Annecy Announces Three Feature Animation Projects for Residency

By Pickle December 10, 2025

The Annecy Festival, the world’s leading international animation film festival, has announced the 2026 winners of its prestigious residency program. Three feature-length animation projects have been selected to participate in the three-month residency, which will be held at the Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation. The winning projects tackle historical memory, social conflict, and family legacy through distinctive visual and narrative approaches.

Supported by major entities like Netflix and the CNC, it provides focused time for graphic development, storyboarding, animatics, and connecting with industry professionals during the famed festival and market (Mifa).

The competition drew 52 applicants from 29 countries, with 42% of projects led by women. The selection committee—composed of filmmaker Benjamin Renner, screenwriter Stéphane Kazandjian, distributor Doris Gruel, producer Camille Condemi, and director Amandine Fredon—chose three projects distinguished by strong artistic vision and commitment to meaningful storytelling.

All the Heaven’s Doors, directed by Armin Rangani and co-written with Raha Amirfazli (both from Iran), is set in 18th-century Persia during a brutal city conquest. When soldiers blind all the men in a conquered city, the women seize an unexpected opportunity to build a utopia free from traditional constraints. They successfully deceive the king’s tax collectors by hiding behind the blinded men until a delayed tax collector’s surprise arrival threatens their fragile new world.

Condenaditos, directed by Matisse Gonzalez Jordán from Bolivia, interweaves family curse mythology with the country’s dictatorship history. The story follows Kiki as she discovers family secrets connected to her grandfather’s involvement in Bolivia’s authoritarian regime. When Kiki befriends Domitilo, a dictatorship victim, she inherits a mysterious family curse and embarks on a journey forcing her grandfather to confront his past and seek forgiveness.

Todo viene del agua, directed by Gustavo Almenara (France), spans two generations and two continents. In 1950s Caracas, young José witnesses wealth inequality and joins a revolutionary movement to transform Venezuelan society. Sixty-five years later, the aging José recounts his memories to his 12-year-old French grandson Alessandro, who knows nothing of Venezuela or his family’s political history.

The three projects share thematic concerns with historical memory and social justice. The selection committee noted that these works “oscillate between memory and conflict, violence and hope” while refusing fatalism. Rather than offering simple narratives, they revisit fragments of history and personal experience in distinct visual and narrative forms.

The Annecy Festival Residency, entering its new phase at the Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation after five years at the Papeteries–Image Factory, provides filmmakers with structured conditions to develop their projects. During the three-month residency, winners receive personalized guidance from CITIA teams and specialist mentors, enabling them to experiment, deepen research, and test concepts through exploration and collaboration.

The competition’s diversity reflects broader shifts in animation cinema. Nearly half of the submitted projects were led by women, and applicants came from across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond. This geographic and gender diversity shapes the stories being told—projects that center previously marginalized historical perspectives and challenge dominant narratives.

The selection committee emphasized that these three projects “boldly question our world” through animation’s expressive possibilities. Rather than entertainment-focused narratives, the 2026 winners pursue socially engaged storytelling that treats animation as a vehicle for historical reckoning and political consciousness.

The residency model—offering sustained time, mentorship, and creative community—remains rare in animation production. By providing these conditions, Annecy positions animation not simply as an industry sector but as a site of artistic research and meaningful cultural dialogue.