Introduction
Hey everyone, Blaziker is back for Part 3 of my Annecy Film Festival 2026 adventure, in which we are going to talk about the festival, my experience in Annecy, the food and accommodation, and the trip back to Paris itself.
Well, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?
The Festival Itself
The Annecy Film Festival is without a question the highlight of the entire adventure, as this was the very reason I wanted to travel to Europe for the first time, and those seven crazy days at the Annecy Film Festival were amazing. Let us talk about the different sections of the festival, starting with…
The Movie Screenings
Since I talked about the movies I covered at Annecy separately, my focus would be on the movie screening experience.
While there are many venues that showcase movies at the Annecy Festival, I only went to three venues for them, of which one of them is the brand-new Cinema de la Cite in the refurbished old horse stabling grounds at Haras d’Annecy. I only saw one movie at that new site (which is Muyi), but this is also where I saw the open-air screening of The Mitchells vs. the Machines in the French version.
I also visited the site’s museum, exploring the history of animation itself, including old animation techniques that I did not realise existed. Sure, it may be because I covered more modern and recent animated movies instead of the classics, but it could also be because I am not an animation student myself, so this was an eye-opening experience to appreciate how far we had come for animation. This was also where the pop-up gift shop is, and I purchased a lot of merchandise at the festival for myself and one of my friends back in Singapore.
However, the two venues I went to a majority of the screenings were at Pathe Annecy and Bonlieu, so let us start with the former first. If you are familiar with the Pathe name, this is because they are a movie production and distribution company who had been involved in many French animated movies, but you may not know that Pathe also runs cinemas across France, including the Pathe Annecy complex. This is your typical cinema complex that is also attached to the nearby shopping complex of Centre Commercial Courier, so if you want to grab some lunch, a snack or a bottle of water because of the scorching heatwave affecting Europe, there are many eateries plus a Monoprix supermarket. The seats are typical cinema seats you would expect, and it has multiple cinema halls hosting the various movies in the festival.
However, the more exciting of the two is obviously the heart of the Festival at Bonlieu. Bonlieu is where the tourism office is, but it is also where you collect your accreditation passes at the beginning of the festival, get your autographs signed at the signing sessions, purchase animated movies related art books and merchandise at the bookstore and of course, see the biggest and most hyped animated movies on the big screen with the two halls: the Main Hall and the Small Hall. While the Small Hall hosts more modest screenings (including the screening of Kiri and Lou Go Raaa which I saw myself), the Main Hall is where it hosts movie screenings, studio panels and showcases, where the big animation studios showcase their next few animated movies or series, providing a more immersive and stadium-like experience, except for animation fans like myself.
For some of the screenings in Pathe Annecy and Bonlieu, there will be introductions about the movie with the crew present to talk more about the movie, and of course, this means seeing the festival’s director Marcel Jean in action. It was insane seeing the head man in action, and you can tell Marcel is as passionate about animation as the animation fans, students, and animators themselves.
This brings us to the next part of the festival, which is…
Meeting with Animation Idols
Given the significance of the Annecy Film Festival on the animation industry, it is not surprising that the bigwigs from various animation studios from around the world, from the big and familiar Hollywood studios to the smaller animation studios, pretty much the animation studios that you would be familiar with, plus distributors picking up the distribution rights to the movies at Annecy through the MIFA section, would all be in Annecy to both showcase their portfolio and to attract potential animators into their studios.
Being a non-animation festival goer who happens to be fans with some of the animation studios at the festival, this increases the likelihood of bumping into someone who is part of a studio you love. With that, here are my five most favourite interactions at the festival, in no particular order:
Matthieu Zeller, CEO of nWave Studios
Enough has been said about nWave, but already on the first day of the Festival, Matthieu and his nWave delegation were busying pasting missing posters of someone trying to find their dog, who turned out to be the main character of nWave’s next movie, Yugly. I bumped into them just outside of Bonlieu, and it was one of the nicest interactions I had with someone I grew close to. Not only did he and I take a picture together, but his team passed me a Yugly lanyard, which I absolutely love. This was the lanyard I used for the entirety of the festival.
After the Yugly screening, I also interacted with screenwriter Greg Brooker (who also wrote the screenplay of Stuart Little) and one of the directors, Jeremie Degrusson (who previously directed The Inseparables, another nWave movie I recommend) and I talked about how much the Chickenhare movies, especially the sequel, mattered to me as someone who grew up in a similar environment, and my first movie experience seeing A Turtle’s Tale on the big screen back in 2010. All 3 also signed my new autograph book, which was very nice to see.
It is a priceless experience to meet up with a childhood animation studio like nWave, and with them announcing they are developing a brand new original animated movie set for a 2028 release, I am honestly excited to see the next chapter of nWave.
Erwin Han and Raul Gracia, Directors of The Violinist
To say I was excited to see The Violinist would be a massive understatement, especially one that was from my country, and fortunately, I was able to get to the world premiere of this movie at Annecy! This also means getting to meet Erwin Han, the founder of Robot Playground and one of the directors, as well as Disney veteran Raul Garcia, who is the other director.
Obviously, this was a sense of national pride to be one of the very first Singaporeans to see The Vioinist, but meeting with Erwin and Raul after the movie screening was a joy. In particular, one of my friends and I wanted to talk to Raul, as he is co-directing another upcoming animated movie releasing later this year, Flamingo Flamenco. While he did not reveal any specific details, he mentioned he was looking forward to releasing that movie as well, and hopefully, Flamingo Flamenco would come close to what he and Erwin achieved with the latest Annecy Cristal winner.
I got autographs from both of them, and from executive producer Yuki Takafumi, so it was a cool experience for sure!
Gabriel Osorio, Director of Brave Cat
One of the two screenings highlighted in this article where there was a crew introduction to the movie at Pathe Annecy (the other being my special mention, more on that later), Brave Cat director Gabriel Osorio was in attendance, together with certain animators from Punkrobot who came all the way from the south of Chile to Annecy.
Osorio introduced his movie as well as the animators who contributed to his movie, and everyone in the screening got an A4-sized paper poster to the movie as memorabilia, and Osorio also delivered one of the cutest autographs of the whole festival for me, drawing Kona, the main character of the movie, alongside his signature. It’s very rare to see a Latin American animated movie that is competent, let alone one that is amazing, and thankfully, Brave Cat delivered on my high expectations.
I should also note that one of the animators who was in the screening was wearing a hairbrand with the plushies of the three main characters (Kona, Colin and Bernard), and this movie delivered on its cuteness while also highlighting the brutal reality this movie was referencing from. Just like with The Violinist, I learnt something new regarding where this movie came from in terms of historical context, and it is a humbling experience to explore different cultures through animation.
Seriously, Brave Cat deserves international theatrical distribution because more people need to appreciate how rare it is to get a great animated movie from Latin America, a region lacking in good animated movies. A great movie experience on top of being one of my highlights from the festival.
Kohei Kadowaki, Director of We Are Aliens
Until the Bonlieu screening of We Are Aliens, I had never heard of director Kohei Kadowaki nor his other works, but the fact that this movie was his first ever animated movie was insane. How on earth was he able to produce a masterpiece on his first ever attempt, especially a rotoscoped animated movie?
This is also the first and only movie introduction where a director needed a translator, as Kadowaki was only proficient in his native Japanese language, but he was able to express his appreciation in French. A commendable effort, given I, too, self-learn French in preparation for this Annecy adventure. I got a chance to briefly converse with him about how amazing his movie was, took a selfie with him and got an autograph.
Annecy is a fantastic festival to showcase what animators are capable for, especially for future animation stars in the making, and I am hoping that this is only the beginning of Kadowaki. A star is truly born on that day!
Alberto Vazquez, Director of Decorado
Alberto Vazquez’s newest movie, Decorado, has been on my watchlist for some time, especially considering Unicorn Wars was one of my most favourite animated movies of 2023. When I heard critical acclaim about Decorado, I knew I had to see it at Annecy, so I managed to get to the screening at Bonlieu, on the final day of the festival, no less!
Vazquez and his team were on stage with Marcel, and they talked about the Decorado short that was the foundation of that movie in question, and to say that this movie affected me really good was an understatement. As someone that is going through some of the problems certain characters were facing in the movie, this movie was an emotional sledgehammer.
I conversed with Vazquez and his team about my current situation, and they provided encouraging advice and takeaways in order to cope better with my ongoing conditions, and as for Vazquez’s autograph, just like with Osorio, he made a quick character drawing, but this time, he drew Bluey from Unicorn Wars! I did not tell him Bluey was my most favourite character in that movie, but somehow, he knew, though it was because Bluey is a popular character from that movie.
Honestly, after three amazing animated movies, I suspect Vazquez needs a break before moving on to his next one, which is what he told me when I asked him about upcoming projects. Trust me, we can give him time to cook up something as bats**t insane that his movie trilogy (and that I need to cover Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, his first movie, someday).
Special Mention: Verena Fels, Director of Monster Mia
I have a special mention for Fels and her team from ARX Anima and M.A.R.K 13, as while the movie itself is nothing special, they won my award for most passionate pitch despite being yet another family-friendly foreign CG animated movie. You can tell that despite the movie not being as memorable compared to the other animated movies I covered at the festival, they were still proud of their work and also stayed around to give the moviegoers some stickers and a movie bookmark.
It goes to show how much I still loved covering animation, even if it is something that is not to my liking, and that it is still ok to appreciate the process of producing animated movies without needing to love every animated movie I covered.
Meeting with New Friends
The Annecy Festival is also a great opportunity to network with other like-minded animation fans and with various animation companies and studios, who are also promoting new animation jobs for their upcoming projects. Even for those not within the animation industry, like myself, networking and discussing our animated movie favourites was still exciting.
In particular, I was lucky to meet up with two particular friends who were at the festival for the first time, just like me, being:
- Supermario05 (One of my biggest friends who like me covers a whole lot of minor family-friendly animated movies)
- WayBrightSasha (A brand new friend who is a huge Bob’s Burgers and The Mitchells vs the Machines fan)
Besides them, meeting with other friends excites me, including comparing our Letterboxd favourites (and also having new Letterboxd friends) and probably speculating about major studios’ upcoming works energises me, despite the heatwave ravaging across Europe. More on that later.
Annecy, Accommodation and Food
Obviously, the festival is only part of the experience, as we need to talk about the place where this festival is held itself: Annecy.
Annecy is located nearer to Switzerland, evident by the Swiss alps being the backdrop of the Annecy Lake, and unlike Paris, is a small but charming town that is more like a cute timeless village than a metropolis like Paris itself. Most of the activity came from the main city centre where I pretty much stayed for the entirety of the festival, and personally, I love the old-world charm Annecy provides. It is different from what I am used to back in Singapore.
With that said, there was one small problem: the heatwave. In fact, almost the entirety of Europe was suffering from high temperatures, which I am used to since Singapore can be hot at times. Even so, I needed a lot of body wipes and my portable fan to wipe off the sweat and cool myself and despite Annecy having a lot of air-conditioned places, walking around Annecy can be tiring due to dehydration, and I will provide some tips to survive the Annecy Festival in the final part of this adventure.
As for my accommodation, in part 1, I mentioned I booked an Airbnb, and here it is:
This was my first ever time booking an Airbnb, and while I probably will not intend to do it again as I still prefer to stay in hotels, this was quite a good first impression indeed! The Airbnb had pretty much everything I need: a nicely appointed bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a separate kitchen with a mini bar table so that I can work on my reviews of the movies I covered at Annecy, and a bathroom with a shower attached to the kitchen. For a solo traveller like me, this was more than good enough, and even with no air-conditioning, something I dearly missed back home (as most homes in France do not generally have that units), I can still open the windows in the bedroom and let the outdoor air (plus the ceiling fan) make the place cooler.
As for food, food in Europe is generally more expensive than in Singapore, though that is justified because the quality of ingredients is better. Comparing the prices of food at the nearby Monoprix in Annecy and the NTUC Fairprice supermarkets in Singapore, I almost had a heart attack at the food prices. However, I can say I had some really good food, whether it is the French bakeries (or boulangeries) or restaurants. The French really know how to cook, and Ratatouille is just the surface. More on some of the food recommendations in the final part.
The Train Back to Paris and The Paris Adventure (Part 2)
On the day after the final day of the festival, I checked out of the Airbnb and made my way to the boulangerie nearest to the Annecy station for one final breakfast and some writing, before crossing the street to the Annecy station. Reaching the station entrance, I took one last look and selfie of this town before making my way to the train that would take me back to Paris, reflecting on the memories I had made over the previous 7 days at the festival.
After the train departed from Annecy, I returned to writing the reviews of the Annecy movies before having my lunch on the train (which I had already brought from the boulangerie where I had my breakfast). It is better value to order a lunch set at the boulangerie than purchasing food on the train, and I have more tips on saving money in the final part.
By around noon, the trained at Gare De Lyon station, and after checking in at the hotel near the station, I continued my Paris adventure, starting with the Musee D’Orsay for more art appreciation, including the works of Van Gogh, Renoir and Monet, among many others. Considering this used to be a train station, this was probably the grandest museum I had ever visited, and was only topped by one other museum, more on that later. This was followed by cycle to the Eiffel Tower, where I took a Seine River cruise for the various sites along the River itself, before returning to the hotel for dinner and a well-needed shower before sleep.
The next day, it was time for the world-famous Louvre Museum, where I joined a tour group to explore the famous art pieces and sculptures around the huge museum, spending the morning admiring more iconic artworks on display. After lunch near the museum, I cycled to the Luxembourg Gardens for some rest before walking to the Pantheon and eventually Le Bon Marche, a high-end shopping complex where I bought foodstuffs and chocolate to bring home to my family and work colleagues. After spending the afternoon shopping (and also to escape from the heatwave), I headed out to Boullion Pigalle to enjoy my final proper dinner in Paris before returning home the next day.
Finally, on the last day, I spent the morning in the nearby Le Marais for breakfast and last-minute shopping before checking out of the hotel. It was at this point that I made one final hail Mary: heading to another shopping mall to watch Jim Queen, a movie I wanted to see at Annecy, but I was unable to get into, and without English subtitles to help me out with. Thankfully, not only was I able to understand what was going on, but I had a fantastic time with this movie, and I cannot wait to see it again on VOD when it comes out around October.
To Be Continued
Well, that was all with this part of the adventure, since there was a lot to get through about my festival adventure. So, tune into the finale where I talk about my flight back to Singapore and some essential tips that would make your future Annecy Film Festival a fulfilling one.
Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
Leave a Reply