Annecy animation festival awards top prize to 'Arco' by Ugo Bienvenu

While many French animation studios and their teams are grappling with a crisis, the French animation industry received significant recognition during the closing ceremony of the 49 th Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Saturday, June 14. The Cristal for Best Feature Film was awarded to Arco, named after a young hero from the future who falls from the sky and is taken in by a girl his age, Iris (their names reference "arco iris," rainbow in Spanish).
This debut animated feature confirms 38-year-old Ugo Bienvenu's talent for crafting humanist futuristic fiction, whether it emerges in comics, like System Preference, or on the big screen.
Another French production honored was Planètes (Planets) by Momoko Seto, which won the Paul-Grimault Prize. Described during its Annecy screening as "an action movie with plants," the film follows four dandelion achenes on an epic migratory journey. In the short film category, the jury also awarded a Cristal to French director Pierre-Luc Granjon for Les Bottes de la nuit (The Night Boots), a film created using the pinscreen animation technique and intended for a young audience.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Fashion Network

6 hours ago

• Fashion Network

Elsewhere in Milan menswear: Ralph Lauren, Brioni, Corneliani, Church's

Easily the most elegant accessory display in Milan this weekend was at Church's, which welcomed people into the Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato, an avant-garde brick theater with soaring tubular galleries. Pride of place went to a 1929 Shanghai model, first acquired in Cincinnati and donated to the brand by the son of a grateful customer. Designed as a halfway house between a tasseled golf shoe and a brogue, the original Shanghai No. 1 — carefully protected in a Perspex box — even had Church's logo cut-out soles. A look that helped inspire a great new selection of devilishly aged versions of the Shanghai for today. The key to any great pair of Church's is the brand's famed factory in Northampton, the shoemaking capital of the UK. Recently renovated, the plant is also the source of new shoes made in singular pieces of leather — where the pattern of wingtips is etched by lasers. Few shoe marques anywhere can provide the patina of a pair of Church's — a fact underlined by two gents hand-finishing some classic wingtips on the stage of the theatre. One trimmed the side with small sharp knives and sandpaper; the other applied French polish and mirror gloss from Saphir. Asked how best to shine a great pair of shoes, one gently explained: 'Actually, it's best to use old white T-shirts that have been washed plenty of times. The roughness and impurity are gone, and you get a great finish.'

Le Figaro

7 hours ago

• Le Figaro

Consent, Diversity, Prevention... A Look Back on France's Sex Education Film Festival

Réservé aux abonnés Organized by the association La Fabrique d'Images, the Festival of Film on Relationships and Sex Education (Ffevas) was primarily aimed at young audiences. Its goal: to raise awareness and promote prevention through short films. The first edition of the Festival of Film on Relationships and Sex Education ('Festival du film d'éducation à la vie affective et sexuelle,' Ffevas) came to a close recently in Amiens, northern France. According to its organizers, this is a unique initiative in France, aimed at schoolchildren, but also at families and adults. The small-scale, free-to-access festival screened short films on topics such as sexual diversity, consent, STI prevention, gender identity and gender equality. Ffevas proudly describes itself on its website as 'the first French short film festival dedicated to relationships and sex education.' The films were tailored to each audience: 350 middle school students were in attendance on the first day of the festival, 350 high school students on the second, and a parent-child screening for ages 9-12 was held on the closing day. Screenings were followed by discussions with filmmakers and interactive smartphone quizzes for young participants. 'Our association already works…

LeMonde

7 hours ago

• LeMonde

When a giant Pikachu drops into a French formal garden at a 'Pokémon Go Fest'

The yellow and black pointed ears of a Pikachu cap poked out from behind a cone-shaped tree; a floppy hat shaped like the Magikarp fish seemed ready to dive into a bubbling fountain; a man in a three-piece suit in Pokémon colors strolled along the geometric flowerbeds of a classic French garden. The arrival of thousands of Pokémon Go fans at Parc de Sceaux on Friday, June 13, recalled the excitement of July 2016, when Niantic released the title and players roamed city parks and gardens searching for Pokémon to capture on their smartphones. The game's community has remained active, as demonstrated by the hosting of a Pokémon Go Fest – an outdoor event dedicated to the augmented reality game – on the grounds of a château south of Paris, as well as on the streets of the French capital. Nearly 60,000 visitors were expected between June 13 and 15, according to Niantic. Registration, priced at around €20, allowed attendees to encounter rare Pokémon and the debut of Volcanion, a new addition to the game.