'Totto-Chan' Wins Award at Annecy, One of the World's Largest Anime Film Festivals

The 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival took place from June 9–15, reaching a record-high attendance of 125,000 people. Held in conjunction with the festival, the Annecy International Animation Film Market (Mifa) is one of the world's largest international animation markets. Its exhibition space has rapidly expanded in recent years, attracting industry professionals from around the globe and standing unrivaled in its scale.

Tadashi Sudo, an animation journalist, has been attending the festival since 2009. He explains that the festival used to be similar to other animation film festivals, focusing mainly on short films and independent animators. However, Sudo notes that the festival transformed after the artistic director changed in 2012.

"It has truly transformed over the past ten years. Now, it features not only short films but also feature films, TV shows, Hollywood movies, and Japanese-style anime. It has become a comprehensive animation film festival that has everything," he explains.

Rise of Feature Films

Regarding Mifa, Sudo says, "Participants used to be mostly European animation professionals, but now key figures from Hollywood also come to Annecy. The impact is different from before." He adds, "It's not just a market for selling animation. There are many opportunities for presentations, talk events, and symposiums, attracting a lot of people. Mifa has become a hub for both information and business."

Twelve films were nominated in the feature film competition, including four Japanese works. Among them are Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Shinnosuke Yakuwa) and The Colors Within (Naoko Yamada). Totto-Chan received the Paul Grimault Award in the feature films category, one of the top honors of the festival.

*The screening of "The Colors Within" directed by Naoko Yamada at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. (©Annecy Festival by L.Gouttenoire)*

"There has been a global trend of producing feature-length animations, leading to a surge in production," Sudo explains. "This year, there were over 100 entries in the feature-length category, all of which are likely high-quality works. It's truly amazing that four Japanese works were selected among them."

Other Japanese Nominations

In addition, many Japanese works were submitted outside the main feature film category this year. In the Feature Films Contrechamp Category, which focuses on innovative feature-length works, 11 films were nominated. These include The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe (Go Koga).

Additionally, Kawauso (Akihiro Izuhara) was nominated in the Short Films Competition Category. Japanese works were also nominated in the VR (virtual reality) and TV categories. Furthermore, several Japanese works, including Look Back (Kiyotaka Oshiyama), were selected for the newly established Annecy Presents category.

"The style of Japanese anime has become widely accepted. Look Back received such a strong response that additional screenings were held, which is quite rare at Annecy. This high level of interest in Japanese works makes participating in and competing at Annecy worthwhile."

About the Film Festival

Established in 1960 as a separate animation division from the Cannes Film Festival, it is held every June in Annecy, a popular tourist destination in eastern France. It is one of the world's largest animation film festivals.