After its Sundance award for Creative Vision, Oscar-nominated animation director Don Hertzfeldt (It's A Beautiful Day) managed a win with the 14-minute 2D-animated 'Paper Trail', which won the Annecy Cristal for a short film at the 2026 Annecy Film Festival.

The Jury Special mention went to the slick French thriller-cum-metanarrative 'God is Shy' by Jocelyn Charles. Unexplainably (since she had already made a few films), Anna Mantzaris received the Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film for her stop-motion short 'Please'.

In the feature film category, the friendship war story in occupied Singapore, 'The Violonist' by Ervin Han and Raúl García won the Annecy Cristal for a feature film. The Contrechampes competition, the B-side of the feature film competition, crowned the French film 'Blaise' by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue as its winner (read our interview with the 'Blaise' directors).

The graduation film category gave its Cristal to 'Ball Face' by Laurence Thérien, an RCA production. 

Life throws curveballs, how you react decides if you make it through. We follow an elementary schoolgirl terrified of sports who survives a chaotic ball game by bouncing a ball off her face. By the end of the game, she’s completely transformed - Film Synopsis

The full list of the 2026 Annecy Festival winners

Feature Films

Cristal for a Feature Film: The Violinist by Ervin HAN, Raúl García (Singapore, Spain, Italy)
Jury Award: Iron Boy by Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)
Contrechamp Grand Prix: Blaise by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue (France)
Contrechamp Jury Award: A New Dawn by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (Japan, France)
Gan Foundation Award for Distribution: Iron Boy by Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)
Audience Award for a Feature Film: Iron Boy by Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)
Paul Grimault Award: Decorado by Alberto Vazquez (Spain)

Short Films

Cristal for a Short Film: Paper Trail, Don Hertzfeldt (USA)
Jury Award: God is shy, Jocelyn Charles (France)
Audience Award for a Short Film: God is shy, Jocelyn Charles (France)
Off-Limits Award: Core Dump, Alona Rodeh (Germany)
Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film: Please, Anna Mantzaris (Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic)
Alexeïeff – Parker Award: My Bellyaching Skin, Etienne Bonnet (France)

Watch the 'Paper Trail' trailer

TV and commissioned films

Cristal for a TV Production: The Great Dreamscape, Rémi Durin (Belgium, France)
Cristal for a Commissioned Film: Unloved, Illogic STUDIO, Victor Caire, Lucas Navarro, Théophile Dufresne (France)
Jury Award for a TV Series: Unloved, Illogic STUDIO, Victor Caire, Lucas Navarro, Théophile Dufresne (France)
Jury Award for a TV Special: Song of the Storms, Caroline Attia (France, Belgium)
Jury Award for a Commissioned Film: Eco Beat, Eva Bienert, Max Mörtl (Austria, Germany)
Audience Award for a TV Production: The Broos, David Mirailles (France)

Graduation films

Cristal for a Graduation Film: Ball Face, Laurence Thérien (UK)
Jury Award: Dying Embers, Léa Pulini (France)
Lotte Reiniger Award: Gently, Jamaica Kindlová (Czech Republic)

Immersive Works

Cristal for the Best Immersive Work: A Long Goodbye, Kate Voes, Viktor Maes (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)

Juries 2026

OFFICIAL FEATURE FILMS: Faisal Baltyor (Producer and CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, Saudi Arabia), Mónica García Massagué (General Manager of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Spain), Maïlys Vallade (Director, Screenwriter, Storyboard Artist, Animator, Concept Author, France)

CONTRECHAMP FEATURE FILMS: Suresh Eriyat (Artist, Author, Animator, Filmmaker, India), Lola Lefèvre (Director, France), Anna Ida Orosz (Film Historian, Animation Curator, Hungary)

OFFICIAL SHORT FILMS: Marina Rosset (Director, Producer, Switzerland), David Silverman (Animator, Director, USA), Cristobal Tapia De Veer (Composer, Chile, Canada)

TV & COMMISSIONED FILMS: Fernando Galrito (University Lecturer, Cinema Director, Artistic Director MONSTRA | Lisbon Animation Festival, Portugal), Mariam Kandelaki (Director, Producer, Cultural Events Organiser, Georgia), Imogen Sutton (Producer, Director, Unided Kingdom)

IMMERSIVE WORKS: Abi Feijó (Director, Producer, Educator, Portugal), Aubry Mintz (Animator, Director, USA), Negar Motevaly (Director, Animator, Visual Artist, Iran)

Check out the Annecy Special Prizes

 The next Annecy Festival will take place fro 13th to 19th June 2027, and will pay tribute to Colombian animation

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