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While the opening night ceremony of Annecy took a political turn<\/a>, that was nothing compared to tonight\u2019s closing ceremony, which had a somber tone impacted by recent events in the Middle East.<\/p>\n In the time between Annecy\u2019s opening and closing ceremony, Israel launched an attack on yet another country in the Middle East, this time Iran, and Annecy\u2019s artistic director Marcel Jean set the tone for the ceremony by acknowledging the new war upfront. It was especially poignant as two of festival\u2019s jury members this year were Iranian women, and many Iranian animators and filmmakers in attendance at the festival are currently stranded in France and unable to return to Iran.<\/p>\n Said Jean: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n As we celebrated our screenings, missiles rained down on our beloved Iran. While art lit up the screens, fear lit up the skies back home. Some of the invited Iranian directors are now stranded, unsure when or if they can return. Airlines have canceled flights, borders are closing, time stands still. Our families and friends are living through terror they never deserved. No human being should ever have to ever face bombs, instead of safety; fire instead of peace. We want to be with our loved ones, in our own homes, in our own country. <\/p>\n The oldest-known example of animation was found on a 5,000-year old piece of pottery in Iran\u2026a testament to how deeply our identity is tied to creativity. We did not choose these wars; we are tired of carrying the weight of destruction we did not create. Let us live; let us go home; stop the bombs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jean\u2019s statement was followed by a minute-long standing ovation from the full house of nearly one thousand people in the Bonlieu\u2019s Grand Salle, which can be viewed below:<\/p>\n Annecy festival declares their support for beloved Iran and calls out Israel to stop the bombs #AnnecyFestival<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/zKlOo0TJ1V<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Zak \ud83c\udf39 (@ZakRed567) June 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Later in the evening, Iranian feature film jury member Sepideh Farsi spoke to the audience via video about the subject of her new documentary, Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with nine members of her family one day after Farsi\u2019s film was selected to screen at Cannes. Said Farsi:<\/p>\n There are quite a few conflicts ongoing. One of them is particularly monstrous. That is the ongoing genocide in Gaza. For one year, I worked for Fatma Hassouna. She was killed two months ago in an Israeli airstrike targeting her house with all her family. I had made a promise to her to go to Gaza to meet her once the war was over. I haven\u2019t been able to keep that promise, but I\u2019ll try to do something that would be meaningful, because we need to break this blockade and to stop this war.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Farsi proceeded to read a poem from a young Palestinian girl who had shared her feelings with Hassouna before she was killed. Farsi\u2019s speech drew another standing ovation and shouts of \u201cFree Palestine\u201d throughout the theater. <\/p>\n Closing ceremony pays tribute to Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna who was killed by Israel recently. <\/p>\n The audience gives an emotional standing ovation and shouts Free Palestine #AnnecyFestival<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/04WQOZuEyq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Zak \ud83c\udf39 (@ZakRed567) June 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Still later in the evening, the other Iranian jury member, Shiva Sadegh Asadi, who was on the short film jury, read a piece by twenty-something poet Parnia Abbasi<\/a>, who, along with her family, was killed on Friday in Tehran as a result of Israel\u2019s indiscriminate bombing of civilians:<\/p>\n Iranian Jury member calls out Israel\u2019s crimes against humanity and reads a poem to dedicate to the lost lives of Iran #AnnecyFestival<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/baCypmrw3C<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Zak \ud83c\udf39 (@ZakRed567) June 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In spite of the sad undertones dampening this year\u2019s ceremony, there were plenty of awards to hand out and filmmakers to celebrate. The feature film awards were incredible diverse this year with no film winning more than once in the main categories. Seven different films won awards, with the top prizes going to Ugo Bienvenu\u2019s Arco<\/em> (Cristal for a Feature Film) and Pete and Seth Scriver\u2019s Endless Cookie<\/em> (Contrechamp Grand Prix, which honors edgier and quirkier features that might otherwise not receive the attention they deserve). <\/p>\n Neon has already acquired North American distribution rights<\/a> to the fantasy film Arco,<\/em> which is set in the year 2075 and follows a lost time-traveling boy in a rainbow-suit from the year 2932 who befriends a 10-year-old girl. The film premiered out of competition last month at Cannes and is backed by Natalie Portman, who is not only voicing a character but also producing the film. There\u2019s tons of momentum behind the film right now \u2014 Cannes, Neon, Natalie Portman, Annecy winner \u2014 so keep an eye on Arco<\/em> as we head into the fall awards season.<\/p>\n On the short side, the top Cristal was awarded to The Night Boots<\/em> by veteran stop-motion animator Pierre-Luc Granjon, who has directed numerous shorts in addition to co-directing the feature The Inventor<\/em><\/a>. Granjon\u2019s film picked up two other significant awards throughout the evening: the audience award for short film and the Andr\u00e9 Martin Award for a French short film. <\/p>\n The Night Boots\u2019<\/em>s synopsis: \u201cIn the middle of the night, while his parents are entertaining friends, a child slips on his wellington boots and sneaks off into the woods. There, a strange solitary creature leads him into the heart of the forest to meet the nocturnal inhabitants.\u201d Granjon\u2019s twelve-and-a-half-minute film was made using a vintage pinscreen, the animation tool invented in the 1930s<\/a> by animator Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker. <\/p>\n Michael Granberry\u2019s Ladislas Starevich-inspired stop-motion film Les B\u00eates<\/em> won the jury award for short film. Granberry was the only American to win in the main shorts categories. It\u2019s about a mysterious rabbit with a set of magic keys who summons a host of strange creatures to entertain a wicked king and his decadent court.<\/p>\n In his acceptance speech, Granberry championed the role of artists during this dark period of history, stating, \u201cThis art form attracts people who carry a very unique, beautiful fire in them that shines a light that the world desperately, desperately needs right now. Do not be afraid of the dark, the sickness of hate, because we are the cure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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