The Animation Is Film Festival returns to Los Angeles for its 7th edition of theatrical presentations, special events and shorts showcases, taking place Oct. 18-20 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The festival’s opening night begins Friday, Oct. 18, with the North American premiere of the vibrant and musically driven feature film by critically acclaimed Japanese director Naoko Yamada (“A Silent Voice”), “The Colors Within,” from groundbreaking Japanese animation studio Science SARU and distributed in the U.S. by GKIDS. The Centerpiece on Saturday, Oct. 19, features the North American premiere of Warner Bros. Animation’s “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” which TheWrap saw earlier this year at Annecy and loved. AIF closes its annual event with the Los Angeles premiere of IFC Films’ “Memoir of a Snail” from acclaimed director Adam Elliot, who won this year’s Cristal Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Additionally, there are panels devoted to some of the year’s biggest animated features, including “The Wild Robot,” “Transformers One,” “Moana 2” and “Inside Out 2.” Plus, a special screening of David Lowery’s new animated short “An Almost Christmas Story” and a retrospective screening of genuinely insane anime classic “Redline.” It’s going to be good!
“Through seven editions, Animation Is Film has become a rendezvous not to be missed for animation lovers and Annecy is proud of our continuing partnership. This year, audiences will find an incredible selection that celebrates the best of cinema and we are especially proud of our short films program within AIF, ‘Best of Annecy WIA,’ which will give theater-goers the opportunity to watch, among others, ‘Percebes’ by Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves, the recipient of our Cristal Award for a short film earlier this year,” said Mickael Marin, CEO of Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and artistic director Marcel Jean, in an official statement.
See the full line-up below, with more screenings and events to be announced. Tickets and more will be available on the official site.
COMPETITION SECTION
BOYS GO TO JUPITER (dir. Julian Glander/ USA/ West Coast Premiere)
A surreal 3D odyssey following a teenager striving to make $5000 in Florida. Self-produced by animator Julian Glander.
THE COLORS WITHIN (dir. Naoko Yamada/ Japan/ North American Premiere) – OPENING NIGHT
Totsuko’s synesthesia draws her towards those with bright colors, including guitar-player Kimi and synth-player Rui. Together they form a band that shows them the power of friendship and connection. From auteur director Naoko Yamada. A GKIDS release.
In-person: Director Naoko Yamada
FLOW (dir. Gints Zilbalodis/ Latvia-Belgium-France/ West Coast Premiere)
Told without dialogue, this fantasy adventure follows a cat at the brink of the end of the world learning to survive alongside other species. Winner of the Jury Award at 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. A Sideshow and Janus Films release.
In-person: Director Gints Zilbalodis
GHOST CAT ANZU (dir. Yoko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita/ Japan-France/ West Coast Premiere)
The budding relationship of a girl and a cat spirit stirs trouble as they seek to reconnect with her deceased mother. Helmed by directors Nobuhiro Yamashita and Yōko Kuno who used rotoscoping to animate over live action footage. A GKIDS release.
In-person: TBD
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (dir. Adam Elliot/ Australia/ Los Angeles Premiere)
From Academy-award winner Adam Elliot, a stop-motion drama capturing the life of a snail enthusiast as she undergoes immense hardships and learns to love herself despite them. Winner of the Cristal Award at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Is Film Festival. An IFC Films release.
In-person: Director Adam Elliot
SULTANA’S DREAM (dir. Isabel Herguera/ Spain-Germany/ West Coast Premiere)
After stumbling upon a book that alleges a revolutionary country, Ines goes on a journey to find the illustrious Ladyland. Told against watercolor backdrops and Mehndi designs, Sultana’s Dream imagines a utopian land where women live free of oppression. Based on the 1905 short story of the same name.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS & STUDIO EVENTS
Special Screening of THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE (dir. Pete Browngardt/USA/North American Premiere)From Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons,” “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when facing the threat of alien invasion. In this buddy-comedy of epic proportions, our heroes race to save the world, delivering all the laugh-out-loud gags and vibrant visuals that have made the Looney Tunes so iconic, but on a scope and scale yet to be experienced.
In-person: Pete Browngardt (Director)
Special Screening of MIYAZAKI, SPIRIT OF NATURE (dir. Leo Favier/ France/ North American Premiere)
A documentary exploring the life and influential works of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, known for films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, focusing on his passion for animation and advocacy for the natural world.
Special Screening of MONONOKE THE MOVIE: PHANTOM IN THE RAIN (Kenji Nakamura/ Japan / US Premiere)
Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain is a 2024 Japanese animated supernatural psychological horror film directed by Kenji Nakamura based on the Mononoke anime television series, which in turn is a spin-off of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales anthology series, both created by Toei Animation. Two young girls start their service at a harem and are immediately thrown into a world full of scheming and competition, but there is something even more sinister skulking in the shadows. A mysterious man calling himself a Medicine Seller will open everyone’s eyes to just how terrifying demons of the human heart can be.
Special 15th anniversary screening of Takeshi Koike’s REDLINE
In honor of the seminal anime film’s 15th anniversary, Animation Is Film is proud to present a big-screen presentation of one of the most beloved titles of this century!
Special screening & Filmmaker panel: AN ALMOST CHRISTMAS STORY (David Lowery / USA)
Moon, a curious young owl, unexpectedly finds himself stuck in a Christmas tree destined for Rockefeller Plaza. In his attempts to escape the bustling city, Moon befriends a lost little girl named Luna. Together, they embark on a heartwarming adventure as they journey back home to their parents. Produced by Disney Branded Television and Esperanto Filmoj, “An Almost Christmas Story” is streaming soon on Disney+.
In-person: David Lowery (Director) & Alfonso Cuarón (Producer)
Filmmaker panel/ Masterclass: INSIDE OUT 2
In partnership with AIF’s new collaborator, Write for Animation, an in-depth conversation with writers Meg Lefauve and David Holstein focusing on the development and creation of the screenplay for Inside Out 2, the highest-grossing animated feature of all-time!
In-person: Meg Lefauve and Dave Holstein (Screenwriters)
Filmmaker panel: MOANA 2
Be among the first in the world to see never-before-seen footage from Walt Disney Animation’s upcoming Moana 2!
In-person: TBD
Filmmaker panel: TRANSFORMERS ONE
Panel discussion highlighting the craft and design of TRANSFORMERS ONE through the collaboration between Paramount Animation and ILM, including the creative and technical innovations and challenges of bringing this world to life for the first time in 3D animation.
In-person: Josh Cooley (Director), Jason Scheier (Production Designer), Steven King (Animation Supervisor), & Amy Christensen (Lead Character Designer)
Filmmaker panel: Chris Sanders & THE WILD ROBOT
details: In celebration of the new film from Dreamworks Animation, Chris Sanders sits down with Variety’s Chief Film Critic Peter Debruge for an in-depth conversation about his career, craft, and creative process. Featuring clips and commentary from fan favorites Lilo & Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon, and The Croods, as well as from the new film. Mr. Sanders will stay for a public signing session immediately following the talk.
In-person: Chris Sanders
Work-In-Progress: YOPPAMAN
Special Agent Zack Fox introduces the world of YOPPAMAN – a society under siege by the forces of late-stage capitalism, unspeakable monsters, and growing unrest. The only chance for survival? Happy Grits – a training ground for elite super Sentai soldiers. A concept short will be shown in full, followed by a deep dive into YOPPAMAN as a true work-in-progress, revealing a more detailed origin story than previously shared publicly by co-creators Zack and Chibu. The presentation will then cover unorthodox marketing strategies, followed by an exploration of the show’s ethos and target audience, ending with a Q&A session.
In-person: Zack Fox & Chibu Okere (Creators)
TV: INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL
An action-comedy set in Wrestling World, a place where wrestling is more than just sport and spectacle…it’s a way of life. We follow Andy, a young girl who dreams of becoming the greatest pro wrestler of all time. Assuming the wrestler alias: “Fight Girl”, Andy sets out into the bizarre and colorful Wrestling World, determined to make a name for herself. Along the way, she meets cynical retired champ: Aunt P, the endearingly innocent Mikey— great wrestling analyst-in-the-making, and the unscrupulous Craig, who doesn’t so much love wrestling as he does scheming ways to profit off it. United in the goal of helping Andy achieve wrestling glory, this found family embarks on a journey filled with adversity and self-discovery as they chase their dreams, push past their limits, and most importantly…deliver smackdowns on the toughest wrestlers they can find.
In-person: Juston Gordon-Montgomery
SHORTS PRESENTATIONS
Animation Is Film is once again proud to shine a spotlight on some of the year’s most extraordinary animated short films in three separate Short Film presentations.
AWARD WINNING SHORTS: A collection of Oscar-qualifying short films from around the world, including:
BEAUTIFUL MEN (France-Belgium-The Netherlands / Nicolas Keppens) – Three bald brothers travel to Istanbul to have a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.
A CRAB IN THE POOL (Canada / Jean-Sebastien Hamel & Alexandra Myotte) – A young adolescent, Zoe is a ball of anger haunted by an intimate terror. Theo, still a child, flees reality into a fantastical world. During a scorching summer day, the two children will have to burst the abscess of their relationship so as not to lose each other.
NUBE (France-Mexico-Hungary / Christian Arredondo & Diego Alonso Sanchez de la Barquera Estrada) – After witnessing an old dark stormy cloud painfully rain and die in sorrow, Noma, a puffy white cloud realizes that Mixtli, her daughter, a dark stormy cloud, is in danger of raining prematurely.
WANDER TO WONDER (The Netherlands-Belgium-France-UK / Nina Gantz) – In the 1980s, Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton starred in the children’s television program Wander to Wonder. They are left alone in the studio after the show’s originator passed away.
YUCK! (France / Loic Espuche) – Yuck! Kissing on the mouth is disgusting. But secretly, little Leo really wants to try it…
THE BEST OF ANNECY, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMEN IN ANIMATION
A collection of extraordinary short films from Annecy, curated by our partners at Women In Animation (WIA)
I DIED IN IRPIN (Czech Republic-Slovakia-Ukraine / Anastasia Falileieva) – 24th February 2022, my boyfriend and I fled Kyiv to go to Irpin. We spent 10 days in a blockaded city and just managed to escape with the last evacuation convoy. Time passed, but the feeling that I died in Irpin has never left me since.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS (Iran / Hossein Molayemi & Shirin Sohani) – Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life. WINNER BEST ANIMATED SHORT, Tribeca Film Festival
MAYBE ELEPHANTS (Norway-Canada / Torill Kove) – From Oscar-winning filmmaker Torill Kove, three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in Nairobi. What could possibly go wrong?
PERCEBES (France-Portugal / Laura Gonçalves & Alexandra Ramires) – With the sea and the urban Algarve as a background, we follow a complete cycle of the life of a special shellfish called PERCEBES, goose barnacle. From their formation, to the dish, in this journey, we cross different contexts that allow us to better understand this region and those who live there. WINNER CRISTAL, Annecy International Animation Film Festival
STUDENT SHOWCASE
A showcase of films from the next generation of artists, courtesy of our Educational Partners – California Institute of the Arts; University of Southern California; California State University, Long Beach; and California State University, Fullerton.
(Titles to be announced soon.)
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