Annecy ’26: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd… and the Minions?

by Cláudio Alves

This year, I was lucky enough to attend the 50th edition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market. The festivities ended this past weekend, with Ervin Han and Raúl García’s The Violinist taking the prestigious Cristal prize for Best Film from the feature competition. Past winners include such titles as Arco, Memoir of a Snail, Flee, I Lost My Body, Coraline, and many other unforgettable pictures. But it wasn’t all fun and games and glory. While the festival was underway in the Alps, France was suffering through its worst heatwave in recorded history, and before it all ended, the tragic death of animator Luis de La Rosa shrouded the event in a sense of collective grief. Between good and bad, triumph and unexpected sorrow, there is much to discuss. 

No better place to start than at the beginning, with the slapstick extravaganza that had the honor of opening the festivities – Minions & Monsters, which comes to theaters this week, worldwide…

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First Oscar Predictions: Visual Categories

by Nathaniel R

First still from WERWULF. Can it follow in Nosferatu's footsteps and receive craft nominations?

We started with Costume Design (we're partial to those threads, don'cha know) but now the rest of the first round predictions for the 99th Oscars are available in all visual categories...

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Review: "Supergirl" is Perfectly Fine, Which is a Little Disappointing

By Ben Miller

You can blame Superman for plenty of the failures with Craig Gillespie's Supergirl. The critical and audience success of that entry reignited the DC Universe. Now, the expectations are too great and the middle-of-the-road film that follows is sure to be considered a disappointment.

It's not like the film does anything wrong, it's just slight. I love not having a plot hinge on universe-changing implications, but this film just establishes the Supergirl character enough to lead to other stories. Table-setting is always a part of the deal with these connected universe stories, but it's surrounded by such low stakes and forgettable characters, it's hard to care...

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Five Findings from Pesaro

by Elisa Giudici

A quick, aperiodical column dedicated to the small discoveries from the smaller film festivals scattered across Europe.

Pesaro is a small coastal town in central Italy, interionationally known as the birthplace of composer Gioachino Rossini and as a city of bicycles. The economy largely revolves around seaside tourism. For 62 years it has also hosted the Pesaro International Festival of New Cinema, an event dedicated to discovery of new, innovative forms of cinema. The programme does not shy away from hybrid forms, medium-length works and pure experimentation. As a result, its main competition regularly brings together video art, short films, essay films, and boundary-pushing cinema, in all its forms.

This year, for the first time, I was able to spend three days at the festival and explore its offere. Here are five discoveries that surprised me and deserve a mention...

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529 Invites are out for Academy Awards Membership

by Nathaniel R

As is annual tradition, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has published the list of the people they're inviting to join their 19 branches this year. Being on this list doesn’t mean you’ve become an Academy member; it just means you’ve been sponsored and  invited (you cannot apply for membership – they have to invite you.) The only other way to become a member, outside of sponsorship from a current member, is to be Oscar-nominated. You’re automatically considered, with or without a sponsor if that happens.

More on invitees I’m thrilled about and other particulars after the jump…

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