REPORTING. At the Annecy Festival, young talents from around the world hope to find the necessary funding to bring their projects to life

The International Animated Film Market (MIFA), organized during the Annecy Festival, sets up numerous mechanisms for filmmakers to meet professionals capable of helping them bring their projects to fruition.

A thirty-year-old who steals the engagement ring bought by her boyfriend so as not to have to refuse his marriage proposal, a boy who offers all his love to an egg, a mythological character who embodies the guilt of a young child… These characters have in common that they are the protagonists of short films that have not yet been made. This Wednesday, June 12, on the occasion of the International Animated Film Market which is held as part of the Annecy Festival (from June 9 to 15), their creators are presenting them in front of a large audience of festival-goers and professionals. Their goal: to obtain funding so that their characters come to life.

Organized for a little over twenty years, these pitch sessions are a must at the Festival. “MIFA is not a market in the strict sense. As in other events, there is buying and selling, but it is also a co-production market. People come to see the new trends, to spot projects. It is above all a meeting place, the pitches are part of this objective”, explains Véronique Encrenaz, director of the International Animated Film Market.

For the 2024 edition, 41 projects were selected by a committee from more than 700 applications. These projects are divided into four categories – feature films, short films, digital experiences, series & TV specials – and this year come from 22 countries. The talents have ten minutes in hand to discuss their project, from the scenario to the music, including the estimated budget and the techniques used. The key: funding but also prizes allowing you to win residencies or promises of broadcasting.

“Talking about my work in Annecy seems completely crazy to me,” enthuses Pari Satarkar, a 23-year-old Indian filmmaker who came to present Rising Tides, a short film project that she has been working on for several years. Like a quarter of the talents selected to share their projects during MIFA pitches, Pari Satarkar was selected via the system “animation of the world”.

“Certain countries like France, Japan or the United States are very advanced in the world of animation. But the objective of MIFA is also to encourage and promote projects from countries where the industry is not at such a level of development” explains Véronique Encrenaz. “Diversity is one of our criteria, MIFA wants to make it possible to carry out projects by filmmakers who do not have the possibility of being trained or financed in their country”.

If India has established itself for many years as the largest cinema producer in the world (1986 feature films produced in 2016 compared to 665 in the United States according to the latest figures presented by UNESCO), funding for films animations remain in fact very rare. “Animated cinema is really associated with childhood, independent short films on television do not exist”, explains Pari Satarkar.

“In recent years, crowdfunding pots have started to be set up but it remains really marginal and unthinkable for financing a first film. In India, Rising Tides simply cannot see the light of day at the moment, so my presence in Annecy is a real opportunity”concludes the filmmaker.

To give more projects a chance, since 2015 MIFA has allowed the spotlighting of several talents from the same country via the organization of “partner pitches”. Each country can thus go to the Festival with its delegation in order to present the best projects from its territory.

“Since we went to MIFA, we have managed to obtain two co-productions with France, it is extremely valuable”, explains Christophe Pécot, audiovisual advisor attached to the French embassy in Nigeria. Every year since 2021, the latter goes to the Annecy International Film Market with five young filmmakers from the country so that they participate in partner pitch sessions. “This is where everything comes into play, the International Animated Film Market is essential for local talents to emerge and this part of Nigerian cinema to develop,” he explains.

Of the entire selection in competition this year, six works went through the MIFA pitch stage. “Our objective is that the projects presented come to fruition and go as far as possible, if possible in competition”, explains Véronique Encrenaz, director of the international animated film market.

Cynthia Calvi, a 33-year-old French director, is one of those whose project made it through to the competition. His short film Gigi, a documentary on transidentity, is presented in the Persepctives category. In 2021, the director won the Arte prize during the pitch sessions, with the channel committing to broadcast the film as soon as it was finished. “This promise of distribution was crucial, it allowed me to obtain new financing fairly quickly because even before being produced, we knew that the film would have a life,” she explains.

This fate, although it undeniably exists, is however not the common path. While certain films pitched in Annecy, such as Linda wants chicken Or Flee, obtain the coveted Gold Crystal, others fail to find the financing necessary for their production. “Because they are less expensive, most of the short films presented manage to be financed. It is estimated that around 80% of projects pitched in this category see the light of day. For feature films, the reality is not the same,” concedes Véronique Encrenaz.