'Animation First' Festival Returning To New York In 2019

Last year saw the first iteration of Animation First in New York, America's first festival dedicated to French Animation. French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) has announced that following the success of last year's debut, the festival will return for a second year in January 2019.

Animation First 2019 will feature 17 premieres, feature-length films, shorts, exhibits, videogame demonstrations, panels with filmmakers, a spotlight on the City of Bordeaux's animation industry, and much more. It will take place from Friday, January 25 to Sunday, January 27 2019.

French animation legend Michel Ocelot will be the guest of honor, with a 20th-anniversary screening of his film Kirikou and the Sorceress opening this year's festival. His more recent features Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest (2006) and Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess (2016) will also be screened. Ocelot will also host a screening of Only Yesterday, in tribute to the late Studio Ghibli great Isao Takahata, curate a program of influential shorts and participate in a discussion about his body of work.

The films screened will include the New York premiere of  Denis Do’s Funan, plus a selection of shorts from Annecy Festival, and a selection of shorts nominated for the 2019 Cesar Awards (The French Oscars).

Following a sold-out screening last year, adults-only screening event Erotic Shorts, and will this year be joined by Late Night Chills showcasing science-fiction and suspense shorts.

Other events include a work-in-progress event for The Swallows Of Kabul and a VR and Video game exhibition. For the full program and to get tickets, visit the festival website now.


FIAF Animation First Festival 2019 from FIAF on Vimeo.