Jean-Luc created a huge family that he reunited each year with tenderness, demanding, and persistence. Tenderness for these big children who refuse to give up their dreams and to sacrifice their imagination, persevering in the expression of the images of their fantasies. Demanding to show this difficult art, of which he defended the quality, originality and richness, whatever the public thought or distribution was. Persistence in the face of unbelievers and skeptics, in order to establish this expression as a different art form all its own, and Annecy as a global meeting-place for animation.

Today Animation is considered an international economic and cultural property. Must it always be that the parents retire when the children learn to fly with their own wings?

Alexandra Tholance
General Delegate of the French Union of Animation Producers (SPFA)

Hail and Thank You, Jean-Luc!!

Jean-Luc Xiberras was undoubtedly one of the people who contributed most to the development of the animation industry and more particularly to personal auteur animation during the past 20 years. He offered us, through winds and tides, a place to meet and a platform with the highest visibility in the world for all those who have chosen to consecrate themselves to animation film. In many cases this platform has permitted the production of outstanding films which otherwise would not have seen the light of day.

Passionate, determined, extreme as much as modest, he certainly knew how to communicate his passion to a good number of us who work in the animation industry today.

The Annecy Festival will never be the same. It has lost Jean-Luc. We hope that this marvelous rendez-vous of animation will remain faithful to his heritage and to he who gave body and soul to it.

Thank you, Jean-Luc.

Bernard Lajoie
Pascal Blais Productions