The line-up for the Official Competition and the Contrechamp Competition at the 45th Annecy International Animation Film Festival (directed by Mickaël Marin), which will take place from 21 to 27 June and will open with the US-French production Minions & Monsters by Pierre Coffin, was unveiled today.

Curated by artistic delegate Marcel Jean, this selection includes 11 contenders for the 2026 Cristal in the Official Competition, which will be judged by a jury comprising Mònica Garcia Massagué, Maïlys Vallade and Faisal Baltyuor. It is worth noting that six of the films in the running will have their world premieres at Cannes, including three by French filmmakers: Viva Carmen! by Sébastien Laudenbach, Iron Boy by Louis Clichy and Lucy Lost by Olivier Clert. Also set to be unveiled on the Croisette are the Franco-Belgian production In Waves by Vietnamese director Phuong Mai Nguyen, We Are Aliens by Japanese director Kohei Kadowaki, and Tangles by American director Leah Nelson.

Three other European (co-)productions will be in the running: Decorado by Spain’s Alberto Vázquez; the Franco-Luxembourgish co-production The Sunrise File by Britain’s Rupert Wyatt and France’s Émilie Phuong; and The Violinist by Singaporean Ervin Han and Spaniard Raúl García, a co-production involving Singapore, Spain and Italy. The line-up is rounded off by two Chinese feature films: Nobody by Shui Yu and Tana by Ji Zhao and Ke Er Zhu.

Five European productions feature among the 11 feature films selected for the Contrechamp competition, which will be judged by a jury including Anna Ida Orosz, Lola Lefèvre and Suresh Eriyat: Spacetime Chronicles by Italy’s Stefano Bertelli, Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope by Spaniards Beñat Beitia and Elio Quiroga (co-produced by Chile and Argentina), Blaise by French directors Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue (which will have its world premiere at Cannes, as part of the ACID programme), Mu Yi and the Handsome General by their compatriot Julien Chheng and the Franco-Japanese co-production A New Dawn by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (discovered in competition at Berlin). Added to these are films from Taiwan, the Philippines and Brazil, two from Japan and a US-Japanese co-production.

Also worth noting in Annecy’s rich line-up are the 14 titles in the non-competitive “Annecy Presents” section, including Dante by Swedish director Linda Hamback, Julián by Irish filmmaker Louise Bagnall, Monster Mia by German director Verena Fels, Born in the Jungle by Latvian filmmaker Edmunds Jansons, the Belgian production Yugly by Yanis Belaid and Jérémie Degruson, The Last Whale Singer by German-Iranian director Reza Memari, Dudley and the Invasion of the Space Slugs by Franco-Algerian filmmaker Cherifa Bakhti, and Girl in the Clouds by French director Philippe Riche. This extensive programme is further enhanced by five midnight screenings, including Soul Shift by German director Christian Franz Schmidt, the Belgian-French production Gregor by Manu Gomez and Gaetan Dedeken, and Zsazsa Zaturnnah by Avid Liongoren (a co-production between the Philippines and France). All this without forgetting making-of sessions, first-look footage, showcases (Netflix – with Ricky Gervais – Disney, Pixar, etc.), as well as a competition and short film programmes.

Finally, it should be noted that Mike Judge and the Quay Brothers will receive an Honorary Cristal, and that the 41st edition of the Mifa (International Animation Film Market) will take place from 23 to 26 June.

The Selection:

Official Competition

Viva Carmen! – Sébastien Laudenbach (France)
Iron Boy – Louis Clichy (France/Belgium)
Decorado – Alberto Vázquez (Spain)
The Sunrise File – Rupert Wyatt and Émilie Phuong (France/Luxembourg)
In Waves – Phuong Mai Nguyen (France/Belgium)
Lucy Lost – Olivier Clert (France)
Nobody – Shui Yu (China)
Tangles – Leah Nelson (Canada/United States)
Tana – Ji Zhao and Ke er Zhu (China)
The Violinist – Ervin Han and Raúl García (Singapore/Spain/Italy)
We Are Aliens – Kohei Kadowaki (Japan/France)

Contrechamp Competition

Welcome to Dolly’s House – Seven Ych, Rady Fu and Tree Muta (Taiwan, opening film)
58th – Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines)
A New Dawn – Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (Japan/France)
Blaise – Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue (France)
Spacetime Chronicles – Stefano Bertelli (Italy)
Son of a Bitch – Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya and Sávio Leite (Brazil)
Mu Yi and the Handsome General – Julien Chheng (France)
Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise – Goro Kuji (Japan)
The Orbit of Minor Satellites – Christopher Sullivan (United States/Japan)
Toritsukare Otoko – Wataru Takahashi (Japan)
Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope – Beñat Beitia and Elio Quiroga (Spain/Chile/Argentina)

Annecy Presents

Yugly – Yanis Belaid and Jérémie Degruson (Belgium)
Born in the Jungle – Edmunds Jansons (Latvia/Poland/Czech Republic)
Brave Cat – Gabriel Osorio (Chile)
Dante – Linda Hamback (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)
Poupelle of Chimney Town: The Promised Clock Tower – Yusuke Hirota (Japan)
Dudley and the Invasion of the Space Slugs – Cherifa Bakhti (Belgium/France/India)
Julián – Louise Bagnall (Ireland)
The Ribbon Heroine – Yuki Igarashi (Japan)
Girl in the Clouds – Philippe Riche (France/Belgium)
The Legend of the Golden Buffalo – Tranh Lam Tung (Vietnam)
The Last Whale Singer – Reza Memari (Germany/Czech Republic/Canada)
Monster Mia – Verena Fels (Austria/Spain/Germany)
Samurai Ballerina: The Blooming Star of Paris – Goro Tanigushi (Japan)
The Keeper of the Camphor Tree – Tomohiko Ito (Japan)

Midnight Specials

Workers’ Sports Festival – Yong-Seon Lee (South Korea)
Gregor – Manu Gomez and Gaetan Dedeken (Belgium/France)
Sekiro: No Defeat – Kenichi Kutsuna (Japan)
Soul Shift – Christian Franz Schmidt (Germany)
Zsazsa Zaturnnah – Avid Liongoren (Philippines/France)

Special Events

Minions & Monsters - Pierre Coffin (USA, opening film)
Forgotten Island - Joel Crawford, Januel P. Mercado (USA)
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie - Jennifer Dodge, Laura Clunie, Toni Stevens (USA)
Rogue Trooper - Duncan Jones (UK)
New York, Miriam et moi - Léahn Vivier-Chapas, Rémy Schaepman (France/Luxembourg)
Batman: Knightfall - Jeff Wamester (USA, series)