Producers, distributors, financial partners... Every year, many of you are following the Annecy Film Festival and its market. Especially the Pitches to be the young generation's first partner.
The MIFA (Marché International du Film d'Animation d'Annecy) has unveiled the projects selected for this hybrid edition which will take place from 14 to 19 June.
Short Features
Two ice creams, please by Jasmine Elsen
While on holiday, two friends get lost in a wild tropical forest. After spending several days wandering around, they start dreaming about ice cream.
Balconada by Iva Tokmakchieva
On a beautiful summer day, when time seems to stand still, a sudden downpour hits the balconies of several isolated neighbours and changes their relationships.
Gigi by Cynthia Gigi
In February 2017, I saw Gigi again for the first time in 10 years. Before that, I was friends with the one I thought was William. She tells me about her transition from the little fish she was as a child to the blossoming mermaid she is today.
Margarethe by Lucas Malbrun
In the former GDR, Margarethe Lichgut, an art student in Leipzig, falls in love with Heinrich, a young punk singer. When Heinrich mysteriously disappears just before the fall of the Wall, Margarethe is overcome by paranoia and gradually loses touch with reality.
Mesut by Alexia Roider and Michalis Kalopaidis
"Mesut" is based on the true story of a boy who wants to learn to dance, but has to postpone his dream. It is the story of those men and women around the world whose lives are marked by conflict. Loss and separation plague them, but art soothes and instills the need for fulfillment.
Oscar by Polyxeny Katsari and Matina Fykari
Oscar, an orphan living alone in an abandoned house, discovers an old music box. This triggers a series of events that lead him to the family vault where secrets are waiting to be revealed.
Pasos para volar by Nicolàs Conte
Locked in a room with a window that opens to the left, a bird teaches a chick to fly, even though it has no wings. The appearance of a mysterious suitcase ruins his plans and reveals to the chick an unexpected opportunity to escape.
The Birds of Paradise by Tomek Ducki
In an infinite void, a flock of young birds live and create a territory by defecating. One day they find a mysterious boot with magical powers that allows them to produce more excrement. This makes land expansion faster and easier!
Signal by Mathilde Parquet and Emma Carré
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Claudie has a strange job. She probes space for signs of extraterrestrial life in order to establish contact. But what if, by spending so much time looking into the infinite space, she ends up losing contact with Earth?
Sulaimani by Vinnie Ann Bose and Patricia Valeix
Alia and Neena, two young Indian women, each have dinner at Sulaimani, an Indian restaurant in Paris. The meal brings back certain memories that gradually reveal why they left their country. Alia could no longer stand the culture of traditional India and was in conflict with her family. Neena has to support her husband and children back home. Their reasons may be different, but they share the same nostalgia during this dinner that brings them a little closer to home.
Zanadrano (enfant de l'eau) by Ridha Andriantomanga
What is a mother prepared to do to satisfy her desire for a child? Would she go so far as to sign a pact, without measuring the consequences? Are a father's strength and a mother's love enough to protect the child? A philosophical tale about the bond between parents and their child.
Long Features
Annah la Javanaise by Fatimah Tobing Rony
Paris, 1894. A 13-year-old Javanese girl escapes from the home of the painter Paul Gauguin, to whom she had been smuggled as a servant and model. In search of money to return to her family, she disguises herself as a boy and finds work with the other outcasts of the famous Fernando circus. This is the story of her journey to freedom and home.
Flow by Gints Zilbalodis
There are two things Cat doesn't like: water and being with others. His life is turned upside down when his island is devastated by a flood. He is then rescued by a boat led by a friendly rodent.
Goliath & Me by Michelle Kranot and Uri Kranot
Asher dreams of being a great warrior. Unfortunately, he is too young and too small for the army. But when, by chance, he becomes the shield bearer of the legendary giant Goliath, he discovers a very different kind of champion. A retelling of the David and Goliath myth, told from a surprising point of view.
Hanta by Emilia Ramos
In 1968, Bohumill is at the height of his fame, but the writer becomes censored. To save himself, he pretends to comply with the government of the day while secretly writing a novel about Hanta, an old censored book presser. Bohumill's reality intertwines with Hanta's fiction in a dangerous context for both of them, and death will be their only outcome.
In Waves by Phuong Mai Nguyen
AJ and Kristen meet in high school in Los Angeles, and fall madly in love with each other. As their love grows, Kristen's life is turned upside down by illness. Together, they will fight adversity and live their shared passion for surfing to the end.
Porcelain Birds by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
In 1998, Kayo, a Japanese high school student, arrives in California on an exchange program funded by Henry Hughes, an American billionaire. Kayo struggles to fit into the culture.
Sidi Kaba et la porte du retour by Rony Hotin
Sheltered in the belly of a whale, here is the young Sidi Kaba, starting his incredible adventure, where the fate of his brother and the slaves of the Sugar Island depend on a Homeric battle between brown resisters, slavers and forgotten Gods.
The Dragon's Treasure by Ashkan Rahgozar
Sayeh, 8 years old, goes on an adventure to find the dragon's treasure and save her grandmother's village from drought. She doesn't know that the real treasure is the water with which she must fill all the aqueducts.
Series and Special TV
Anesou et les Shégués by Daniel Cattier Maseko and Nadia Micault
"Anesou" tells the story of a 10 year old girl who travels back in time to the great African civilizations.
Cosmonots by Jac Clinch
Somewhere behind the Iron Curtain, as the regime crumbles around them, three mismatched cosmonauts await the orders that will launch them into orbit. Or pulverise them into tiny pieces.
Ivy's Bookshop by Joshua Hogan
Ivy is a young female dragon. She has a passion for reading and a thirst for knowledge, but suffers from dyslexia, which means that she learns a little differently than the others.
Jose Trueno by Ariel Augusto Loez Verdesco
Joe Caruso is a bigoted retiree who, thanks to a secret app, can transform himself into 18-year-old social influencer "Joe Thunder". But to become a teenage star, this bitter old coot will still have to learn a few tricks, get rid of his bigotry, and most importantly, start by finding out what an influencer is!
Kuttan the Medicine Boy by Anand Babu
Kuttan, born from an act of witchcraft, is a pot-bellied character, but gifted with sensitivity. Under the tutelage of Vaidyan, a village doctor, he grows up to become Kuttan the healer.
L'Ourse et l'oiseau by Marie Caudry
In the North, winter is coming. A bear thinks of her bird friend who has migrated south. Instead of hibernating as she does every year, she decides to cross the world to join him.
Papa et moi by Olesya Shchukina
In Pskov, a small village in Russia, live peacefully Fiodor, a dreamy teacher, and Alyona, his six-year-old daughter, curious about everything. A stroke of fate gives them the opportunity to leave for Paris where a new life is offered to them. Each, in his own way, will try to adapt to it.
Pour exister by Fabien Corre and Kelsi Phung
Binh, 19 years old, questions his non-binarity. Thanks to Jeanne, a young transgender woman who opens the doors of her association to him, he discovers the LGBTI+ community and searches for the place that will be his.
Sybil and her Past Lives by Isabela Littger De Pinho and Lara Arrigoni Manesco
After breaking the dream-catcher of her childhood, Sybil unwittingly releases the spirits of her past lives. She sets out on a journey to unravel their mystery and eventually discovers her inner truth
Who's Our Sub Today? by Chun-chien Lien
A set of the strangest substitute teachers have been assigned to their class for the semester. Ben, the class president, and his mischievous classmates must learn to survive school on their own.
The pitches also include 7 digital experiences in development, as well as the MIFA BD pitches which, in collaboration with several international comic book festivals, initiate possible adaptations from the pages to the screen.
