected:
Annecy 2025 Official Competition
- A Magnificent Life, Sylvain Chomet (Belgium, Luxembourg, France)
Sylvain Chomet makes his comeback with this feature film dedicated to Marcel Pagnol. It is such a delight to see the filmmaker’s sophisticated graphics again, and for the first time, he uses dialogue to capture the musical Marseille accent.
- Allah Is Not Obliged, Zaven Najjar (Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg)
For his first feature film, Zaven Najjar rose to the challenge of adapting Ahmadou Kourouma’s novel Allah is Not Obliged. It’s a tall order given the book’s raw, unusual language, which the director manages to preserve in this first-person narrative of a child soldier.
- Arco, Ugo Bienvenu (France)
True to his graphic style, Ugo Bienvenu offers us an astonishing first science-fiction feature film for all the family, in which a 10-year-old girl takes in a boy of the same age from the future.
- ChaO, Yasuhiro Aoki (Japan)
This whimsical tale comes to us from Japan, with its assertive graphic style and bold colors, somewhat reminiscent of Masaaki Yuasa and Taiyō Matsumoto.
- Dandelion’s Odyssey, Momoko Seto (Belgium, France)
It is an understatement to say that Momoko Seto’s debut feature was eagerly awaited! We are delighted to discover that, from the very first seconds of the film, we were fascinated by this original imagery, a skillful blend of scientific shooting techniques and digital animation. Like dandelion seeds, we are hurtling along a strange and perilous journey….
- Death Does Not Exist, Felix Dufour-Laperrière (Canada, France)
Félix Dufour-Laperrière, who won an award in the Contrechamp selection in 2021 with Archipel, returns to Annecy with his third feature. Visually stunning, the film plunges us into the torments of a young woman haunted by guilt following an attack that went wrong.
- Into the Mortal World, Zhong Ding (China)
This is yet another demonstration of the exceptional expertise of Chinese studios. Into the Mortal World is intended for all audiences, a spectacular, funny film, full of action and emotion.
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han (France)
For their first feature film, Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han adapted Amélie Nothomb’s novel with finesse and sensitivity. A dazzling offering, brought to life by both the magical script and Mari Fukuhara’s music, the film will appeal to audiences of all ages.
- Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, Irene Iborra (Belgium, Chile, France, Spain)
One of the great surprises of the selection! This is the only stop-motion feature film in the official competition. Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake intelligently and skillfully addresses children tackling an essential social reality without pettiness or sentimentality.
- The Last Blossom, Baku Kinoshita (Japan)
The Last Blossom is set in the yakuza underworld and evokes the atmosphere of some of Takeshi Kitano’s films (Hana-bi, Sonatine). An opportunity to discover a truly unique director, Baku Kinoshita.
Contrechamp Competition
- Balentes, Giovanni Columbu (Italy)
A delightful discovery, this unique film follows two children in the 1940s Sardinian countryside. A moving and gripping experience due to its interesting subject matter and experimental form.
- Endless Cookie, Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver (Canada)
Seth Scriver brought us Asphalt Watches in competition in 2014, and now he’s back this year with Endless Cookie, co-directed with his half-brother Pete Scriver. In a bursting, humorous style, it parallels the differences between the experiences of the two brothers, one white and the other Native.
- Jinsei, Ryuya Suzuki (Japan)
Ryuya Suzuki’s first feature film reminds us of the minimalist visual aesthetics of On-Gaku: Our Sound by Kenji Iwaisawa. Jinsei is an uncompromising social satire that examines identity and the meaning of life. Through a videotape, the viewer becomes witness to a man’s life who has no history and is in search of an identity.
- Lesbian Space Princess, Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese (Australia)
This wacky comedy comes to us from Australia, where the title already says it all. Directed by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, Lesbian Space Princess is both delightful and surprising.
- Memory Hotel, Heinrich Sabl (Germany)
In his highly stylized debut feature, German director Heinrich Sabl transports us to 1945, to a strange hotel where little Sophie encounters horrors, loses her memory, and finds it again, while history’s tragedy is played out all around her.
- Nimuendajú, Tania Cristina Anaya (Brazil, Peru)
Out of Brazil comes this astonishing Curt Unckel biopic, the famous German ethnologist and writer christened Nimuendajú by the Guarani people in 1906. Director Tanya Anaya succeeds in capturing this man’s deep commitment as he witnessed first-hand the persecution suffered by the indigenous people.
- Olivia & The Clouds, Tomás Pichardo Espaillat (Dominican Republic)
Tomás Pichardo Espaillat’s fourth selection for Annecy is the first animated feature to come out of the Dominican Republic, an amazing journey between four characters and even more animation techniques.
- Space Cadet, Eric ‘Kid Koala’ San (Canada)
For his first feature film, musician Eric San (Kid Koala) adapts his own graphic novel, published in 2011. It features Celeste, the orphaned daughter of a famous astronaut, raised by a robot guardian and herself destined for space exploration. A film for all the family that tackles the subject of memory.
- Tales from the Magic Garden, David Sukup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec (Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, Slovenia)
Four directors from four countries join forces to create a bundle of tales spotlighting the imagination. We’re almost surprised to find so much cohesion in this children’s film, whose very genesis proves that across different origins and cultures, collaboration and understanding are possible.
- The Great History of Western Philosophy, Aria Covamonas (Mexico)
Aria Covamonas, an unclassifiable filmmaker, openly uses several great historical figures to deliver a delirious satire using collage with surrealist overtones.
- The Square, Bo-Sol Kim (South Korea)
This is perhaps the most unexpected film of the selection. The forbidden love story between a Swedish diplomat and a young North Korean woman, under the watchful eye of his interpreter and, no doubt, the secret services.
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