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Annecy may be winding down, but the almost overwhelming news cycle certainly isn’t. Since our first daily on Monday, we’ve been flooded with major announcements, exclusive reveals, and conversations. Streaming platforms, anime companies, independent filmmakers, and legacy studios are all on the ground here with something to prove, making for the busiest and buzziest Annecy Festivals we can ever remember.
Netflix, Warner Bros., Crunchyroll, and, for the first time ever, Prime Video all pulled back the curtain on major upcoming projects at Studio Focus panels, with Disney set to wrap up the week with their own look ahead on Friday.
Creators behind some of the festival’s most talked-about films shared new footage and fresh insight into their work. From first looks at Wildwood and a surprise screening of Forgotten Island – we were there, and the audience went bananas – to ambitious originals like Brave Cat, Tangles, and Mu Yi and the Handsome General and high-profile Works In Progress like The Wolf and Desechable, the halls of Annecy have been thrumming this week.
It’s not all been sunshine, though, despite what the record temperatures might suggest. After anti-AI protesters interrupted the world premiere of Hisko Hulsing’s Danse Macabre, festival artistic director Marcel Jean put out a strongly worded statement condemning the actions of those individuals as a “witch hunt” and defending Hulsing’s impressive career.
