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Despite its constant growth and status as the animation industry’s most important animation event for studios, filmmakers, students and fans, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival remains, at its core, one of the world’s greatest platforms for animated short films.
Below, we take a closer look at 10 animated shorts competing at this year’s festival that attendees won’t want to miss. We’re not saying these are the best 10 shorts; we’ll leave that to the judges, but we believe each offers something unique that anyone fortunate enough to attend this year’s event may appreciate.
“9 Million Colours,” Bára Anna (Czech Republic, Norway, Germany)
Bára Anna’s “9 Million Colours” is a vibrant and brilliantly lit 15-minute stop-motion musical that explores the unlikely bond between Fran, a multi-colored mantis shrimp, and Milva, a blind deep-sea fish. Set in a surreal underwater world, the film delves into themes of perception, difference and acceptance. Without dialogue, it relies on expressive animation and an evocative score by Floex to convey its narrative. The film’s distinctive blend of puppetry and stop-motion animation crafts a whimsical yet poignant tale that will resonate with audiences of any age. A Cartoon Springboard standout as a project, the finished film’s inclusion in this year’s festival underscores its artistic merit and emotional depth.
“Atomik Tour,” Bruno Collet (Czech Republic, France)
In “Atomik Tour,” Bruno Collet merges social media documentary realism with surreal stop-motion as a Cold War tour guide leads us through an abandoned nuclear site via a video streaming app. With dark humor and eerie nostalgia, Collet critiques both the absurdity and the tragedy of nuclear history while occasionally shocking the audience with psychological thrills. His miniature sets brim with unsettling detail, and the uncanny monotone characters deliver deadpan lines that hit with precision. It’s a timely and quietly powerful film that exposes how we commemorate, or forget, collective trauma.
“Bread Will Walk,” Alex Boya (Canada)
“Bread Will Walk” is as strange as it is magnetic. Iconic Canadian filmmaker Alex Boya delivers an intoxicatingly grotesque piece of hand-drawn surrealism, featuring walking loaves of bread and melting anatomies. It’s equal parts body horror, cannibalism and existential comedy, steeped in absurdist traditions. Boya’s signature drawing style, fluid and twitching, brings his warped vision to life. This short, voiced entirely by Canadian actor Jay Baruchel, dares viewers to keep looking as its characters morph and are forced towards unenviable decisions.
“Carcassonne-Acapulco,” Marjorie Caup, Olivier Héraud (France)
A brightly colored stop-motion short with a vintage and hyper-stylized aesthetic, “Carcassonne-Acapulco” unspools aboard flight 7836. Cutesy felt sets and characters, and a charming ukulele soundtrack, set up viewers for a surprise when the crew faces an unexpected knock on the cockpit door mid-flight, prompting a tense and comedic dilemma as otherwise casual pilots debate whether to allow the knocker in. The film’s meticulous puppet animation and witty storytelling have already garnered significant acclaim, earning it a spot at the Unifrance Short Film Awards.
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls,” Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski (Canada)
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” is a haunting fable that delves into sorrow, love and the corrupting power of greed. Premiering as one of the opening-night shorts at this year’s festival, this Canadian title showcases the duo’s signature handcrafted puppetry and surreal storytelling. With a poignant score by Patrick Watson, the film immerses viewers in a melancholic tale where a girl’s tears transform into pearls, leading to unforeseen consequences. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, this short is one in a long line of standout titles that benefit from one of the world’s most prolific and supportive public filmmaking programs.
“Life With an Idiot,” Theodore Ushev (France)
Inspired by Victor Erofeyev’s novella, “Life With an Idiot” is a tour de force of political expression and raw emotion. Theodore Ushev, whose 2019 short “The Physics of Sorrow” made our must-watch list at Annecy 2020, adapts the story into a stark, expressionistic film filled with jagged edits and visceral brushstrokes. In the film, a protagonist accused of not working hard enough is forced to live with an idiot as punishment. Pulled from an asylum, the nearly deaf roommate can only utter a single syllable: “Ech.” Domestic chaos leads to societal critique backed by an aggressive sound design and stark aesthetic. Ushev’s latest, produced by French powerhouse Miyu Productions, demands attention and leaves a mark.
“My Wonderful Life,” Calleen Koh (Singapore)
Koh’s “My Wonderful Life” is a sharply observed satire of modern society as experienced by an overworked and underappreciated mother of two. Through a charmingly off-kilter blend of 2D aesthetics, the film follows a protagonist who, after catching a highly contagious virus, must abandon her work as a personal assistant to a demanding boss and her duties at home with a useless husband and two needy kids. When her hospital stay is set to end, she begins a series of over-the-top self-mutilations to avoid returning to her unappreciative dependents, but grows to miss and appreciate the joy that they bring into her life.
“Star Wars: Visions – Black,” Shinya Ohira (Japan)
One of the most experimental entries in the Star Wars: Visions anthology, “Black” by Shinya Ohira reimagines the galaxy through a gritty, impressionistic lens. Known for his frenetic animation and abstract storytelling, Ohira delivers a visually explosive meditation on conflict and identity. Far from traditional fan service, this short dives into the psychological toll of warfare and the ambiguity of heroism. It’s Star Wars stripped to its philosophical bones, raw, kinetic and unforgettable. An upbeat and frenzied jazz soundtrack fuels the most visually stunning interpretation of the Death Star’s destruction that we’ve ever seen.
“Sulaimani,” Vinnie Ann Bose (France)
In “Sulaimani,” Vinnie Ann Bose crafts a delicate, introspective narrative centered on a restaurant meal and cup of spiced tea, and the memories those dishes evoke in two Malaysian women living in Paris, although for vastly different reasons. Through textured stop-motion animation for present-day scenes and colorful hand-drawn sequences for flashbacks, the film captures the diaspora experience with warmth and nuance. As stories of love, loss and migration unfold over small bites and careful sips, Bose paints a portrait of identity steeped in sensory memory. Intimate and powerful, “Sulaimani” is a heartfelt ode to cultural reflection and belonging.
“Tapeworm Alexis & the Opera Diva,” Thaïs Odermatt (Switzerland)
In one of the festival’s most delightfully bizarre entries, Thaïs Odermatt introduces us to a tapeworm named Alexis who accompanies the legendary opera diva Maria Callas across her rise to Prima Assoluta. “Tapeworm Alexis & the Opera Diva” is a brilliant absurdist comedy, blending crude humor with unexpectedly tender moments and ruminations on contemporary themes. With vibrant, squiggly animation that relies heavily on archival imagery and a riotous sense of rhythm, Odermatt delivers a short that is both a parody and a love letter to one of opera and pop culture’s greatest 20th century icons. It’s grotesque, hilarious and strangely endearing.
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