2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival: Complete list of winners

The Annecy festival is held annually in Annecy, France. The festival is regarded as one of the most prestigious animation events held globally, according to many.

This year's festival was significant for many reasons. Besides discussing animated films, real-world concerns also entered the spotlight. During the closing ceremony, jury members addressed ongoing global conflicts, including the war in Gaza.

Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi used his moment at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival to call for justice and peace.

The top prize went to Arco at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival

The Cristal for Best Feature Film is the festival's top honor. It went to Arco, a debut feature from French illustrator and comics creator Ugo Bienvenu. The feature was produced by Natalie Portman. Notably, it premiered earlier this year at Cannes.

On the other hand, the Jury Prize in the main competition went to ChaO, an anime by Japanese director Yasuhiro Aoki and produced by Studio 4°C. The film will be distributed in North America by GKIDS.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, a complete breakdown of the winners at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival is as follows:

Full list of winners at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival

FEATURE FILMS – COMPETITION

CRISTAL FOR A FEATURE FILM: Arco, dir. Ugo Bienvenu, France
JURY AWARD: ChaO, dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Japan
PAUL GRIMAULT AWARD: Dandelion’s Odyssey, dir. Momoko Seto, France/Belgium
GAN FOUNDATION AWARD FOR DISTRIBUTION: Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, dir. Irene Iborra Rizo, Spain/France/Belgium/Chile/Switzerland
AUDIENCE AWARD: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, dir. Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, France

FEATURE FILMS – CONTRECHAMP

CONTRECHAMP GRAND PRIX: Endless Cookie, dir. Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver, Canada
CONTRECHAMP JURY AWARD: The Square, dir. Bo-Sol Kim, South Korea

SHORT FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A SHORT FILM: The Night Boots, dir. Pierre-Luc Granjon, France
JURY AWARD: Les Bêtes, dir. Michael Granberry, USA
ALEXEÏEFF–PARKER AWARD: Sappho, dir. Rosana Urbes, Brazil
OFF‑LIMITS AWARD: The Graffiti, dir. Ryo Orikasa, Japan
JEAN‑LUC XIBERRAS AWARD FOR A FIRST FILM: Zwermen, dir. Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger, Netherlands/Belgium
AUDIENCE AWARD: The Night Boots, dir. Pierre-Luc Granjon, France

TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A TV PRODUCTION: Christo The Civilized Barbarian: "Hunting Party", dir. Shaddy Safadi, USA
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SERIES: Lena's Farm: "Volles Nest", dir. Elena Walf, Germany
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SPECIAL: An Almost Christmas Story, dir. David Lowery, USA
AUDIENCE AWARD: Freaked Out: "Major Decision", dir. Théo Grosjean, Mothy Richard, Belgium/France

GRADUATION FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A GRADUATION FILM: Zootrope, dir. Léna Martinez, France
JURY AWARD: Between the Gaps, dir. Martin Bonnin, France
LOTTE REINIGER AWARD: Q, dir. Masataka Kihara, Japan

VR WORKS

CRISTAL FOR THE BEST VR WORK: Fragile Home

Special Prizes at Annecy International Animation Film Festival

FRANCE TV AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM: Pooya Afzali, for At Night
SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A SHORT FILM: Sebastian Hilli, for Dollhouse Elephant
SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A FEATURE FILM: Arnaud Toulon, for Arco
PABLO PICO DISTINCTION – SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A FEATURE FILM: Jean L'Appeau, for Death Does Not Exist
CANAL+ JUNIOR JURY AWARD: Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears, for Forevergreen
YOUNG AUDIENCE AWARD: Francis Desharnais, for The Great Annual Party of the Creatures of the Moon
ANDRÉ MARTIN AWARD FOR A FRENCH SHORT FILM: Pierre‑Luc Granjon, for The Night Boots
FESTIVALS CONNEXION AWARD FOR A VR WORK: Ondřej Moravec, Victoria Lopukhina, for Fragile Home
XPPEN AWARD FOR A GRADUATION FILM: Jiali Tan, Haoyuan Zhu, for Won’t Be Here
VIMEO STAFF PICK AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM IN THE OFFICIAL AND OFF‑LIMITS CATEGORIES: Michael Granberry, for Les Bêtes
CITY OF ANNECY AWARD: Justice Rutikara, for Ibuka, Justice
CITY OF ANNECY JURY SPECIAL DISTINCTION: Niko Radas, for Psychonauts

MIFA Pitch Awards

CINEKID FOR PROFESSIONALS PRIZE: The Star‑Child
MIFA – BEST PERFORMANCE PRIZE: Crocodile Dance
MIFA – ANIMATION DU MONDE PRIZE: Sun Chaser

FEATURE FILMS

SACD PRIZE: Maryam & Varto
CICLIC PRIZE: Saima – Scenes from a Midlife Crisis
CRISTAL PUBLISHING PRIZE: The Northern Star
TITRAFILM PRIZE: The Last of the Pebbles

SHORT FILMS

SACD PRIZE: A Blue Monday
ARTE FRANCE PRIZE: Kateryna
CICLIC PRIZE: Haan
NEF ANIMATION PRIZE: Very Flexible Girl
FILMVÆRKSTED VIBORG PRIZE: Where Is My Espresso?
STUDIOS ALHAMBRA PRIZE: Escucha El Río

TV SERIES & SPECIALS

DISNEY TELEVISION ANIMATION PRIZE: Pouic and Pica
PRIX CICLIC: Brune
TITRAFILM PRIZE: Beasties
STUDIOS ALHAMBRA PRIZE: The Star‑Child

DOCUMENTARIES

EURODOC PRIZE: Ouch!
DOK LEIPZIG PRIZE: Black Diaries
TITRAFILM PRIZE: Erased
CRISTAL PUBLISHING PRIZE: Ouch!
BIPTV PRIZE: Playing House
CICLIC PRIZE: Red Zone

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES at Annecy International Animation Film Festival

WEIRD MARKET PRIZE: Damned
THE BOOSTER BY UNITED XR EUROPE PRIZE: Poems of Life
NEWIMAGES PRIZE: The Mother Tree
ANIDOX XR RESIDENCY PRIZE: DeMaré – A Sensory Journey to the Depths of the Ocean

Beyond the awards, the 2025 Annecy festival offered a stage to filmmakers to reflect on global events. Sepideh Farsi's speech in honor of Fatma Hassouna, a Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza, underscored how artists are not immune to the conflicts that shape the world they depict. She stated:

"Something else has taken me away. Sometimes, being part of the cinema family, the animation family, is not enough to make the changes, the significant changes that need to be made. Sometimes we have to go beyond the films that we make. We have to become like the heroes and heroines of our films, become bigger than ourselves, become better people, and try to make changes differently in the real world."

Sepideh continued her speech at the 2025 Annecy, mentioning:

"There are quite a few conflicts ongoing. One of them is particularly monstrous. That is the ongoing genocide in Gaza. For one year, I worked for Fatma Hassouna. She was killed two months ago in an Israeli airstrike targeting her house with all her family."

She concluded, stating:

"I had made a promise to her to go to Gaza to meet her once the war was over. I have not been able to keep that promise, but I will try to do something that would be meaningful, because we need to break this blockade and to stop this war."

Iranian filmmaker Shiva Sadegh Assadi also called for peace through poetry at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

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