The French Institute Alliance Française announces the program for the seventh annual Animation First, the only U.S. festival dedicated to showcasing the legacy and innovation of Francophone animation. FIAF is thrilled to celebrate the seventh edition of its popular festival, which expands this year from a three-day to a six-day festival due to increased popularity, running from Tuesday, January 23 through Sunday, January 28.
This year’s festival presents seven feature-length films (including three U.S. and three New York premieres), six short film programs, a “First Look” presentation, filmmaker talks, the annual Student Short Film Competition, and much more. New for 2024 will be the premiere of an inaugural limited-edition Animation First series poster, a juried competition of the New Francophone shorts, and a special spotlight on Québécois animated cinema. Animation First programmers are Delphine Selles-Alvarez, FIAF Film Curator, and Chloé Dheu, FIAF Film Coordinator.
“This year’s festival celebrates the power of animation to explore thought-provoking subjects —as with the films, When Adam Changes, The Siren, and Mars Express—and magnificent worlds such as those showcased in Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams, and the new VR experience, Gaudi, the Atelier of the Divine, amongst others, Selles-Alvarez explains. “With the inclusion of the inaugural limited-edition poster by illustrator Peter de Sève, FIAF is highlighting its mission to celebrate animation as a cinematic art that’s not just a genre for young audiences.”
Created in 2018, Animation First is the only film festival in the United States dedicated to French animation.