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  • Annecy Unveils 2026 Lineup

    Annecy Unveils 2026 Lineup

    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.

    “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, “honoring the Brothers Quay is a way of preserving the balance between the major studios, industry giants and die-hard independent filmmakers. The day Annecy stops celebrating this type of artist, we will have lost touch with our origins.”

    Stop-motion will be a major focus across the 2026 edition, with a tribute to Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun The Sheep, marking its 50th anniversary, and Travis Knight set to attend for the first time to present footage from his upcoming feature Wildwood. The Incredibles director Brad Bird will also appear to discuss his long-gestating project Ray Gunn, while Ricky Gervais will host a masterclass on his upcoming Netflix adult animation Alley Cats.

    Alongside the festival, Annecy’s Mifa animation market will once again serve as a key engine for development and dealmaking, awarding its Animation Industry Prize to seven French producers behind recent international successes Little Amélie, Butterfly and Arco — films that have traveled from Annecy to the César Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars.

    “We are here to help artists, to promote and to put a spotlight on project or on completed movies,” said Annecy Festival CEO Mickaël Marin. “Not just at Annecy, but at other festivals and markets. Because the production process for animation is a long process. We can have a project coming from a pitch at Mifa, then going to Annecy for a WIP session, then the next year in competition and then we support them through to the Oscars.”

    Mifa will also launch a series of closed-door workshops on artificial intelligence and private investment, aimed at fostering open discussion among industry professionals.

    “We see that there are a lot of fears, questions and everything at all levels,” said Véronique Encrenaz, head of the Mifa market. “The idea is that professionals gather and discuss and can give their approach of AI and private investment [and] how we can work together on that.”

    The sessions, which will run over a three-year period, are designed to generate practical outcomes for the industry, including recommendations for future regulation and collaboration.

    For Jean, the breadth of both the festival lineup and the market activity reflects a medium that has matured rapidly in recent years.

    “Globally, most countries now have experience in doing animation features, experience that did not exist 10 years ago,” he said. “The evolution of production around the world means now the quality is there everywhere.”

    Full 2026 Annecy Lineup

    Competition

    Viva Carmen!, dir. Sébastien Laudenbach, (France)
    Iron Boy, dir. Louis Clichy, (France, Belgium)
    Decorado, dir. Alberto Vázquez, (Spain)
    The Sunrise File, dir. Rupert Wyatt, Émilie Phuong, (France, Luxembourg)
    In Waves, dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen, (France, Belgium)
    Lucy Lost, dir. Olivier Clert, (France)
    Nobody, dir. Shui Yu, (China)
    Tana, dir. Ji Zhao, Ke Er Zhu, (China)
    Tangles, dir. Leah Nelson, (Canada, USA)
    The Violonist, dir. Ervin Han, Raúl García, (Singapore, Spain, Italy)
    We Are Aliens, dir. Kohei Kadowaki, (Japan, France)

    Contrechamp

    58th, dir. Carl Joseph Papa, (Philippines)
    A New Dawn, dir. Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, (Japan, France)
    Blaise, dir. Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue, (France)
    O filho da puta, dir. Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Sávio Leite, (Brazil)
    Muyi, dir. Julien Chheng, (France)
    Pelelui: Guernica of Paradise, dir. Goro Kuji, (Japan)
    The Orbit of Minor Satellites, dir. Christopher Sullivan, (Japan)
    Spacetime Chronicles, dir. Stefano Bertelli, (Italy)
    The Obsessed, dir. Wataru Takahashi, (Japan)
    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope, dir. Beñat Beitia, Elio Quiroga, (Spain, Chile, Argentina)
    Welcome to Dolly’s House, dir. Seven Ych, Rady Fu, Tree Muta, (Taiwan)

    Works in Progress

    A Gwei, dir. Hui Yi, (China)
    Baahubali: The Eternal War, dir. Ishan Shukla, (India)
    Desechable, dir. Carlos Gómez Salamanca, (Colombia, Spain)
    Igi, dir. Natia Nikolashvili, (Georgia, Greece)
    Killtube, dir. Kazuaki Kuribayashi, (Japan)
    The Wolf, dir. Benjamin Massoubre, Fursy Teyssier, (France, Luxembourg)
    Le Projet Shiatsung, dir. Brigitte Archambault, (Canada)
    Monkey Quest, dir. David N. Weiss, (Japan, USA)
    Ogresse, dir. Cécile McLorin Salvant, (Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, USA)
    Snoopy Unleashed, dir. Steve Martino, (Canada, United Kingdom)
    Steps, dir. Alyce Tzue, John Ripa, (USA)
    Séraphine, dir. Sarah Van Den Boom, (France, Luxembourg, Switzerland)
    Astro Boy Reboot, dir. Nicolas Hess, (France, Germany, Japan)
    Cars: Lightening Racers, dir. Nathan Chew, Travis Braun, Frank Montagna, (USA)
    Common Side Effects, dir. Benjy Brooke, (USA)
    Hide and Seek, dir. Fabienne Giezendanner, (Switzerland, France)

    Midnight Specials

    Company Sports Day, dir. Yong-Seon Lee, (South Korea)
    Gregor, dir. Manu Gomez, (Belgium, France)
    Sekiro: No Defeat, dir. Kenichi Kutsuna, (Japan)
    Soul Shift, dir. Christian Franz Schmidt, (Germany)
    Zsazsa Zaturnnah, dir. Avid Liongoren, (Philippines, France)

    Annecy Presents

    Brave Cat, dir. Gabriel Osorio, (Chile)
    Julián, dir. Louise Bagnall, (Ireland)
    Born in the Jungle, dir. Edmunds Jansons, (Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic)
    Dante, dir. Linda Hambäck, (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
    The Promise of the Clock Tower, dir. Yusuke Hirota, (Japan)
    Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs , dir. Cherifa Bakhti, (Luxembourg, Belgium, France, India)
    The Ribbon Hero, dir. Yuki Igarashi, (Japan)
    La Fille dans les nuages, dir. Philippe Riche, (France, Belgium)
    Little Trang Quynh: The Legend of the Golden Buffalo, dir. Tranh Lam Tung, (Vietnam)
    The Last Whale Singer, dir. Reza Memari, (Germany, Czech Republic, Canada)
    Monster Mia, dir. Verena Fels, (Austria, Spain, Germany)
    Samurai Ballerina – L’Étoile de Paris en fleur, dir. Goro Tanigushi, (Japan)
    The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, dir. Tomohiko Ito, (Japan)
    Yugly, dir. Yanis Belaid, Jérémie Degruson, (Belgium)

    WTF

    Babyface, (United Kingdom)
    Broc!, (Hong Kong)
    I’m Glad I Know That Now Thank You: Phones, (United Kingdom)
    I Have an I Have a, (United Kingdom)
    I’d Rather Be a Concorde, (Belgium, Finland, Portugal)
    King Kong vs. Pinocchio, (Canada)
    We’re Kinda Different, (Canada)
    Pigeon Businessman, (United States)
    Six Finger Satellite “Simian Fever”, (United States)
    Skin Flick, (France)
    Smokedog, (Australia)
    You Are Not Part of the Cake, (Taiwan, United Kingdom)
    What Is, Is Now?, (The Netherlands)
    cour.com, (United Kingdom)

    Perspectives

    Acid City, (United States)
    Bucketman, (Japan)
    That Night, (Iran, United States)
    Chance, (Iran)
    Decaer’s Downfall, (Colombia)
    Entelechia, (Chile)
    Paper Daughter, (United States)
    The Comet, (Canada)
    The Boa Woman, (Peru)
    The Tribulations of Ajadi, (Nigeria)
    Misophonia, (Malta)
    Because Today Is Saturday., (Portugal, France, Spain)
    Rest, (Japan)
    Sundruð, (Iceland, France, Belgium)
    Three Pariah Cats, (Colombia)
    Once in a Body, (Colombia, United States)
    City of Roses, (Brazil)

    Off-Limits

    Adage, (United Kingdom)
    Core Dump, (Germany)
    From Apple to Egg, (Estonia)
    The Stars Have Been Watching Us for a Long Time, (United States)
    Merrimundi, (Chile)
    Symbionts, (Switzerland)
    XYZ, (Portugal)
    Evacuations, (United States)

    Young Audience

    A Dog’s Life, (The Netherlands)
    Round Trip, (Italy)
    Cosmonaut, (Switzerland)
    En, Ten, Týky!, (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
    Night Owls, (Switzerland)
    Piccolo Piccolo, (France, Switzerland)
    Cloudfish, (France, Belgium)
    On the Doormat in Front of My Door, (Germany)
    Towards the Forest, (Switzerland)
    Being Distanced, (Unknown)

  • Spotify Hits 293M Premium Subs and a Profit Record, But Stock Tanks on Outlook

    Spotify Hits 293M Premium Subs and a Profit Record, But Stock Tanks on Outlook

    Audio streaming giant Spotify posted a first-quarter revenue gain and ended March with 293 million paying premium subscribers, up from 290 million as of the end of 2025. Monthly active users (MAUs) grew to 761 million from 751 million.

    Management had previously forecast 293 million premium subs and 759 million MAUs.

    But the audio streamer forecast second-quarter earnings and premium subscribers below Wall Street expectations, pushing the stock down about 12 percent in pre-market trading.

    Revenue growth for the quarter accelerated to 8 percent, or 14 percent on a constant currency basis, to get the company to €4.5 billion. Operating income hit at a record €715 million in the first quarter. Profitability has returned to the investor spotlight after price increases and cost cuts.

    Spotify predicted operating income of €​630 million ($736 million) for the second quarter, below analysts’ estimates.

    Said co-CEO Alex Norström: “We surpassed 760 million MAU, delivered on the subscriber growth we aimed to achieve, and saw healthy engagement from existing users, reactivations and new users alike. Since the global rollout of our more personalized free experience, users in key markets like the US are listening and watching more days per month. All that reinforces our confidence in sustained user and subscriber growth, low churn, and continued progress on revenue and margin.”

    Added Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström: “We’re well positioned because of our large, engaged user base, deep creator relationships, and years of investment in personalization and infrastructure at scale. Together, these create a platform that can take advantage of this moment and unlock entirely new growth vectors that will enable us to climb new mountains previously unimaginable. We see significant room to grow across users, formats and engagement and to expand what Spotify is and can become over time.”

  • Malicious Web Pages Are Hijacking AI Agents, And Some Are Going After Your PayPal

    Malicious Web Pages Are Hijacking AI Agents, And Some Are Going After Your PayPal

    In brief

    • Google documented a 32% surge in malicious indirect prompt injection attacks between November 2025 and February 2026, targeting AI agents browsing the web.
    • Real payloads found in the wild included fully specified PayPal transaction instructions embedded invisibly in ordinary HTML, aimed at agents with payment capabilities.
    • No legal framework currently determines liability when an AI agent with legitimate credentials executes a command planted by a malicious third-party website.

    Attackers are quietly booby-trapping web pages with invisible instructions designed for AI agents, not human readers. And according to Google’s security team, the problem is growing fast.

    In a report published April 23, Google researchers Thomas Brunner, Yu-Han Liu, and Moni Pande scanned 2-3 billion crawled web pages per month looking for indirect prompt injection attacks—hidden commands embedded in websites that wait for an AI agent to read them and then follow orders. They found a 32% jump in malicious cases between November 2025 and February 2026.

    Attackers embed instructions in a web page in ways invisible to humans: text shrunk to a single pixel, text drained to near-transparency, content hidden in HTML comment sections, or commands buried in page metadata. The AI reads the full HTML. The human sees nothing.

    Most of what Google found was low-grade—pranks, search engine manipulation, attempts to prevent AI agents from summarizing content. For example, there were some prompts that tried to tell the AI to “Tweet like a bird.”

    But the dangerous cases are a different story. One case instructed the LLM to return the IP address of the user alongside their passwords. Another case attempted to manipulate the AI into executing a command that formats the AI users’ machine.

    But other cases are borderline criminal.

    Researchers at the cybersecurity firm Forcepoint published a report almost simultaneously, and found payloads that went further. One embedded a fully specified PayPal transaction with step-by-step instructions targeting AI agents with integrated payment capabilities, also using the famous “ignore all previous instructions” jailbreak technique..

    A second attack used a technique called “meta tag namespace injection” combined with a persuasion amplifier keyword to route AI-mediated payments toward a Stripe donation link. A third appeared designed to probe which AI systems are actually vulnerable—reconnaissance before a bigger strike.

    This is the core of the enterprise risk. An AI agent with legitimate payment credentials, executing a transaction it reads off a website, produces logs that look identical to normal operations. There is no anomalous login. No brute force. The agent did exactly what it was authorized to do—it just received its instructions from the wrong source.

    The CopyPasta attack documented last September showed how prompt injections could spread through developer tools by hiding inside “readme” files. The financial variant is the same concept applied to money instead of code—and at much higher impact per successful hit.

    As Forcepoint explains, a browser AI that can only summarize content is low risk. An agentic AI that can send emails, execute terminal commands, or process payments is a different category of target entirely. The attack surface scales with privilege.

    Neither Google nor Forcepoint found evidence of sophisticated, coordinated campaigns. Forcepoint did note that shared injection templates across multiple domains “suggest organized tooling rather than isolated experimentation”—meaning someone is building infrastructure for this, even if they have not fully deployed it yet.

    But Google was more direct: The research team said it expects both the scale and sophistication of indirect prompt injection attacks to grow in the near future. Forcepoint’s researchers warn that the window for getting ahead of this threat is closing fast.

    The liability question is the one nobody has answered. When an AI agent with company-approved credentials reads a malicious web page and initiates a fraudulent PayPal transfer, who’s on the hook? The enterprise that deployed the agent? The model provider whose system followed the injected instruction? The website owner who hosted the payload, whether knowingly or not? No legal framework currently covers this. This is a gray area even though the scenario is no longer theoretical, since Google found the payloads in the wild this February.

    The Open Worldwide Application Security Project ranks prompt injection as LLM01:2025—the single most critical vulnerability class in AI applications. The FBI tracked nearly $900 million in AI-related scam losses in 2025, its first year logging the category separately. Google’s findings suggest the more targeted, agent-specific financial attacks are just getting started.

    The 32% increase measured between November 2025 and February 2026 covers only static public web pages. Social media, login-walled content, and dynamic sites were out of scope. The actual infection rate across the full web is likely higher.

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  • Fed Confirms What Tech Developers Have Feared for Two Years

    Fed Confirms What Tech Developers Have Feared for Two Years

    In brief

    • A Federal Reserve study found US programming job growth dropped roughly 50% after ChatGPT launched in November 2022.
    • Researchers estimate roughly 500,000 developer jobs that would have otherwise existed were never filled.
    • The employment gap didn’t appear until mid-2024—about 18 months after ChatGPT’s launch.

    The Federal Reserve just put a number on something developers have been experiencing for two years.

    A new study by Fed economists Leland D. Crane and Paul E. Soto found that employment growth among U.S. programmers dropped roughly 50% after ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Before that, programming-intensive jobs were growing at around 5% annually—well above the overall labor market.

    Since then, growth has fallen sharply. In the sectors most concentrated with programmers, like IT services and software development, it has essentially flatlined.

    This is the first Federal Reserve-level study to directly link AI adoption to a measurable, occupation-specific decline in developer hiring, pointing to AI as the cause of an occupation-specific shock.

    The tech sector took a beating in 2022 from interest rate hikes, the end of the pandemic digital boom, and the crypto crash. Skeptics have always argued that those factors alone explain the developer slowdown.

    Crane and Soto addressed that directly. They built a counterfactual—how many programmers would exist if their share within each industry had stayed constant—and found programmer employment still falling by about 3% per year even after stripping out those effects. Non-AI-exposed occupations showed no comparable dip.

    Stretched over three years, the gap amounts to roughly 500,000 jobs that would likely have existed without the rise of large language models. The authors strongly caution against reading this as a direct count of lost jobs. Many affected workers probably found work in adjacent fields, and the study doesn’t capture broader macroeconomic feedback. But the signal is there.

    The employment gap didn’t open until mid-2024, roughly 18 months after ChatGPT launched. The researchers suggest companies needed time to see LLM capabilities improve enough to trust them before pulling back on headcount. Whether that reflects actual productivity gains or just the expectation of them, the data doesn’t resolve.

    The study shows that programmers are the most AI-exposed occupational group in the country, which tracks with actual usage data. Anthropic’s Economic Index shows that computer and mathematical tasks—coding, debugging, software architecture—account for roughly a third of all Claude.ai conversations and nearly half of enterprise API traffic.

    The longer-term concern is the pipeline. A Decrypt report last year documented accelerating AI-driven layoffs across white-collar sectors, with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warning that up to 50% of entry-level roles could disappear within five years.

    The Fed study adds institutional weight to what was previously anecdotal: a Harvard study of 62 million automatic data processing payroll workers found that junior developer employment drops roughly 9-10% within six quarters when companies adopt generative AI, while senior employment barely moves.

    “If A.I. disproportionately affects junior positions, it could have lasting consequences for the college wage premium, upward mobility and income disparities,” Harvard researchers wrote.

    Beyond the Fed, other analysts are raising concerns over tech jobs slowing due to AI automation and replacement. A recent multi-university survey of 69 economists, 52 AI experts, and 38 superforecasters found broad agreement that faster AI progress means lower labor force participation, including among researchers who previously held the “augment, not replace” consensus.

    The Fed researchers don’t frame the findings as catastrophic. Wages for programmers haven’t declined—the effect has shown up in headcount, not pay. Job postings stabilized in 2024 and have ticked slightly upward since. The authors note that cheaper AI-assisted programming could open new markets and grow total demand for developer labor over the long run.

    Crane and Soto describe their work as “only a first step.” The study was published as a preliminary designation, meaning it hasn’t completed the full Fed review process. But it’s the first step produced inside the Federal Reserve, with the methodology and institutional weight that carries.

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  • Brad Bird’s ‘Ray Gunn,’ Pixar’s ‘Gatto,’ Ricky Gervais’ ‘Alley Cats’ and a ‘Rick & Morty’ Spinoff Headline Annecy’s Packed Special Events Program 

    Brad Bird’s ‘Ray Gunn,’ Pixar’s ‘Gatto,’ Ricky Gervais’ ‘Alley Cats’ and a ‘Rick & Morty’ Spinoff Headline Annecy’s Packed Special Events Program 

    The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled a stacked Special Events program led by Brad Bird’s “Ray Gunn,” Pixar’s “Gatto,” Ricky Gervais’ “Alley Cats” and a “Rick & Morty” spin-off.

    In a long-awaited return to Annecy of two-time Academy Award winner Brad Bird, he will walk an audience through upcoming feature “Ray Gunn” during a Next on Netflix showcase, one of the biggest must-attend events at the French festival, the biggest animation gathering in the world. 

    A passion project 30-plus years in the making, “Ray Gunn” is a Skydance animation feature written, directed and produced by Bird, with Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Tom Waits already announced as voice actors. In an on-stage moderated conversation, the visionary “Iron Giant” and “Incredibles” director will provide personal insight on this project. 

    Announcing the lineup Tuesday at France’s CNC National Film Board in Paris, festival artistic director Marcel Jean also confirmed that  Netflix will also unveil an exclusive preview of next year’s animated “Ghostbusters” series, with showrunners Ben Hibon and Elliott Kalan set to introduce their upcoming addition to the spooky franchise. 

    Beyond this presentation, Netflix also brings Ricky Gervais’ “Alley Cats” to Annecy. The upcoming potentially outrageous and emotional adult animated comedy about a bunch of feral cats will be at the center of an exclusive masterclass by the multi-award-winning comedian and creator. As part of the discussion, Netflix will also give a world exclusive sneak peek of the first two episodes, ahead of the series debut this summer. 

    As part of his invitation to Annecy to receive an Honorary Cristal, legendary “King of the Hill” director Mike Judge will also give a masterclass, before a pre-release preview of the hit series’ Season 15. To present the new season, Judge will be joined by executive producer and co-creator Greg Daniels and Season 15 showrunner Saladin K. Patterson.  

    From California to Annecy, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios will travel with two back-to-back presentations, a definite highlight of Annecy’s Friday in recent years. 

    Ahead of its Nov. 25 release, “Hexed” directors Fawn Veerasunthorn, Jason Hand and Josie Trinidad will take the stage to unveil never-before-seen footage from the studio’s upcoming original feature film, an all-new magical coming-of-age saga with Hailee Steinfeld and Rashida Jones leading the voice cast. 

    Pixar will follow with a behind-the-scenes of their upcoming feature “Gatto,” which was first announced last year on the very same stage. Academy Award-nominated director Enrico Casarosa will whisk(er) the audience away into a world of Venetian canals, feline mob bosses, and trepidatious superstition. In this exclusive presentation, Annecy’s crowds will learn more about the film’s creative ethos and unique hand-painted animation style, and how Casarosa and his team at Pixar brought this original story to life. 

    In addition to this sneak peek, audiences will also be treated to a special look at Pixar’s upcoming all-new short film. directed by Enrico Casarosa and Lou Hamou-Lhadj and produced by Mary Alice Drumm.

    Having previously announced several sneak peek and exclusive previews, Warner Bros. Animation and Adult Swim aim to ravish the hearts of comics, toons and adult animation fans all over Annecy. The world premiere of “Daffy Season”, the latest “Looney Tunes” addition as the fan-favorite duck turns 90 next year will be accompanied with a first look at “The Cat in the Hat”, which was presented last year in Annecy as a Work-in-progress. The presentation will wrap with a taste of Warner Pictures Animation’s upcoming line-up, in the presence of Warner Bros. Animation Pictures president Bill Damashke and the directors.

    In addition, Adult Swim will once again shake Annecy with big sneak previews, from the world premiere and making-of of their new series “President Curtis,” co-created by the producers of Rick & Morty, Dan Harmon and James Siciliano and starring Keith David as Curtis, to a first glimpse of “My Two Cars”, a new Adult Swim comedy created by Dan Licata and Joe Pera. 

    Independent animation studio Laika and Aardman will both reveal first looks at their upcoming projects , with LAIKA CEO Travis Knight set to present behind-the-scenes footage and preview images of “Wildwood”, which is also showcased as part of the opening exhibitions of Annecy International Animation Institute. 

    Further highlights in the stacked special events program include previews of DreamWorks’ upcoming “Forgotten Island” and of cult comic adaptation “Rogue Trooper,” along with French animation powerhouse Folivari’s upcoming project “Children of Liberty” and Rémi Chayé’s new film “Fleur.”

  • Annecy’s 2026 Lineup Celebrates the Range, Excitement and Power of Animation Worldwide

    Annecy’s 2026 Lineup Celebrates the Range, Excitement and Power of Animation Worldwide

    Led by France and Japan, the packed, wide-ranging lineup of the 2026 Annecy Animation Film Festival hardly hints at the rampant market crisis suffered by much of animation production worldwide. 

    “We’ve heard of course about a crisis in the animation industry,” Annecy artistic director Marcel Jean told Variety. “But when you look at the selection this year, you don’t see the crisis at all. Of course, there’s a gap between the moment of impact and production schedules, and what we screen this year was greenlit three-to-four years ago. But if you look at the selection, there’s films from all over the world.” 

    Indeed, Annecy’s official selection, which is dedicated to new releases, includes no fewer than 44 feature films this year, with 14 French films and 26 countries represented in the selection.

    “The Asian market is also very interesting,” continued Jean. “Beyond Japan, it’s Korea, Philippines… eight Asian countries including China, which has itself an absolutely incredible evolution. They were already excellent, but Chinese artists and producers have put an emphasis on relatable storytelling, and we can sense the switch in the markets they target as well.”  

    Adding to a very rich competitive selection, Jean announced that the Contrechamp section would have its own opening screening this year, a few hours before the Festival’s official opening: the Taiwanese rotoscope film “Welcome to Dolly’s House” screened in Annecy’s Bonlieu Grande Salle on Sunday June 21 at 1.30 pm.

    Below, the 22 features (eleven in each section with a strong French presence, as six of the 11 films vying for the Cristal are French productions or co-productions) from the feature film and Contrechamp sections are listed and put within context, with quotes from Jean explaining why they were selected, followed by Mickaël Marin’s additional insights on the Cité de l’Animation, and MIFA Highlights by Véronique Encrenaz. 

    Honorary Cristals, the list of WIPs, and the shorts & TV/commissioned films selections have already been announced these past weeks. 

    2026 Feature Film Competition

    “Viva Carmen!”, Sébastien Laudenbach (France)

    Presented as a work-in-progress last year, “Viva Carmen!’ is “An animated adaptation of the most French of Spanish stories, by Laudenbach, a festival regular who has already scooped several awards,” said Jean. In 2016, Laudenbach’s “The Girl Without Hands” received the Jury Prize at Annecy; his second feature (co-directed with Chiara Malta) “Chicken for Linda!” scored the Annecy top Cristal for best feature and went on to win the César for animated feature.

    “Iron Boy”, Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)

    From Pixar alum and “Asterix” co-director Louis Clichy comes “a story full of nuance, both in tone and aesthetics. Louis Clichy takes us into the French countryside and reminds us that Stéphanie of Monaco was once a singer.” Also presented as a WIP last year, “Iron Boy” will premiere at Cannes, as part of the Un Certain Regard selection.  

    “Decorado”, Alberto Vazquez (Spain, Portugal)

    Alberto Vázquez, another festival regular, is competing in the official feature film competition for the third time. This tale of a rebellious unemployed mouse has already won a Goya. Vázquez’s eponymous short “Decorado” was nominated for an Annecy Cristal in 2016, and won the Goya for best animated short film. 

    ‘Decorado’

    “The Sunrise File”, Rupert Wyatt, Émilie Phuong (France, Luxemburg)

    A very singular feature, “The Sunrise File” recalls how nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld tracked down and brought Klaus Barbie to justice. “Featuring strong ethical questions as the couple faced secret services who preferred execution to prosecution, ‘The Sunrise File’ is a powerful film that makes you ask the question: Is it justice or revenge one seeks?” 

    “In Waves”, Phuong Mai Nguyen (France, Belgium) 

    “An adaptation of A.J. Dungo’s acclaimed graphic novel, ‘In Waves’ tells the story of the author’s love affair with Kristen, a young surfer who died before her time.” Presented as an Annecy WIP last year, the film opens Cannes’ Critics’ Week before heading to Annecy.  

    “Lucy Lost”, Olivier Clert (France)

    “The entry in the official competition is an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel, ‘Listen to the Moon,’ which is set in southern England in the early 20th century, where a young girl taken in by a local family is haunted by strange visions. It is undoubtedly the most family-friendly film in the Annecy Festival 2026 official competition,” which will also make its premiere at Cannes. 

    “Nobody”, Shui Yu (China)

    “The first of the two Chinese films in the competition, ‘Nobody’ reaches Annecy on the heels of winning a dozen awards and drawing huge crowds in its home country. In this relatable tale, we follow a curious quartet of animal-demons on their comical and sometimes moving adventures.” The film is part of Annecy’s focus on genre animated films, ranging from horror Midnight Specials to family-friendly international comedies.

    “Tana”, Ji Zhao, Ke Er Zhu (China)

    “The second Chinese film in official competition offers a welcome change from the numerous films drawing on local mythology. This is a more contemporary work, in which a young woman leaves Shanghai to be at her father’s bedside in Inner Mongolia. The bonds between parent and child, and a love of music, lie at the heart of this touching film, whose credits feature several of the creative minds behind ‘The White Snake,’ screened at Annecy in 2019.” 

    “Tangles”, Leah Nelson (Canada, U.S.)

    “Directed by Canadian Leah Nelson, ‘Tangles’ is a contemporary story in which a young woman is forced to move back in with her parents to care for her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” said a very enthusiastic Marcel Jean. Made in Vancouver, “Tangles” is co-produced by Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures.  

    “The Violinist”, Ervin Han, Raúl Garcia (Singapore, Spain, Italy) 

    “An unusual co-production between Singapore, Spain and Italy, ‘The Violinist’ is a classic-style war epic in the classical sense, both epic and melodramatic, driven by a powerful screenplay and spectacular direction.” A very good surprise,” according to Jean. 

    “We Are Aliens”, Kohei Kadowaki (Japan, France)

    “A Franco-Japanese co-production revolving around the reunion, after 30 years, of two childhood friends,” this new feature marks yet another successful French-Japanese co-production by French Indie studio Miyu Productions, following the success of “Ghost Cat Anzu” and “A New Dawn” which premiered at Berlin last February and is also present at Annecy in the Contrechamp competition. 

    Contrechamp: 

    “58th”, Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines)

    For his third time selected at Annecy, Papa brings a feature-length non-fiction animation film which recounts the 2009 Maguindanao massacre. “Animated documentary is the field where Carl Joseph Papa is most comfortable,”says Jean. Papa’s last appearance at Annecy was in 2024, with “The Missing,” selected also in the Contrechamp section.  

    “A New Dawn”, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (Japan, France)

    Following its appearance in Berlinale Competition, “A New Dawn” boasts a sterling reputation and Miyu aura as well. Trained as a painter in the traditional Japanese style, Shynomiya started his career in animation collaborating on films including Makoto Shinkai’s “Your Name” and Sunao Katabuchi’s “In This Corner of the World”. Variety met with Shinomiya in Berlin earlier this year.

    “Blaise”, Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue (France)

    “This feature takes the characters we got to know in the 2016 eponymous Arte series to a whole new level. Blaise is now 16 and is still just as introverted as ever.” Another strong yet peculiar French project, “Blaise” is part of ACID’s selection.  

    “O filho da puta”, Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Sávio Leite (Brazil)

    “From Brazil comes ‘O filho da puta’, I’ll let you figure out the translation,” joked Jean. “With four co-directors on board, including Tania Anaya who presented ‘Nimuendajú’ last year in Annecy, the film tells the story of Ismael, whose mother runs a brothel, as he sets off in search of his father and the ocean.”

    “Muyi and the Handsome General,” by Julien Chheng (France)

    “The film, produced by renowned French Studio La Cachette, whisks us away to China, where the young Mu Yi causes havoc by inviting a travelling theatre troupe to her village.” A bold and empowering tale already presented at Cannes’ Annecy Animation Showcase, “Mu Yi” has the potential to charm both critics and animation fans alike.  

    “Pelelui: Guernica of Paradise,” Goro Kuji (Japan)

    “Kuji’s film transports us to Micronesia in 1944, where Tamaru is assigned to write fictitious heroic accounts to be sent to the families of soldiers killed in action. A beautiful film, whose deceptive visual style might lead you to believe it is a story intended for children, yet one that actually tackles the cruelty and violence of a neglected episode of the Pacific War.” A film that stuck with Jean, for the audacity of its artistic and narrative choices.  

    “Spacetime Chronicles”, Stefano Bertelli (Italy) 

    “Coming from Italy, this film and its surrealist style, along with its DIY approach bring to mind Michel Gondry and his dream films.” Relying on bricolage, this papercraft stop-motion is, per Jean, “a genuine technical masterpiece.”  

    ‘Spacetime Chronicles’

    “The Obsessed”, Wataru Takahashi (Japan)

    “A spirited, colorful, light-hearted, musical and lyrical romantic tale. An original film that stands out amid the Japanese film industry with a very singular aesthetic that does not look like what you’d expect from this kind of Japanese story.”  

    “The Orbit of Minor Satellites”, Christopher Sullivan (Japan) 

    Co-produced with New Deer, a Japanese company, “The Orbit of Minor Satellites” marks the long awaited return of U.S. indie filmmaker Chris Sullivan, who came to Annecy back in 2013 with “Consuming Spirits.” “This new proposition is an unconventional film that weaves together live-action shots and animation to explore the relationship between a patient and his psychiatrist. A very strange film, a sort of UFO in the animation production world.” 

    “Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope”, Beñat Beitia, Elio Quiroga (Spain, Chile, Argentina)

    “Set during the Spanish Civil War in 1939 as Franco’s forces capture Barcelona, the film tells the tale of the survivors who manage to embark on the Winnipeg, a cargo ship chartered by Pablo Neruda, bound for Valparaíso.” A ship of hope and a powerful tale, marking also the return of a strong Basque animation industry to Annecy after “Sultana’s Dream” and along with “Decorado.”  

    “Welcome to Dolly’s House”, Seven Ych, Rady Fu, Tree Muta (Taiwan)

    Rounding off this section, the opening film, ‘Welcome to Dolly’s House’, follows YouTuber Princess Maria who, after a scandalous post, finds herself drawn into a haunted mansion and the secrets of her own identity. “Aesthetically very refined, it masterfully plays on the conventions of fantasy. Since I saw the first,” confessed Jean, “I look forward to ‘Welcome to Dolly’s House 2.”

    The Animation Institute: A dream come true

    For Mickaël Marin, CEO of Annecy Festival organizer CITIA, the new Animation International Institute was a dream, and yet it became reality. “Starting June 19, Annecy will have a permanent space to screen movies, welcome artists, host exhibitions and delight guests from all over the globe. It’s a recognition not only for Annecy, but also for animation as a medium and an industry.” 

    Thanking the Institute’s many financing partners, Marin added that opening the Cité with both French (Ankama) and U.S. (Laika) major studios was a real pleasure, and a mirror of what the teams wanted to achieve in the future. “From major studios to independent productions, from big to small, known talents and singular artists, everyone will feel welcome here.”  

    MIFA to host European Animation Summit, questioning industry and models

    “It’s a special year, a very questioning moment for the animation industry”, underlined Head of MIFA Véronique Encrenaz. “With events like Kidscreen disappearing, we have to face the question: ‘what are we here for, and what is the industry facing?’ We have to take our part in the discussion of where animation is now, and where are the revolutions coming from.” 

    AI and Private Investment will both be at the center of the stage this year at MIFA’s, which will have a pre-opening on Monday dedicated to private workshops, safe spaces and knowledge-sharing and a “European Animation Summit,” to tackle today’s challenges in the European and global animation industry.

    Annecy Presents and Midnight Specials complete a notably rich slate

    “Created in 2024, the Annecy Presents section is designed to offer festival-goers films with broad appeal, such as mainstream cinema designed for families or Japanese anime. This year, 15 films are in contention for the Annecy Presents Audience Award,” said Marcel Jean. 

    Belgian production “Yugly” opens the Annecy Presents section on Sunday afternoon, with European family-friendly films like “Monster Mia” or “The Last Whale Singer” accompanying anime (“The Ribbon Hero,” “Chimney Town: Frozen in Time”) and a long-awaited premiere of “Julian,” Cartoon Saloon’s latest gem.  

    When the sun goes down, animation hardcore fans will be treated with wacky sci-fi comedies (“Soul Shift”), low budget indie thrillers (“Gregor”) and violent Japanese sword fights (“Sekiro: No Defeat”) as part of Annecy’s very popular Midnight Specials.

    Full line-up includes: 

    Annecy Presents:

    “Brave Cat”, Gabriel Osorio (Chile)

    “Julian”, Louise Bagnall (Ireland)

    “Born in the Jungle”, Edmunds Jansons (Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic)

    “Dante,” Linda Hamback (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)

    “On the Other Side of the World,” Yusuke Hirota (Japan)

    “Dudley and the Invasion of the Space Slugs,” Cherifa Bakhti (Luxemburg, Belgium, France, India)

    “The Ribbon Hero,” Yuki Igarashi (Japan)

    “The Girl in the Clouds,” Philippe Riche (France, Belgium) 

    “The Legend of the Golden Buffalo,” Tranh Lam Tung (Vietnam)

    “The Last Whale Singer,” Reza Memari (Germany, Czech Republic, Canada)

    “Monster Mia,” Verena Fels (Austria, Spain, Germany)

    “Samurai Ballerina,” Goro Tanigushi (Japan)

    “The Keeper of the Camphor Tree,” Tomohiko Ito (Japan)

    “Yugly,” Yanis Belaid, Jérémie Degruson (Belgium)

    Midnight Specials: 

    “Company Sports Day,” Yong-Seon Lee (South Korea)

    “Gregor,” Manu Gomez (Belgium, France)

    “Sekiro: No Defeat,” Kenichi Kutsuna (Japan)

    “Soul Shift,” Christian Franz Schmidt (Germany)

    “Zsazsa Zaturnnah,” Avid Liongoren (Philippines, France)

    The 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival runs over June 21-27. 

  • Ether triple top strikes at $2.4K as ETH analysts doubt bullish trend change

    Ether triple top strikes at $2.4K as ETH analysts doubt bullish trend change

  • Crypto traders turn cautious as bitcoin loses steam below $80,000

    Crypto traders turn cautious as bitcoin loses steam below $80,000

    The crypto market fell for a second day on Tuesday with bitcoin and ether ($ETH) both losing around 0.75% since midnight UTC.

    The decline comes after bitcoin twice failed to break above the $80,000 level of resistance over the past week, with the most recent attempt occurring during Asian hours on Monday.

    The jubilation from last week’s jump to $79,500 from $70,000 is beginning to subside as several key price indicators flip bearish, including the Coinbase Premium index flipping negative, a signal of waning demand from U.S. investors.

    U.S. equities are also set to open down on Tuesday with Nasdaq 100 futures trading 0.5% lower since midnight UTC while the U.S. dollar index (DXY) is up by 0.25%.

    Stalled peace talks between Iran and the U.S. continue to drive traditional markets, and Brent crude oil is now firmly above $105 per barrel.

    Derivatives positioning

    • Across the market, crypto futures open interest (OI) has fallen by over 1% to $120 billion in the past 24 hours. That’s alongside a 3% decline in trading volume and an 8% drop in liquidations, suggesting a slight cooling in market activity. Fewer open positions, lower participation and reduced forced liquidations indicate less aggressive trading overall.
    • Bitcoin’s options-to-futures open interest ratio has dropped to 57.5%, the lowest since Jan. 31. It’s a sign of renewed bias for directional bets and higher short-term volatility.
    • Bitcoin’s futures OI fell to 723.54 $BTC, down over 9% from the recent high of 796.71 $BTC. This decline comes alongside persistently negative funding rates, which are usually a sign of bearish positioning. However, this time, they stem from institutional hedging and not outright bearish bets.
    • DOGE’s open interest stands out, having climbed 6% in the past 24 hours, outpacing other major cryptocurrencies. OI at 14.39 billion tokens is the highest since Oct. 10, indicating strong capital inflows. Positive funding rates and a rising 24-hour cumulative volume delta suggest traders are increasingly positioning for potential upside.
    • SOL and ADA have the most negative 24-hour cumulative volume deltas (CVD), indicating that more trades are being initiated by market sellers hitting bids than by market buyers lifting offers. It shows aggressive selling pressure, even though a buyer matches every seller.
    • Bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes are hovering at three-month lows, indicating subdued market pricing of risk amid macro pressures such as elevated oil prices and unresolved U.S.–Iran peace talks. As Deribit says, “Negotiation game theory in the Middle East has drugged the $BTC Spot market into a deep slumber.”
    • On Deribit, risk reversals in options show puts trading at a premium in both $BTC and $ETH, with $BTC puts notably more expensive than $ETH puts. The pricing points to a bullish outlook for the ether-to-bitcoin ratio.
    • As for flows, the $80,000 strike bitcoin has been the most actively traded in 24 hours, both in volume and open interest. Meanwhile, block flows featured risk reversals and put spreads in $BTC and put spreads and straddles in ether.

    Token talk

    • The altcoin market underperformed bitcoin on Tuesday, as evidenced by CoinDesk’s Memecoin Select Index (CDMEME) and DeFi Select Index (DFX) tumbling by 1.6% and 1.2%, while the bitcoin-dominant CoinDesk 20 (CD20) benchmark lost just 0.8%.
    • Privacy token zcash (ZEC) was the worst-performing altcoin in the CoinDesk 100 (CD100), losing 5.6% since midnight UTC, closely tracked by CHZ and HYPE, which were down by 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively.
    • While the broader crypto market is down, apecoin (APE) bucked the bearish trend, rising by more than 17% as traders capitalized on a negative long/short ratio, liquidating a $1 million short position in the process.
    • CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator remains in a neutral zone at 39/100, suggesting investors are focused on bitcoin and whether it can break above $80,000 or continue its slide into the mid $70,000 region.
  • Annecy Unveils 2026 Line-Up

    Annecy Unveils 2026 Line-Up

    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.

    “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, “honoring the Brothers Quay is a way of preserving the balance between the major studios, industry giants and die-hard independent filmmakers. The day Annecy stops celebrating this type of artist, we will have lost touch with our origins.”

    Stop-motion will be a major focus across the 2026 edition, with a tribute to Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun The Sheep, marking its 50th anniversary, and Travis Knight set to attend for the first time to present footage from his upcoming feature Wildwood. The Incredibles director Brad Bird will also appear to discuss his long-gestating project Ray Gunn, while Ricky Gervais will host a masterclass on his upcoming Netflix adult animation Alley Cats.

    Alongside the festival, Annecy’s Mifa animation market will once again serve as a key engine for development and dealmaking, awarding its Animation Industry Prize to seven French producers behind recent international successes Little Amélie, Butterfly and Arco — films that have traveled from Annecy to the César Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars.

    “We are here to help artists, to promote and to put a spotlight on project or on completed movies,” said Annecy Festival CEO Mickaël Marin. “Not just at Annecy, but at other festivals and markets. Because the production process for animation is a long process. We can have a project coming from a pitch at Mifa, then going to Annecy for a WIP session, then the next year in competition and then we support them through to the Oscars.”

    Mifa will also launch a series of closed-door workshops on artificial intelligence and private investment, aimed at fostering open discussion among industry professionals.

    “We see that there are a lot of fears, questions and everything at all levels,” said Véronique Encrenaz, head of the Mifa market. “The idea is that professionals gather and discuss and can give their approach of AI and private investment [and] how we can work together on that.”

    The sessions, which will run over a three-year period, are designed to generate practical outcomes for the industry, including recommendations for future regulation and collaboration.

    For Jean, the breadth of both the festival lineup and the market activity reflects a medium that has matured rapidly in recent years.

    “Globally, most countries now have experience in doing animation features, experience that did not exist 10 years ago,” he said. “The evolution of production around the world means now the quality is there everywhere.”

    Full 2026 Annecy Lineup

    Competition

    Viva Carmen!, dir. Sébastien Laudenbach, (France)
    Iron Boy, dir. Louis Clichy, (France, Belgium)
    Decorado, dir. Alberto Vázquez, (Spain)
    The Sunrise File, dir. Rupert Wyatt, Émilie Phuong, (France, Luxembourg)
    In Waves, dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen, (France, Belgium)
    Lucy Lost, dir. Olivier Clert, (France)
    Nobody, dir. Shui Yu, (China)
    Tana, dir. Ji Zhao, Ke Er Zhu, (China)
    Tangles, dir. Leah Nelson, (Canada, USA)
    The Violonist, dir. Ervin Han, Raúl García, (Singapore, Spain, Italy)
    We Are Aliens, dir. Kohei Kadowaki, (Japan, France)

    Contrechamp

    58th, dir. Carl Joseph Papa, (Philippines)
    A New Dawn, dir. Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, (Japan, France)
    Blaise, dir. Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue, (France)
    O filho da puta, dir. Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Sávio Leite, (Brazil)
    Muyi, dir. Julien Chheng, (France)
    Pelelui: Guernica of Paradise, dir. Goro Kuji, (Japan)
    The Orbit of Minor Satellites, dir. Christopher Sullivan, (Japan)
    Spacetime Chronicles, dir. Stefano Bertelli, (Italy)
    The Obsessed, dir. Wataru Takahashi, (Japan)
    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope, dir. Beñat Beitia, Elio Quiroga, (Spain, Chile, Argentina)
    Welcome to Dolly’s House, dir. Seven Ych, Rady Fu, Tree Muta, (Taiwan)

    Works in Progress

    A Gwei, dir. Hui Yi, (China)
    Baahubali: The Eternal War, dir. Ishan Shukla, (India)
    Desechable, dir. Carlos Gómez Salamanca, (Colombia, Spain)
    Igi, dir. Natia Nikolashvili, (Georgia, Greece)
    Killtube, dir. Kazuaki Kuribayashi, (Japan)
    The Wolf, dir. Benjamin Massoubre, Fursy Teyssier, (France, Luxembourg)
    Le Projet Shiatsung, dir. Brigitte Archambault, (Canada)
    Monkey Quest, dir. David N. Weiss, (Japan, USA)
    Ogresse, dir. Cécile McLorin Salvant, (Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, USA)
    Snoopy Unleashed, dir. Steve Martino, (Canada, United Kingdom)
    Steps, dir. Alyce Tzue, John Ripa, (USA)
    Séraphine, dir. Sarah Van Den Boom, (France, Luxembourg, Switzerland)
    Astro Boy Reboot, dir. Nicolas Hess, (France, Germany, Japan)
    Cars: Lightening Racers, dir. Nathan Chew, Travis Braun, Frank Montagna, (USA)
    Common Side Effects, dir. Benjy Brooke, (USA)
    Hide and Seek, dir. Fabienne Giezendanner, (Switzerland, France)

    Midnight Specials

    Company Sports Day, dir. Yong-Seon Lee, (South Korea)
    Gregor, dir. Manu Gomez, (Belgium, France)
    Sekiro: No Defeat, dir. Kenichi Kutsuna, (Japan)
    Soul Shift, dir. Christian Franz Schmidt, (Germany)
    Zsazsa Zaturnnah, dir. Avid Liongoren, (Philippines, France)

    Annecy Presents

    Brave Cat, dir. Gabriel Osorio, (Chile)
    Julián, dir. Louise Bagnall, (Ireland)
    Born in the Jungle, dir. Edmunds Jansons, (Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic)
    Dante, dir. Linda Hambäck, (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
    The Promise of the Clock Tower, dir. Yusuke Hirota, (Japan)
    Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs , dir. Cherifa Bakhti, (Luxembourg, Belgium, France, India)
    The Ribbon Hero, dir. Yuki Igarashi, (Japan)
    La Fille dans les nuages, dir. Philippe Riche, (France, Belgium)
    Little Trang Quynh: The Legend of the Golden Buffalo, dir. Tranh Lam Tung, (Vietnam)
    The Last Whale Singer, dir. Reza Memari, (Germany, Czech Republic, Canada)
    Monster Mia, dir. Verena Fels, (Austria, Spain, Germany)
    Samurai Ballerina – L’Étoile de Paris en fleur, dir. Goro Tanigushi, (Japan)
    The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, dir. Tomohiko Ito, (Japan)
    Yugly, dir. Yanis Belaid, Jérémie Degruson, (Belgium)

    WTF

    Babyface, (United Kingdom)
    Broc!, (Hong Kong)
    I’m Glad I Know That Now Thank You: Phones, (United Kingdom)
    I Have an I Have a, (United Kingdom)
    I’d Rather Be a Concorde, (Belgium, Finland, Portugal)
    King Kong vs. Pinocchio, (Canada)
    We’re Kinda Different, (Canada)
    Pigeon Businessman, (United States)
    Six Finger Satellite “Simian Fever”, (United States)
    Skin Flick, (France)
    Smokedog, (Australia)
    You Are Not Part of the Cake, (Taiwan, United Kingdom)
    What Is, Is Now?, (The Netherlands)
    cour.com, (United Kingdom)

    Perspectives

    Acid City, (United States)
    Bucketman, (Japan)
    That Night, (Iran, United States)
    Chance, (Iran)
    Decaer’s Downfall, (Colombia)
    Entelechia, (Chile)
    Paper Daughter, (United States)
    The Comet, (Canada)
    The Boa Woman, (Peru)
    The Tribulations of Ajadi, (Nigeria)
    Misophonia, (Malta)
    Because Today Is Saturday., (Portugal, France, Spain)
    Rest, (Japan)
    Sundruð, (Iceland, France, Belgium)
    Three Pariah Cats, (Colombia)
    Once in a Body, (Colombia, United States)
    City of Roses, (Brazil)

    Off-Limits

    Adage, (United Kingdom)
    Core Dump, (Germany)
    From Apple to Egg, (Estonia)
    The Stars Have Been Watching Us for a Long Time, (United States)
    Merrimundi, (Chile)
    Symbionts, (Switzerland)
    XYZ, (Portugal)
    Evacuations, (United States)

    Young Audience

    A Dog’s Life, (The Netherlands)
    Round Trip, (Italy)
    Cosmonaut, (Switzerland)
    En, Ten, Týky!, (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
    Night Owls, (Switzerland)
    Piccolo Piccolo, (France, Switzerland)
    Cloudfish, (France, Belgium)
    On the Doormat in Front of My Door, (Germany)
    Towards the Forest, (Switzerland)
    Being Distanced, (Unknown)

  • FIFA urged to push US for ‘ICE Truce’ at World Cup by Human Rights Watch

    FIFA urged to push US for ‘ICE Truce’ at World Cup by Human Rights Watch

    Published On 28 Apr 2026

    FIFA should press the United States government to establish an “ICE Truce” for this year’s World Cup, including a public guarantee from federal authorities to refrain from immigration enforcement operations at games and venues, Human Rights Watch (HRW) have said in ⁠a report.

    The 2026 World Cup – the first edition of the global showpiece tournament to feature 48 teams – will be cohosted by the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

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    US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been the face of a hardline immigration crackdown and deportation drive pursued by the administration of President Donald Trump.

    Rights ⁠groups have condemned the crackdown, saying it has led to violations of free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities. Trump casts his actions as necessary to improve domestic security and curb undocumented immigration.

    “FIFA needs to act urgently to address the risks of human rights abuses for athletes, fans, and workers,” HRW said. “One concrete thing it should do is work to persuade the Trump administration to establish an ‘ICE Truce’…

    “Gianni Infantino (FIFA president) and his FIFA colleagues should use their leverage to demand that the Trump administration do ‌what’s right for the games,” it added.

    “Roll back discriminatory travel bans, refrain from abusive immigration enforcement operations in and around World Cup venues, protect children’s rights and commit to uphold freedom of assembly and speech.”

    The idea is drawn from the “Olympic Truce”, a tradition dating back to ancient Greece, when warring city-states paused hostilities so athletes and spectators could travel safely to the Games.

    “The FIFA 2026 World Cup will no doubt be one of the greatest and most spectacular events in the history of mankind, attracting millions of fans from around the world to 11 host cities across America,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the Reuters news agency.

    “This will be a monumental event that requires close coordination between the Trump Administration, FIFA, and all of our great federal, state, and local partners.

    “President Trump is focused on ensuring that this is not ⁠only an incredible experience for all fans and visitors, but also the safest and most secure in history – and no amount of ⁠ridiculous scare tactics driven by liberal activist groups and the left-wing media will change that.”

    Concerns intensified on Thursday when advocacy groups issued a travel advisory warning that visitors travelling to the US for the World Cup may face arbitrary detention or deportation, among other human rights abuses.

    Fans, players, journalists and other visitors may face racial profiling, searches of electronic devices, or risk of cruel or inhumane treatment if they end ⁠up in immigration detention facilities, according to the advisory.

    Thursday’s warnings followed a March statement from Amnesty International that the tournament is drifting far from the “safe, free and inclusive” event promised by FIFA.

    “DHS (US Department of Homeland Security) will work with our local and federal partners ⁠to secure 2026 FIFA World Cup – in line with federal law and the US Constitution – as we do with every ⁠major sporting event, while showcasing American greatness to the entire world,” a DHS spokesperson told Reuters.

    “Our mission is simple: ensure every fan – Americans and visitors alike – has a safe and unforgettable experience.

    “International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the US – full stop. Speculation to the contrary ‌is ill-informed.

    “At the same time, foreign visitors MUST be proactive and should start working on their travel plans and documents well ahead of time to ensure a smooth travel experience.”

    HRW also said it had written to Infantino requesting details about the nominees, judges, terms of reference and selection process for FIFA’s inaugural peace prize.

    Trump was awarded the prize in ‌December ‌for what the world football’s global governing body said were his efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation in troubled hotspots around the world.

    “By concocting this award, Infantino risks turning the 2026 FIFA World Cup … into yet another sportswashing event in a world that already has far too many,” HRW added.

    Al Jazeera has contacted FIFA for comment.