.png){kind=logo}
Annecy Teams With Berlin’s European Film Market On Landmark Push For Animation
The European Film Market (EFM) is partnering with Annecy to make its biggest-ever commitment to animation, launching EFM Animation Days, a new three-day program at the Berlinale running from February 12–14.
The commitment is a huge move forward for European and global animation. After Cannes’ Marché du Film, Europe-based markets don’t come any bigger than the EFM.
Designed as a global meeting place for studios, artists, buyers, producers, and cross-disciplinary partners, Animation Days will feature curated showcases, pitch sessions, case studies, workshops, and networking formats.
According to the organizations, Animation Days’ centerpiece will be the inaugural Annecy Animation Showcase EFM, curated by MIFA (Annecy’s market component) and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The Showcase will screen select works-in-progress slated for release in the second half of 2026. This will be the first time that such a bright spotlight is shone on the animation industry in the first quarter of the year.
Importantly, the showcase targets buyers and festival programmers, providing a previously unusual level of visibility for early-stage animated projects at a major film market. Again, outside of Cannes, most live-action markets turn a blind eye to all but the most arthouse animated projects.
In a release, Berlinale Pro Director Tanja Meissner explained:
The EFM Animation Days is a vital new initiative that champions a very creative and dynamic sector, in which also Europe provides a very export-ready world-class pipeline. Showcasing the extraordinary talent and creativity that drive the European animation industry is both an industrial and a cultural imperative. The global animation sector is built on excellence and innovation, and we are committed to support producers and studios as they navigate transformation.
Animation also makes its way into several other EFM initiatives this year. The newly introduced EFM Beyond cluster will focus on future business models and cross-media innovation, bringing animation, gaming, XR, and film producers together for hands-on workshops in worldbuilding, IP expansion, and new revenue models. A Cross-IP Accelerator, created with video game group SpielFabrique and Annecy, will facilitate collaboration between animation and animation-adjacent industries. Nonfiction titles will get an animation spotlight of their own at DocSalon, and the Archive Market will feature a special focus on animated documentaries.
With animation featuring heavily across its new platforms, showcases, and cross-industry labs, next year’s EFM will position itself as one of the most important events on the animation calendar, particularly in the normally stagnant first quarter of the year.
Jamie’s Take: This is really exciting news. Before Cartoon Brew, I cut my teeth as an events-based reporter for Variety, covering international markets and festivals. I can say from firsthand experience that animation rarely gets to sit at the adults’ table of the big European film markets. This partnership marks a clear change in that regard and, to me, feels like a major maturation for the animation industry, particularly in Europe.
This news could also completely reshape the yearly animation calendar on which the industry has operated for years. In the past, upcoming animated projects stayed mostly hidden until Cannes in May, before coming out in force at Annecy in June. That will probably remain the case to some degree, but if the EFM Animation Days become more influential, we could see far more from the industry in the early months of the year.
Lastly, other predominantly live-action events should take note, because this is going to happen more and more, and the festivals and markets that don’t embrace animation will suffer for it.