Annecy Unveils 2026 Line-Up
(L to R): 'In Waves', Mike Judge, 'Viva Carmen'
Courtesy of Annecy, Jon Kopaloff
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The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 2026 edition (see full lineup below), setting the stage for another wide-ranging showcase that highlights the rapid global expansion of feature animation, and the surprising strength of European production.
Announced Tuesday, the official feature competition includes 11 films, with France again playing an outsized role — six of the titles are French productions or co-productions — even as the selection stretches across Asia and the Americas. In total, 26 countries are represented across the feature slate.
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“If you look at the entire selection for official competition, a large majority of the films are from European producers,” artistic director Marcel Jean said. “French producers, but also Spanish, Belgian, Italy. The Scandinavian countries, Eastern European countries. We heard about a crisis in European animation production, but when you look at the quality of these films, and the amount of films, this doesn’t look like an industry in crisis.”
Among the headline titles in competition is Viva Carmen! from Sébastien Laudenbach, returning to Annecy after winning the Cristal in 2023 for Chicken for Linda!, co-directed with Chiara Malta. The new feature, an animated take on the classic opera, will premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
Also in the lineup is In Waves from Phuong Mai Nguyen, an adaptation of A. J. Dungo’s acclaimed graphic novel, which will open Cannes Critics’ Week. Both films underscore Annecy’s role as a long-term incubator for projects, having previously been presented at the festival as works-in-progress.
“We want to follow a project from the very beginning,” Jean said. “[2025 Oscar winner] Flow was a work in progress in Annecy, [2026 Oscar nominee] Little Amelie was a work in progress. This year in competition, you have Viva Carmen! which was a WIP. In Waves was a WIP.”
Other competition highlights include Decorado from Alberto Vázquez, The Sunrise File from Rupert Wyatt and Émilie Phuong, and Tangles from Leah Nelson, alongside entries from China, Japan and Singapore.
Running parallel, the Contrechamp sidebar — Annecy’s platform for more formally adventurous features — will open with Welcome to Dolly’s House, a Taiwanese film from directors Seven Ych, Rady Fu and Tree MutaIt, blending the world of YouTube creators with fantasy elements.
“There’s a great diversity of film, of features, and countries represented, but all of great quality,” Jean said of the section. “The films in the non-competitive sections would have found a place in competition 10 years ago.”
Beyond the competition, Annecy will honor two pillars of animation with its Honorary Cristal Awards.
Prolific animator, writer and producer Mike Judge, co-creator of King of the Hill and creator of Beavis and Butt-Head, will be recognized for a career spanning more than three decades and his role in shaping adult animation. Judge will also give a masterclass and present a preview of the upcoming 15th season of King of the Hill, alongside co-creator Greg Daniels and showrunner Saladin K. Patterson.
“Mike Judge was a target for me for a long time,” said Jean. “We almost had him in 2020, when the pandemic hit. I think now, because of the general political situation, it was important to have somebody like Mike Judge, such a strong advocate for free speech and free thinking — the guy who made
Idiocracy, a prophetic classic — it was important to have him in Annecy, to discuss with him the role that adult animation can play in the discourse about the world we live in.”
Annecy will also fete the Brothers Quay, the stop-motion auteurs whose work has influenced generations of filmmakers, including Peter Greenaway and Christopher Nolan. The duo will each receive an Honorary Cristal and deliver a masterclass.
“We noticed there is a kind of revival of stop motion animation and the Brothers Quay basically revolutionized the world of stop motion animation in the 1980s,” said Jean. Their influence was absolutely incredible on hundreds of young animators and young filmmakers. So we’re really 40 years late in honoring them.” He added that, for Annecy, “hon