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'Monsters University' to Open Annecy Animation Festival

Animated features entered into competition at this year’s Annecy International Festival of Animation are announced.

France’s Annecy International Festival of Animation will open June 10 with a special open-air screening of Disney’s Monsters University, according to a report by Variety.

The animated features set for competition this year are Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return from the U.S., France’s My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill, India’s Arjun, The Warrior Prince, Spain’s The Apostle, France’s Jasmine, Japan’s Berserk Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey, South Africa’s Khumba, Brazil’s A Story of Love and Fury, and Italy’s Pinocchio.

Among the 14 out-of-competition features, Consuming Spirits, Persistence of Vision and It’s a Beautiful Day are from the U.S. On the film jury are Cartoon Network’s Brian Miller, director Robert Morgan and producer Didier Brunner of Les Armateurs. Other special screenings include Despicable Me 2 and Oggy and the Cockroaches.

Several selections will be presented as works-in-progress, including How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Bill Plympton’s Cheatin’.

The 37th edition of the fest runs June 10-15 in the picturesque French Alps village of Annecy, with a new artistic director, Marcel Jean. This year Poland will be the featured country, with an homage to Polish animation master Jerzy Kucia.

The fest’s market, MIFA, runs June 12-14, with producers meetings, panels, pitch meetings and a focus on VFX planned for June 14.

AWN rounded up trailers for most of the features entered into competition, although a couple of them, such as Jasmine and Khumba, have remained elusive. Watch them, below:

The Apostle (O Apóstolo)

Directed by Fernando Cortizo (Artefactor Productions, Spain)

Arjun: The Warrior Prince

Directed by Arnab Chaudhuri (UTV, Disney, India)

A Story of Love and Fury (Uma história de amor e fúria)

Directed by Luiz Bolognese (Buriti Films, Gullane, Brazil)

Berserk Golden Age Arc II: The Battle of Doldrey

Directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka, Michael Sinterniklaas(Lucent Pictures, Studio 4°C, Warner Bros., Japan)

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return

Directed by Dan St. Pierre and Will Finn (Summertime Entertainment, U.S.)

My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill

Directed by Marc Boréal & Thibaut Chatel (Label Anim, Melusine, France, Luxembourg)

Pinocchio

Directed by Enzo D’Alo (Cometa Films, Iris Productions, 2d3D, Walking the Dog; Italy, Luxembourg, France, Belgium)

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.