Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled its 2026 lineup, which includes 11 features in the main competition and previews of upcoming work from studios including Pixar, Universal and Netflix.
The festival will open on June 21 with the world premiere of Pierre Coffin’s Minions & Monsters, ahead of its worldwide rollout from July 1 through Universal. It is the seventh feature in the Despicable Me/Minions franchise, and follows the small yellow creatures in the 1920s as they search for creatures for their monster movie, but must then save the planet after unleashing monsters.
Scroll down for the Official, Contrechamp competition sections
It continues a long-running partnership between Annecy and Minions producers Illumination Entertainment, with many of the company’s films teased and screened at the festival and founder Chris Meledandri receiving a lifetime achievement award in 2023.
Studio showcases again form a prominent part of the Annecy lineup. Pixar Animation Studios will present a behind-the-scenes look at Enrico Casarosa’s Gatto, following black cat Nero as he explores the canal-ridden, superstitious city of Venice.
The Next on Netflix showcase will include The Incredibles and Ratatouille director Brad Bird offering a personal insight to his upcoming animated feature Ray Gunn, which has a voice cast including Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits; while showrunners Ben Hibon and Elliott Kalan will show a preview of the animated Ghostbusters series, releasing in 2027.
Netflix will also show a sneak peek at the first two episodes of series Alley Cats, alongside a masterclass from creator and voice cast member Ricky Gervais. The show follows a group of feral British cats struggling to survive in an uncaring human world.
US studio Laika will show a sneak peek at Travis Knight’s adventure Wildwood, which has a voice cast including Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett and Jacob Tremblay.
Walt Disney Animation Studios will show previously unseen footage of fantasy Hexed, which has Hailee Steinfeld among its voice cast.
Warner Bros. Animation, DC Studios, and Warner Home Enterainment will present Batman: Knightfall ‘Part 1: Knightfall’, the first animated feature in the Batman: Knightfall series. The separate Warner Bros. Pictures Animation showcase will present upcoming films including The Cat In The Hat and Bad Fairies.
There will also be a special session from stalwart UK animation studio Aardman, in which Peter Lord, Nick Park, David Sproxton and special guests will celebrate Aardman’s history and look ahead to its upcoming work.
Competition films
The 11-strong official competition for international feature titles includes Sebastien Laudenbach’s 2D computer-animated Viva Carmen!, about a man who returns to Seville where he attempts to save a young woman with a captivating voice.
It is one of several titles headed to Annecy in June from a Cannes launch in May, in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. Also making the journey north from the French Riviera are Olivier Clert’s Lucy Lost, about a young girl with an extraordinary gift, who lives on an isolated island, which plays as a Family Screening at Cannes; and Cannes Critics’ Week opener In Waves from director Phuong Mai Nguyen.
The Annecy selection was presented at a press conference at France’s Centre National du Cinema in Paris, by CNC president Gaetan Bruel, Mickael Marin, CEO of Annecy organising body CITIA, Veronique Encrenaz, director of the MIFA market, and Annecy artistic director Marcel Jean.
The 2026 festival will also see the opening of La Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation, a year-round animation hub in the town that includes an animation museum, a 332-seat cinema, an artist residency, and space for temporary exhibitions.
Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2026 competition lineup
Official competition
Viva Carmen! (Fr) dir. Sebastien Laudenbach
Iron Boy (Fr-Bel) dir. Louis Clichy
Decorado (Sp) dir. Alberto Vazquez
The Sunrise File (Fr-Lux) dirs. Rupert Wyatt, Emilie Phuong
In Waves (Fr-Bel) dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen
Lucy Lost (Fr) dir. Olivier Clert
Nobody (China) dir. Shui Yu
Tana (China) dirs. Ji Zhao, Ke Er Zhu, Ying Shuang Zhou
Tangles (US-Can) dir. Leah Nelson
The Violinist (Sing-Sp-It) dirs. Ervin Han, Raul Garcia
We Are Aliens (Japan-Fr) dir. Kohei Kadowaki
Contrechamp
58th (Phil) dir. Carl Joseph
A New Dawn (Japan) dir. Yoshitoshi Shinomiya
Blaise (Fr) dirs. Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue
Son Of A Bitch (Bra) dirs. Erica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Savio Leite
Mu Yi (Fr) dir. Julien Chheng
Pelelui: Guernica Of Paradise (Japan) dir. Goro Kuji
The Orbit Of Minor Satellites (Japan) dir. Christopher Sullivan
Spacetime Chronicles (It) dir. Stefano Bertelli
The Obsessed (Japan) dir. Wataru Takahashi, Yuki Yoshida
Winnipeg, Seeds Of Hope (Sp-Chile-Arg) dirs. Benat Beitia, Elio Quiroga
Welcome To Dolly’s House (Tai) dirs. Seven Ych, Rady Fu, Tree Muta
