Annecy’s Work in Progress Section Teases Some of the Most Exciting Projects from the World of Animation

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the leading global get-together for all things animation, has unveiled the lineup for this year’s Work in Progress section, among the most highly anticipated events of the world’s animation calendar. When a physical event is possible, lines begin to form early in the morning as fans of the high-profile projects hope to get into the limited seating available at the Salle Pierre Lamy.

A barometer for future standout awards and/or box office success, recent high-profile projects featured at Annecy’s Work in Progress include Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Oscar-winner “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” and Oscar nominees in Netflix’s “Klaus” and “Over the Moon,” Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers,” Claude Barras’ “My Life as a Zucchini,” Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s “Ernest & Celestine,” Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle” and Dean DeBlois’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”

Brazilian animation hit its stride in 2013-14 when Luis Bolognesi’s “Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury” and Alê Abreu’s “The Boy and the World” took the Annecy Cristal for a best feature film in back-to-back years, among an astonishing haul of other prizes including Oscar and Annie nominations. Abreu will be back at Annecy this year with his latest WIP “Perlimps,” a colorful fairy tale produced by Buriti Filmes.

Oscar, Bafta and Annie-nominated filmmaker Dorota Kobiela was the talk of the town in 2017 when “Loving Vincent” dominated the headlines at Annecy for its literal every frame a painting production before winning the Audience Award and going on to Oscar, Bafta and Annie nominations. This time around, Kobiela brings “The Peasants,” made with a mix of rotoscoping and painting on canvas produced out of Poland, Serbia and Lithuania. New Europe Film Sales is handling international sales.