Annecy Animation Film Festival is rolling out a slate of events to mark its 2026 edition and the opening of its sprawling new institute, including a showcase for Laika, the studio behind “Coraline” and “The Boxtrolls,” and an exhibition dedicated to Ankama (“Krosmoz”).
Annecy is already considered the world’s leading animation festival. The new hub, called Cité Internationale du Cinema d’Animation, will now expand Annecy’s reach beyond its annual festival and reinforce its status as a global animation platform.
The site will open on June 19 with an inaugural exhibition, “Ankama: From Sketch to Epic — 25 Years of Creation.” The immersive showcase – running through January 2027 — will explore the studio’s “Krosmoz” universe across animation, video games and publishing, tracing its creative journey from early sketches to finished works.
The exhibition around Laika, meanwhile, will bring its CEO, filmmaker Travis Knight, on the ground in Annecy where he will present early footage from “Wildwood,” one of the most anticipated animated films in the pipeline. .
A year-round cultural and educational hub, the Cité Internationale du Cinema d’Animation boasts a vast screening room, an artists’ residency, special areas for training courses and cultural action, alongside exhibition spaces, a bookstore and a gift shop. It’s located in a 19th century landmark called Haras, which spreads over 2.6 acres of lush gardens and buildings listed as French historic monuments.
Mickaël Marin, the director of Annecy festival and its industry market MIFA, previously told Variety that the idea behind the venue was to “create a cultural hub like the French Cinematheque in Paris or the Lumiere Institute in Lyon, which will bring together animation lovers and artists from all around the world.”
As Gaëtan Bruel, the president of the National Film Board, pointed it, “The Annecy Festival is not only the world’s leading animation event, but also the third-largest event of its kind across all genres.”
“Together with the Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation, our goal is to build on these achievements and take things even further by making Annecy and its region the year-round global capital of animation,” he added.
Dominique Puthod, president of CITIA, the festival’s organizing body, said, “The Cité is a place for today — and above all for tomorrow. It’s a place for young people, where animation becomes a living heritage shared by all.” He added, “Animation is not a minor form of cinema, but an art in its own right — a universal language that connects generations.”
Education will be a core pillar at the Cité Internationale du Cinema d’Animation, with spaces such as the “Grenier à images” offering workshops and programs designed to help younger audiences understand how images are made and how to engage with them.
“With the opening of the Cité, Annecy fully asserts its status as the world capital of animation,” said Antoine Armand, describing the project as a “major milestone” that strengthens a “unique ecosystem” and boosts the city’s international reach.
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