Whereas at MIFA, Annecy Animation Festival‘s devoted market, Canadian professionals will come of their throngs with suitcases stuffed with intriguing initiatives, Canadian artists and studios are set to thrill moviegoers and animation buffs alike.
From indie shorts and arthouse options to 3D family-friendly blockbusters, Canada’s presence this 12 months is a particular signal of a resilient animation trade.
Forward of the pageant, Selection spoke with producers, artists, administrators and creators behind 10 Canadian initiatives. Whether or not coming from a robust pageant debut or premiering at Annecy, all share the identical pleasure in becoming a member of the benevolent and welcoming animation group at this 12 months’s pageant.
Tangles
After its world premiere in Cannes, “Tangles“, comes to Annecy with strong word-of-mouth and rave reviews. With its strong cast including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson and Bryan Cranston in principal parts, with producer Seth Rogen among the cameoing talents, “Tangles” is a robust contender of Annecy’s principal function competitors.
“It all began with a desire to honor the beautiful, brave, weird, dark graphic memoir by Sarah Leavitt,” remembers Director Leah Nelson. “The book– both its story and its illustrations – was what captured my heart, and I knew it could translate into animation.”
Collaborating with Manddy Wyckens, artwork director on “Tangles”, additionally helped Nelson obtain her imaginative and prescient. “Her work is fearless and expressive, using light not only to shape an image but also to communicate emotion. Together, we were able to create a visual language that felt both emotionally resonant and visually distinctive, while remaining faithful to the spirit of the book.”
In accordance with Nelson, the method was deeply collaborative from begin to end. “Those production decisions weren’t always easy, but I was lucky to be surrounded by an extraordinary team of artists and designers who helped navigate them. Together, we found creative solutions that allowed us to realize the film we envisioned without compromising its heart or ambition.”
The Shiatsung Mission
In a bungalow surrounded by an impenetrable wall, a girl has been raised in isolation by a speaking display screen mounted on the lounge wall, fullfilling her each want with out ever revealing the explanations for its life and existence.
Administrators Brigitte Archambault and Eva Cvijanović (“The House of the Hedgehog,” 2017) be a part of with Embuscade Movies producer and “Death Does Not Exist” director Félix Dufour-Laperrière and Nationwide Movie Board producer Jelena Popović for this new function, which shall be introduced in Annecy throughout a must-see WIP session on Monday.
“At its core, ‘The Shiatsung Project’ asks: what becomes of our humanity in a world controlled by technology,” explains Archambault, who additionally wrote the graphic novel on which the movie relies. “To explore this, we dove into sexuality and our relationship with our bodies, using animation to keep these themes symbolic and poetic rather than shocking.”
Eva Cvijanović, who devoured Brigitte’s comedian guide in a single sitting, resonates strongly with the movie’s theme of compelled isolation and the eager for connection. “For our film adaptation, I poured my energy into translating her strong visuals into the cinematic realm. We used Unreal Engine to experiment with lenses and lighting, and even pulled from the ‘Lost Highway’ soundtrack. That tense, seductive soundscape of a ’90s erotic thriller felt like the perfect fit to inform the mood.”
Extremely Robust
Nationwide Movie Board of Canada brings Catherine Lepage’s brief “Ultra Strong” on this 12 months’s Annecy official competitors, a 12 months after premiering the Academy Award-winning brief “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” on the pageant’s opening.
On this colourful mix of 2D animation and ink on paper brief, Catherine Lepage invitations the viewer right into a candid and self-deprecating autofictional story. With a particular look by Iron Maiden singer-songwriter Bruce Dickinson who performs an idealized model of himself, “Ultra Strong” additionally options authentic music by Régine Chassagne (founding member of Arcade Hearth), marking her debut as a solo movie rating composer.
“Catherine really is me,” jokes Lepage. “I’ve put myself in a position of vulnerability since my very first book, 12 uninteresting months, in which I talk about depression. Publishing that book was a huge step, and it was very well received. With the film, since I had already revealed myself, I let myself have more fun.”
The NFB technical director summed up Lepage’s approach with the expression “digital silk-screening,” which was fairly humorous to the artist as “there’s no such thing. I bring the print aesthetic to film. My approach is inspired by the technique I’d use if I was making a hand-printed book, using simple methods and a limited colour palette. I work with blocks of colour.”
“Ultra Strong” screens in Annecy’s principal brief competitors.
Snoopy Unleashed
When Snoopy runs away from residence, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang go on an emotional and wondrous journey to the colourful Large Metropolis, as they seek for Snoopy and uncover that actual friendship means loving one another simply as they’re.
Introduced forth by Halifax-based WildBrain and a spin-off from the 2015 “Peanuts” film, “Snoopy Unleashed” is directed by Primetime Emmy Award winner and “Peanuts” director Steve Martino, a lifelong fan of Schulz’s beloved characters. “My dad read the comics to me as a kid, before I could even read, and I was six years old when ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ first aired. Watching that and the other Peanuts holiday specials became a tradition that marked the holiday season for me each year.”
Teasing is must-see Annecy WIP, Martino continues: “My fundamental approach to ‘Snoopy Unleashed’ is to honor the legacy of Charles Schulz, while creating an animated feature film experience both for existing fans and a new generation who will get to know these wonderful characters for the first time. I feel that CG animation provides the opportunity to create an experience that is rich in the detail of lighting, texture, and dimensionality that can support the storytelling. The artistic challenge is to use these tools to craft a movie where you can also feel Sparky’s pen line.”
“Snoopy Unleashed” is slated for 2027 on Apple TV.
Marcy PAGE
Virgin Fandango
Portugal’s conventional painted ceramic tiles, azulejos, come to life in “Virgin Fandango,” an progressive 11-minute brief movie premiering at Annecy. Directed by Marcy Web page and co-produced by Ciclopes Filmes and Blue Dada Productions, the stop-motion musical animates over 12,000 hand-painted tiles and boldly reimagines the Virgin Mary as a rebellious, dancing, and empowering determine.
Mixing vibrant music with a visible mosaic referencing 170 historic girls and feminine animators, “Virgin Fandango” is a one-of-a-kind brief, crafted over nearly a decade by a really small group of devoted artists.
Azulejos themselves impressed director-producer Marcy Web page, who fell in love with the blueish tiles and wished to experiment with it. “On the identical time, these murals are largely used to deify saints, kings and males, so I believed: what if I might use them to have a good time girls of historical past, who are sometimes much less celebrated? Mary, a well known determine in Portugal nonetheless a lot celebrated, was the right character to hold this empowering story, with music by acclaimed composer Normand Roger.
“Virgin Fandango” screens in Annecy’s principal brief competitors.
Stephanie DUDLEY
Invisible Harvests
A tactile, stop-motion poem constructed from decayed 16mm movie, dried kombucha Scobys, and effervescent ferments, “Invisible Harvests” marks Stephanie Dudley’s return to Annecy, 15 years after her earlier brief “Little Theatres: Homage to the Mineral of Cabbage.”
Treating animation as a strategy of transformative decay, the movie traces inherited rituals and blends animation strategies with Dudley’s signature strategy.
“Here, I really let the subject matter dictate the media,” explains the director. “The film is a mixture of digital stop motion photography with puppets and miniature props and sets, timelapse macro photography, live action, 2D computer animation, and 16mm film.”
Impressed by a manifesto about fermentation by Mercedes Villalba, Dudley’s movie is extra of a meditation on loss, with a touch of political subtext. “I feel like doing things that take time, refusing conveniences and waiting are political acts. Sitting with boredom is a political act. So for me, anything that requires patience is doing something to change my brain, and is an act of refusal in a sense, a way of paying closer attention.”
“Invisible Harvests” screens in Annecy’s principal brief competitors.
Jean-Sébastien HAMEL
What We Go away Behind
Dan has a gaping gap in his neck that gained’t heal. Why? He can’t keep in mind or speak about it. Again in his sinister childhood realm, he should discover the a part of himself he left behind that now prevents him, as an grownup, from being complete.
Introduced in Locarno final 12 months,” “What We Leave Behind” is directed by the multi-awarded duo Jean-Sébastien Hamel & Alexandra Myotte (“A Hole in the Chest”). In accordance with the administrators, the movie was born from a private necessity to discover trauma not as a previous occasion, however as a dwelling, persistent presence.
Dan, the protagonist, carries a visual wound, a lacking piece in his neck, which represents the ache that we can not specific or escape.
“Through this film, we want to show how trauma leaves traces in the body, in the space, and in silence. The hockey arena, once a place of innocence, has become the theatre of broken memories. It turns into a mental labyrinth where Dan tries to find a lost part of himself. 2D animation, drawn frame by frame, allows us to sculpt every emotion and sensation. The use of a subjective point of view and a slow, fragmented editing reflects the process of introspection: difficult, painful, but necessary.”
The minimalist, typically violent and brutal, sound surroundings of the movie helps this interior dive, amplifying the isolation and psychological pressure of our character. “This film speaks about rage, shame, loneliness, but also about the courage it takes to face what eats us from the inside. It doesn’t offer a miracle solution, but it says that maybe, one day, it’s possible to start living differently.”
“What We Leave Behind” screens in Annecy’s principal brief competitors.
The Comet
13 years after her earlier brief “Dent de lait”, 2D animation specialist Julie Charette comes again to Annecy together with her skilled movie debut “The Comet.” An adaptation of Sylvain Trudel’s brief story “Two Faces,” Charette wished to create a movie that was each tender and harsh, the place the bond between a brother and sister and the deep affection that unites them shine by.
In “The Comet,” eight-year-old Émile is having fun with the final of the nice and cozy summer time evenings together with his sister Françoise. Whereas they’re eagerly scanning the night time sky for capturing stars, they’re abruptly interrupted by a despicably merciless act.
“The film was computer-animated in 2D, then entirely hand-colored with colored pencils and oil pastels,” particulars Charette. “With this medium, I wanted to evoke a feeling of gentle nostalgia reminiscent of the picture books of my childhood, Through texture and a palette of saturated colors, I wanted to create a warm and vibrant atmosphere evoking the energy of childhood and thus accentuating the contrast with the harshness of the story.”
As this was her first skilled movie, each step was one thing new for the artist. “The biggest challenge was probably the enormous workload involved in producing 11 minutes of hand-colored animation on paper, and all the post-production work that entails. But the result is something unique and precious that delights me every time.”
Julián
Making its world premiere at Annecy, Cartoon Saloon‘s latest feature “Julián” is co-produced by Canadian company Aircraft Pictures, with servicing provided by Toronto’s Guru Studio. A profitable follow-up to the good collaboration the Irish studio had with the Toronto-based firm on “The Breadwinner”, to carry to life the story of wide-eyed Julián, who’s about to spend the summer time with a grandmother he barely is aware of. Amazed to find her treasure-trove residence, Julián additionally discovers his personal Caribbean heritage and the full of life Brooklyn group he’s surrounded by, in a loveable, benevolent family-friendly function.
Louise Bagnall directs, making her function debut with this colourful adaptation of Jessica Love’s image guide “Julian Is a Mermaid”, one thing she would have liked to have seen as a toddler who couldn’t all the time discover the ‘right’ strategy to specific herself.
Anthony Leo, CEO of Cartoon Saloon, emphasizes the collaboration of all companions on this projection. “Cartoon Saloon and our co-producers Aircraft Pictures, Melusine Studio and Sun Creature worked hard to put together a team that would lead to an authentic adaptation of this best-selling picture book, including the voices of co-director Guillaume Lorin, screenwriter Juliany Taveres, our Caribbean-Canadian voice cast and our composer among many others. It fills us with pride as a studio to lift up under-represented voices and tell bold stories.”
Key inventive duties carried out in Canada embody an all Caribbean-Canadian voice forged lead by Knyght Darius Jack and Milcania Diaz-Rojas, the musical rating by La-Nai Gabriel, a portion of key animation and compositing carried out by Guru Studio.
“Julián” screens within the Annecy Presents non-competitive part.
Ogresse
A tragic musical comedy about an ogress who lives alone within the woods till a younger man decided to kill her arrives and fatally wins her coronary heart, “Ogresse” is a singular mission mixing chants and animation in mysterious methods.
Cécile McLorin Salvant, the artist behind the unique musical, groups up with Belgian director Lia Bertels on this Miyu function, introduced as WIP in Annecy because the movie enters manufacturing. After a memorable 2022 Cartoon Film pitch, this transatlantic co-production (France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, U.S.) is slated for 2028.
“We are delighted and excited to launch today the production of this extraordinary film which promises an unprecedented cinematic experience,” underlines Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Miyu founder and producer. “Working again with our colleagues at Embuscade Films, with whom we co-produced Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s ‘Death Does Not Exist’, their extensive knowledge of 2D animation will undoubtedly be a real asset to the film, as will the proximity of the studio to New York, where Cécile lives.”
Coming to Annecy, the group brings exams, pictures and photographs from the movie, a particular hightlight of this Annecy 2026 program, the place Canada as soon as once more proves its standing as a hub for worldwide co-productions in addition to an incubator for animated skills of tomorrow.
