The 42nd edition of Annecy International Animated Film Festival that will take place on the shores of Lac d’Annecy from June 11th till June 16th, is especially exciting for the Czech animation. This year, the Czech Republic will be represented vastly by first-class animators participating at MIFA (Marché International du Film d‘Animation), the largest animated film market worldwide. In total, the unprecedented number of 17 Czech creators and producers from 11 animation studios alongside TV, institutions (including Animation Film Association (ASAF) or Czech Film Fund/Czech Film Center), film schools and other film professionals will be representing our region in Annecy.
This year, three animated films from the Czech Republic are announced as part of the official programme. Jan Švankmajer’s Insect that premiered in January at Rotterdam IFF will be a part of the out of competition section Screening Events. The film was supported by the Czech Film Fund with the amount of €411,765. A short film After will be screened in the section Graduation Films in Competition. The movie was directed by Matouš Valchář, a Faculty of Art and Design student from the University of West Bohemia.
A Czech-Slovak co-production, short film The End (dir. David Stumpf, Michaela Mihalyiova) will be presented to film professionals and potential partners alongside 36 other projects at the world-class pitching section MIFA Pitches. The film is being produced by BFILM (SK) and FAMU and was supported by the Czech Film Fund with €22,353.
The 42nd edition of Annecy IAFF marks the second participation of the Czech Republic at the film festival and market. Czech Film Center exhibited at the market already in 2014, when a project Even Mice Belong in Heaven was presented within MIFA Pitches. Both directors, Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubeníček together with the producer of the film Vladimír Lhoták (FreshFilms) are among the filmmakers coming to Annecy this year.
Czech animation will be represented together with other Central and Eastern European countries within the CEE Hub at the Creative Europe MEDIA umbrella stand. The participation is possible in co-operation with Animated Film Association (ASAF), Czech Film Fund, animation studios, and partners from Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and other countries.
"We are very happy to welcome the Central and East European Animation Industry to our stand – it is a first time for us to have a stand at MIFA and a first time for them both to be at MIFA collectively and to work with us in this way. We look forward to further similar collaboration in future,” – Soon-Mi Peten, Head of Sector Promotion, Training and Festivals (EACEA, Creative Europe – MEDIA).
In 2017, the Czech Film Fund supported 23 animated projects in total with the amount of €1,780,627, in various sectors (development, production, minority co-production). The supported projects include Michaela Pavlátová’s feature My Sunny Maad, produced by Petr Oukropec (Negativ), Kristýna Dufková’s Living Large, produced by Veronika Sabová (Barletta), or Rosa, Dara and Their Great Summer Adventure, directed by Martin Duda, produced by Bionaut.
