The animation industry documentary film Waking Sleeping Beauty and a comprehensive slate of films from Canada’s National Film are set to debut at the upcoming Annecy International Animation Festival.
Waking Sleeping Beauty, a documentary about the revival of animation at Disney in the 1980s, will have its European premiere at the festival when it airs as an official selection on June 8.
The film’s director, animator Don Hahn, will introduce the film. Following the screening, Hahn will lead a discussion panel with animators Ron Clements and John Musker, who most recently directed The Princess and the Frog and are prominently featured in the documentary.
The festival, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will screen Waking Sleeping Beauty a second time on June 11.
The NFB’s animated offerings include the short Lipsett Diaries in official competition; The Trenches and Au pays des t’tes (Land of the Heads), screening out of competition; and Le printemps de M’lie (Molly in Springtime) in competition in the TV specials category.
No fewer than 18 other NFB films will also screen in various programs in honor of the festival’s anniversary. Among these are: Jacques Drouin en relief (Jacques Drouin in Relief), Guillaume Fortin’s documentary homage to the Canadian pinscreen master; and In’s Sedan’s The Man Who Slept, which recently took the SBS Special Prize at the 8th Unifrance Short Film Award in Cannes.
Monique Simard, director general of the NFB French Program, and Ren’ Ch’nier, executive producer of the animation and youth studio, will be at Annecy to sign a co-production agreement with Argentina, the country honored by the festival this year. They will also take the opportunity to announce new co-production projects between the NFB and its French partner Folimage as part of the company’s Artist-in-Residence program.
The Annecy Film Festival runs June 7-12 in Annecy, France.
