This January, celebrate the eighth edition of Animation First, the biggest animation festival in the United States! This year's festival will run from Tuesday, January 21 through Sunday, January 26, and will present seven feature-length films and five short film programs, with a special focus on Swiss animation. Curators Delphine Selles-Alvarez and Chloe Dheu explain, "The 2025 edition of Animation First offers a bold mix of features, shorts, talks, and VR that range from family-friendly to experimental and off the charts. Playful, serious, engaging, and at times radical, the festival will transport audiences to places far and wide."

This year, the festival presents seven feature-length films (including three U.S, two New York, and one East Coast Premiere) and five short film programs. Fifteen guests from around the world join us for filmmaker talks, a first look presentation, and QandA discussions. Back by popular demand, Animation Speak/Easy joins us for the second year in a row, as does our juried competition of the new Francophone shorts programs. The festival will also feature virtual reality experiences, our annual Student Short Film Competition, and even an interactive make-your-own stop-motion experience for guests in the Tinker Lounge. We're also thrilled to have Swiss animator and director Georges Schwizgebel design our second-annual limited-edition Animation First series poster.  

With films for adults, teens, and kids, the festival is crafted to engage and entertain guests of all ages throughout nearly a week of programming. Buy your festival pass today!

Schedule of Events:

January 21, 2025

7:15 pm: Opening Night Film - The Most Precious of Cargoes

By Michel Hazanavicius, 2024, France, Belgium, 81min, DCP

Voiced by Dominique Blanc, Gregory Gadebois, Denis Podalydes, Jean-Louis Trintignant - In French with English subtitles

From Michel Hazanavicius, author of award-winning The Artist (2011), comes an adaptation of author Jean-Claude Grumberg's 2019 novel. This fairytale, with voices from notable actors Dominique Blanc, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Gregory Gadebois, and Denis Podalydes, amongst others, follows a humble lumberjack and his wife, who live in a remote Polish forest. The wife often laments the absence of children in their lives. Day and night, trains pass through the forest, their sounds echoing through the trees. One day, as the wife watches what she assumes to be a cargo train passing by, she discovers that a baby has been tossed from the train, en route to Auschwitz, into the snow. Her decision to rescue the baby will change their lives forever…

Don't forget to stop by the opening of gallery exhibition, Covering The New Yorker, at 6pm!

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January 22, 2025

7:00 pm: New Francophone Shorts Program 1

The eclectic New Francophone Shorts (NFS) programs bring together the best of new animated creations from emerging and established filmmakers. Selections are chosen from lauded festivals including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Anima-The Brussels Animation Film Festival, and Les sommets du cinema d'animation. Each film exhibited is in competition for Best New Francophone Short.

This year's jury is composed of Bill Plympton, Karlotta Frier, and Noelle Melody. The New Francophone Shorts programs are co-curated by filmmaker Michael Enright and festival curators Chloe Dheu and Delphine Selles-Alvarez.

Run Time: 86 min

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January 23, 2025

11:00 am: Savages

By Claude Barras, 2024, Switzerland, France and Belgium, 87min, DCP
Starring Benoit Poelvoorde, Laetitia Dosch, Michel Vuillermoz
In French with English subtitles

Following the success of his acclaimed 2016 animated film My Life as a Zucchini, Swiss director Claude Barras returns with an enchanting, humor-filled stop-motion ecological tale set on the Southeast Asian Island of Borneo. Collaborating with screenwriter Nancy Houston, the film centers on Keria, who takes in a baby orangutan named Oshi just before her cousin Selaï arrives to stay after escaping his family's ongoing conflict with local logging companies. Together, the trio must fight back against the planned destruction of their beloved ancestral forest. Brought to life by Barras' intricately crafted puppets, the story unfolds against the rich backdrops of the tropical trees, plants, and rivers of the island's rainforests.

Part of Animation First's focus on Swiss Animation

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5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Virtual Reality

Throughout the festival, L'Alliance New York's Library will be free and open to the public for virtual reality experiences from French studios and distributors, including Ito Meikyu by Boris Labbe, Grand Prize winner at Venice Film Festival.

Ito Meikyu
by Boris Labbe, 2024, France, 20min
US Premiere

Ito Meikyu, which loosely translated means "wandering thread," is a virtual reality experience that develops around references from Japanese art history and literature (The Fukinuki Yatai, The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book) and unfolds as a large sensory fresco with strong emotional potential. A set of drawn, animated, and sound scenes together recreate a kind of subjective world in the form of a labyrinth. The virtual wandering space-composed of fractal architectures, and inhabited by plants, objects, animals, men, women, motifs and calligraphy-allows us to access different scenes based on the randomness of our choices. The result is a kind of hide-and-seek game with the user as the omniscient spectator.

5:30 pm: Professional Panel - Creating Animation with AI: Opportunities and Challenges

AI's transformative power is available to artists more widely than ever before. How are animators and filmmakers integrating AI into their creative processes, from conceptualization and scriptwriting to production and final creation? What role can AI play in enhancing animation projects? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in animation? Artists Boris Labbe (La Chute) and ValOne (New Specimen), along with producers Lesly Lynch (Space Cowboys Studio) and Ron Dyens (Sacrebleu Productions) discuss their current projects integrating AI, the tools they use, AI's capacity to push creativity to new realms, and trends they foresee in their fields.

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7:00 pm: Animation Speak/Easy

Calling all animation lovers, artmakers and curious audiences!

Animation First is thrilled to host our second Animation Speak/Easy during the festival. Join us for a one-of-a-kind evening of animated inspiration, discussion and drinks.

Created by NYC-based animation filmmakers, Animation Speak/Easy is an interactive event where three guest artists are invited to share an animated short that inspires them, followed by a lively audience discussion. Their bimonthly events bring together curious artmakers who are passionate about animation and its constantly changing forms.

Stay tuned for our guest speakers!

Special thanks to Lisa LaBracio, Andy London and Anna Samo, co-founders of Animation Speak/Easy.

January 24, 2025

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Virtual Reality

Throughout the festival, L'Alliance New York's Library will be free and open to the public for virtual reality experiences from French studios and distributors, including Ito Meikyu by Boris Labbe, Grand Prize winner at Venice Film Festival.

Ito Meikyu
by Boris Labbe, 2024, France, 20min
US Premiere

Ito Meikyu, which loosely translated means "wandering thread," is a virtual reality experience that develops around references from Japanese art history and literature (The Fukinuki Yatai, The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book) and unfolds as a large sensory fresco with strong emotional potential. A set of drawn, animated, and sound scenes together recreate a kind of subjective world in the form of a labyrinth. The virtual wandering space-composed of fractal architectures, and inhabited by plants, objects, animals, men, women, motifs and calligraphy-allows us to access different scenes based on the randomness of our choices. The result is a kind of hide-and-seek game with the user as the omniscient spectator.

7:00 pm: Savages

By Claude Barras, 2024, Switzerland, France and Belgium, 87min, DCP
Voiced by Benoit Poelvoorde, Laetitia Dosch, Michel Vuillermoz
In French with English subtitles

Following the success of his acclaimed 2016 animated film My Life as a Zucchini, Swiss director Claude Barras returns with an enchanting, humor-filled stop-motion ecological tale set on the Southeast Asian Island of Borneo. Collaborating with screenwriter Nancy Houston, the film centers on Keria, who takes in a baby orangutan named Oshi just before her cousin Selaï arrives to stay after escaping his family's ongoing conflict with local logging companies. Together, the trio must fight back against the planned destruction of their beloved ancestral forest. Brought to life by Barras' intricately crafted puppets, the story unfolds against the rich backdrops of the tropical trees, plants, and rivers of the island's rainforests.

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9:45 pm: The Best of Annecy 2024

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is the world's largest animated film festival, gathering movie lovers from around the globe to experience the best of the artform, forecast trends, and meet filmmakers and creators. This curated selection of shorts highlights the greatest from the 2024 Festival, including a tailor-made opening sequence by students from GOBELINS Paris.

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January 25, 2025

10:15 am: Yuku and the Himalayan Flower

By Arnaud Demuynck and Remi Durin, 2022, France, 62min, DCP
Voiced by Lily Demuynck Deydier, Agnes Jaoui, Arno
In French with English subtitles

In this animated musical adventure, Yuku sets off on a daring quest to find the magical Himalayan flower that's said to hold the power to heal her grandmother. Armed with nothing but her ukulele and a heart full of songs, she ventures deep into the mountains, where wild creatures and unexpected challenges await. Along the way, Yuku hopes to make new friends and discover the true power of love as she faces this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

11:00 am - 6:30 pm: Virtual Reality

Throughout the festival, L'Alliance New York's Library will be free and open to the public for virtual reality experiences from French studios and distributors, including Ito Meikyu by Boris Labbe, Grand Prize winner at Venice Film Festival.

Ito Meikyu
by Boris Labbe, 2024, France, 20min
US Premiere

Ito Meikyu, which loosely translated means "wandering thread," is a virtual reality experience that develops around references from Japanese art history and literature (The Fukinuki Yatai, The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book) and unfolds as a large sensory fresco with strong emotional potential. A set of drawn, animated, and sound scenes together recreate a kind of subjective world in the form of a labyrinth. The virtual wandering space-composed of fractal architectures, and inhabited by plants, objects, animals, men, women, motifs and calligraphy-allows us to access different scenes based on the randomness of our choices. The result is a kind of hide-and-seek game with the user as the omniscient spectator.

2:00 pm: Artist Talk: In Conversation with Georges Schwizgebel

A celebrated figure of Swiss film animation as well as a master visual storyteller, Georges Schwizgebel is a consummate animator whose work bursts with colors, sounds and imagery. Often working alone, Schwizgebel creates films that are intricately timed, painted, edited, and scored, mixing a playful approach to narration with breathtaking formalism. In this talk, Schwizgebel will discuss his prolific career, as well as his artistic approaches, recurrent themes-such as spiral movements, loops, and metamorphoses-and the importance of music in his work. Schwizgebel will also present several of his films during the event.

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2:15 pm: The Twelve Tasks of Asterix

Dir. Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, 1976, France, 80min, DCP
In French with English subtitles

Set during the Roman Empire, Asterix and Obelix-whose entire village of Gauls (aided by a magic potion) managed to defeat the invading Roman forces-take on twelve challenges assigned by an exasperated Julius Caesar. The emperor hopes that this challenge, based on the Twelve Labors of Hercules, could finally win them the Roman Empire. This second film adaptation by the co-creators of the best-selling comic book series Asterix brings iconic duo Asterix and Obelix to the big screen in this newly restored version.

Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's characters are beloved in France and beyond, enchanting generations of families around the world since their creation in 1959. The wildly popular books have been adapted into countless features and TV series in cartoon, animation, and live action formats-but The Twelve Tasks of Asterix is special. It's based on an original screenplay and was the first to use the Xerography Process of animation.

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4:30 pm: Caught in Moving Sand: The Films of Gisele and Nag Ansorge

Discover the work of Gisele and Nag Ansorge, two pioneers of Swiss animation who developed sand animation to create an original and mesmerizing body of shorts that includes their groundbreaking The Raven (1967), as well as Fantasmatic (1969), Anima (1977) and Sabbath (1991), their last film before Gisele passed away.

The Ansorge's sand animation films have been restored by the Swiss Film Archive and the Omnimago Laboratory in Germany, with support from the Memoriav Association. The color variations, which are sometimes noticeable from one shot to another, have been preserved.

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4:30 pm: Artist Talk: Kristof Serrand's Cabinet of Curiosities

Lauded French animator Kristof Serrand will reveal what feeds an artist's soul and creative mind as he guides the audience through the paintings, films, music, and creators who have influenced his work and enchanted his childhood. Using Samuel F.B. Morse's painting Gallery of the Louvre as his starting point, Serrand will lead the audience through his personal gallery of art and pop culture items, discuss makers he admires, and tell stories of the greats he's worked with throughout his 40-year career-from his time at Gaumont to Steven Spielberg's Amblimation to DreamWorks to Netflix.

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6:30 pm: The Legends of Paris

By Amelie Harrault, 2024, France, 52min, DCP
Narrated by Cecile de France
In French with English subtitles

See the first episode of French director Amelie Harrault's animated four-part television series that is centered on the storied literary and art scene of 19th century Paris. It follows the greats-Hugo, Berlioz, Chopin, Delacroix, Courbet, Baudelaire, Balzac, and Dumas-through the most impactful moments of their rule-breaking creative careers. As destined paths cross, paintbrushes and pens are wielded to awaken society and reshape history. Entirely told in traditional 2D animation, and featuring gorgeous scenes evoking Paris of the 1800s, Harrault paints a visually rich portrait of these masters and the turbulent times in which they lived.

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8:45 pm: Harmony

By Bertrand Dezoteux, 2024, France, 74min, DCP
In French with English subtitles

Harmony follows Jesus Perez as he lands on a visually striking planet populated with hybrid creatures and landscapes. The planet's inhabitants, with bodies reminiscent of both Hieronymus Bosch's art and a post-human future, embody a colorful yet unsettling aesthetic. This unique tale explores new possibilities in storytelling, with a focus on low-fi imagery and unconventional narrative structures. A contemplative space opera, the film offers a universe of unstable characters, shifting realities, and reimagined possibilities, all filtered through 3D visuals, sounds, and music.

As a companion to the film, Bertrand Dezoteux created a website: harmonie.center/en. The platform engages audiences to delves into Jesus Perez' larger mission and enterprise, "Harmonie Center."

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January 26, 2025

11:00 am - 6:30 pm: Virtual Reality

Throughout the festival, L'Alliance New York's Library will be free and open to the public for virtual reality experiences from French studios and distributors, including Ito Meikyu by Boris Labbe, Grand Prize winner at Venice Film Festival.

Ito Meikyu
by Boris Labbe, 2024, France, 20min
US Premiere

Ito Meikyu, which loosely translated means "wandering thread," is a virtual reality experience that develops around references from Japanese art history and literature (The Fukinuki Yatai, The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book) and unfolds as a large sensory fresco with strong emotional potential. A set of drawn, animated, and sound scenes together recreate a kind of subjective world in the form of a labyrinth. The virtual wandering space-composed of fractal architectures, and inhabited by plants, objects, animals, men, women, motifs and calligraphy-allows us to access different scenes based on the randomness of our choices. The result is a kind of hide-and-seek game with the user as the omniscient spectator.

12:00 pm: New Francophone Shorts Program 2

The eclectic New Francophone Shorts (NFS) programs bring together the best of new animated creations from emerging and established filmmakers. Selections are chosen from lauded festivals including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Anima-The Brussels Animation Film Festival, and Les sommets du cinema d'animation. Each film exhibited is in competition for Best New Francophone Short. This year's jury is composed of Bill Plympton, Karlotta Frier, and Noelle Melody. The NFS programs are co-curated by filmmaker Michael Enright and festival curators Chloe Dheu and Delphine Selles-Alvarez.

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1:45 pm: Artist Talk: In Conversation with Boris Labbe

Artist Boris Labbe has created a rich ensemble of works characterized by hybridization, combining digital moving image techniques with those specific to animated film. This approach, somewhere between traditional and innovative, forms an original and vibrant language which he has shared through various gallery and virtual reality installations, as well as short films. In this talk, Labbe will discuss his work as it pertains to various artistic fields, detailing recurrent themes and specific areas of exploration. He will present several of his short films and discuss his latest work, Ito Meikyu, which won the Venice Immersive Grand Prize in 2024, and the upcoming VR experience, and Precieuses Chimeres, a project at the intersection of art, AI, and biodiversity.

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2:15 pm: My Life as a Zucchini

By Claude Barras, 2017, Switzerland, France, 66min, DCP
Voiced by Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Estelle Hennard, Michel Vuillermoz
In French with English subtitles

After his mother's sudden death, Zucchini is sent to a foster home with other young orphans. At first, he struggles to find his place but with newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love, as he searches for his new family. From its debut in Director's Fortnight at Cannes, to winning awards at festivals around the world, this accomplished debut feature from director Claude Barras, based on a script from acclaimed writer/director Celine Sciamma (Girlhood, Tomboy, Portrait of a Lady on Fire), was nominated for both an Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award® for Best Animated Feature.

Part of Animation First's focus on Swiss Animation

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3:45 pm: First Look: Dandelion's Odyssey

Filmmaker Momoko Seto will share the creative process behind her first feature, Dandelion's Odyssey, an action-adventure film which she shot in France, Japan, and Iceland with a mix of macro live action and 2D/3D animation. An epic tale of displacement and survival, Dandelion's Odyssey follows a dandelion ball on its quest for a suitable habitat after Earth's destruction. Scored by composer Nicolas Becker (Sound of Metal, Gravity), Dandelion's Odyssey is one of the most anticipated animated films of 2025. Seto will lend her expertise spanning the crossroads of art and science, and discuss how her work is actively engaged with larger scientific debates on biodiversity and the impact humans have had on the Earth.

5:15 pm: Marina Rosset: The Enchanting Power of Animation

This program of shorts puts the spotlight on the work of award-winning Swiss filmmaker and editor Marina Rosset, along with selected works from her contemporaries. A mid-career artist, Rosset has created poetic, magical and stunningly beautiful films. Together, the program speaks to the originality of Rosset's work and the wealth of contemporary Swiss animation.

Following the screening, Marina Rosset will discuss her work and the role of Swiss animation.

Part of Animation First's focus on Swiss Animation

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8:15 pm: The Time Masters

Preceded by Closing Night Party and Award Ceremony at 6:30pm-8:15pm

The Time Masters
By Rene Laloux, 1982, restored 2023, France, 79min, DCP
In French with English subtitles

Directed by Rene Laloux (Fantastic Planet) and designed by Jean Giraud (Mœbius), The Time Masters is a visually stunning existential space adventure. After his parents are killed on the dangerous planet Perdide, young Piel survives by keeping in touch with Jaffar, a pilot escorting an exiled royal family. Jaffar recruits Silbad, a guide familiar with the planet's hazards, to help them navigate their journey. Along the way, they encounter strange and mysterious creatures and beings, who may reveal their true origins.

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Date: January 21 - 26, 2025

Location: Various Venues In New York, NY

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