The 2025 Annecy Festival (9-15 June 2025) was primarily a French affair. French directors helmed the winning films in the shorts and feature animation categories.

Ugo Bienvenu, comic artist and animation director (his first feature film), took the Cristal for Best Animation Feature at Annecy with 'Arco', a sci-fi Utopian story between a boy falling from the sky and a 10-year-old girl. The film already proved popular with the Annecy audience (extra screenings were arranged) for this colorful feature.

The world of Alexeieff/Parker pinscreen got its due via the French director Pierre Luc-Granjon and his impressively empathetic 'The Night Boots'. The story of a child slipping into his Wellington boots and meeting strange solitary creatures was awarded the Cristal for Best Animation Short -and managed to win over animation names such as Theo Ushev (My Life with an Idiot), Priit & Olga Pärn (Luna Rossa), and Bruno Collet (Atomik Tour).

Asian features got acknowledgement:  'ChaO' by Yasuhiro Aoki, a romance story of humans and mermaids won the Jury Award for  a Feature film; whereas, in the Contrechamp category (a mixed bag of auteurish, quirky or otherwise unacknowledged films), 'The Square' by Korean director Bo-Sol Kim, a story of romance and espionage.

In the same category, the winner was the Canadian 2D animation 'Endless Cookie' by Seth Scriver (Asphalt Watches) and Pete Scriver, a quirky portrait of two half-brothers. 

A French film was also the recipient of the Cristal for Best Graduation Film: Léna Martinez with her 2D animation 'Zootrope' reinvents a zoo visit, and its inhabitants. Ryo Orikasa (of 'Miserable Miracle') scooped the Off-Limits Award for a Short film with his animated poem rendition of Makoto Takayanagi (read by the poet) in 'The Graffiti'

Biggest festival snub: no awards or distinctions at all for the Berlinale-premiered puppet feature film 'The Tales of Magic Garden' (our interview with the creators).

The Full List of 2025 Annecy Festival Awards

Feature films

• Cristal for a Feature Film: Arco, Ugo Bienvenu (France, pr. Remembers, MountainA)
• Jury Award: ChaO, Yasuhiro Aoki (Japan, Studio 4°C Co.)
• Contrechamp Grand Prix: Endless Cookie, Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver (Canada, pr. Scythia Films).
• Contrechamp Jury Award: The Square, Bo-Sol Kim (South Korea, KAFA - The Korean Academy of Fine Arts)
• Gan Foundation Award for Distribution: Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake: Irene Iborra Rizo (Spain/France/Belgium/Chile/Switzerland, pr. Cornelius Films/ Citoplasmas Stop Motion / Kinetic Media / Bigaro Films / Vivement Lundi! / Panique/ Nadasdy Film)
• Audience Award: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Maïlys Vallade Vallade, Liane-Cho Han (France, pr. IKKI Films, Maybe Movies)
• Paul Grimault Award: Dandelion's Odyssey, Momoko Seto (France, MIYU Productions, ECCE Films, Umedia Production), 

Short films

• Cristal for a Short Film: The Night Boots, Pierre-Luc Granzon (France, pr. Am Stram Gram)
• Jury Award: Les Bêtes, Michael Granberry (France)
• Audience Award: The Night Boots,  Pierre-Luc Granzon (France, pr. Am Stram Gram)
• Off-Limits Award: The Graffiti, Ryo Orikasa (Japan, The Yanai Initiative)
• Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film: Murmuration, Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger (Netherlands/Belgium, pr. Lunanime)
• Alexeïeff – Parker Award: Sappho, Rosanna Urbes (Brazil, pr. Planta Filmes)

TV and commissioned films

• Cristal for a TV Production: Christo The Civilized Barbarian "Hunting Party", Shaddy Safadi (United States, pr. One Pixel Brush)
• Cristal for a Commissioned Film: Naive New Beaters, Star Feminine Band "Ye Kou Si Kuo", Lola LEFÈVRE (France, pr. Miyu Productions)
• Jury Award for a TV Series: Lena's Farm "Volles Nest", Elena Walf (Germany, Studio Film Bilder)
• Jury Award for a TV Special: An Almost Christmas Story, David Lowery (US)
• Jury Award for a Commissioned Film: Desi Oon, Suresh Eriyat (India, pr. Nilima Eriyat)
• Audience Award: Freaked Out "Major Decision", Théo Grosjean, Mothy Richard (France, pr. Autour de Minuit / Panique!, FKLG) 

Graduation films

• Cristal for a Graduation Film: Zootrope, Léna Martinez (France, pr. ENSAD)
• Jury Award: Between the Gaps, Martin Bonnin (France, La Poudrière)
• Lotte Reiniger Award: Q, Masataka Kihara (Japan, Tama Art University)

VR

Cristal for the Best VR Work: Fragile Home, Ondřej Moravec, Victoria Lopukhina (Czechia, pr. Brainz Immersive)

Special Prizes

• France TV Award for a Short Film: At Night
• SACEM Award for Best Original Soundtrack in a Short Film: Dollhouse Elephant
• SACEM Award for Best Original Soundtrack in a Feature Film: Arco
• Jury Special Distinction for an Original Soundtrack in a Feature Film: Death Does Not Exist
• CANAL+ Junior Jury Award: Forevergreen
• Young Audience Award: The Great Annual Party of the Creatures of the Moon
• André Martin Award for a French Short Film: The Night Boots
• Festivals Connexion Award for a VR Work: Fragile Home
• XPPen Award for a Graduation Film: Won't Be Here
• Vimeo Staff Pick Award for a Short Film in the Official and Off-Limits Categories: Les Bêtes
• City of Annecy Award: Ibuka, Justice
• City of Annecy Jury Special Distinction: Psychonauts

The next Annecy Festival takes place from 14 to 20 June 2026.

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