#Annecy 2021 Official Selection Includes Josee, Poupelle, and The Deer King

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021, the largest animation film festival in the world, has unveiled ten films selected for its Feature Film Competition, and three of them are Japanese films – Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, Poupelle of Chimney Town, and The Deer King. There were two Japanese animation films selected for the same category last year – Lupin III: The First and Seven Days War -, and both of them missed the Grand Prix. 

Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021 Official Selection – Feature Films

• “Flee Flee” Directed by: Jonas POHER RASMUSSEN (Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden)
• “Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story” Directed by: Avid LIONGOREN (Philippines)
• “Jiang Ziya: The Legend of Deification” Directed by: Wei LI, Teng CHENG (China)
• “Josee to Tora to Sakanatachi” Directed by: Kotaro TAMURA (Japan)
• “Lamya’s Poem” Directed by: Alex KRONEMER (Canada, USA)
• “Ma famille afghane” Directed by: Michaela PAVLÁTOVÁ (Czech Republic, France)
• “Poupelle of Chimney Town” Directed by: Yusuke HIROTA (Japan)
• “Rotzbub” Directed by: Marcus ROSENMÃŒLLER, Santiago LOPEZ JOVER (Austria, Germany)
• “The Ape Star” Directed by: Linda HAMBÄCK (Denmark, Norway, Sweden)
• “The Deer King”  Directed by: Masashi ANDO, Masayuki MIYAJI (Japan)

Also, Josee, the Tiger and the Fish and Studio Ponoc’s short film Tomorrow’s Leaves (as its advance premiere) will be screened at the festival’s opening ceremony. 

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is based on the late Seiko Tanabe’s romance short novel of the same name. Its story centers on two characters: Josse, who is physically disabled and cannot walk without a wheelchair, so she has spent her life like a doll living in her own imagination world, and Tsuneo Suzukawa, a university student who has been chasing his dream. They meet by chance and are attracted to each other. Then, Josses decides to go with him to the outside world.

Kotaro Tamura (Noragami)’s feature film directorial debut work was released in Japan on December 25, 2020.

The anime feature film adaptation of Japanese comedian Akihiro Nishino’s picture book Entotsu-cho no Poupelle / Poupelle of Chimney Town was animated by the internationally acclaimed anime production studio Studio 4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, Children of The Sea), and was released in Japan on December 25, 2020.

It tells the story of young Lubicchi living among the thick smoke from the chimneys of his isolated town. Lubicchi yearns to see the stars and blue sky his father always told him about, and one fateful Halloween night he meets Poupelle, made of rubbish and scraps stuck to a wayward heart. The beauty and warmth of Poupelle of Chimney Town opens hearts, evokes joy and even brings a tear.

Shika no Ō: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi / The Deer King: Yuna and the Promised Journey is the forthcoming anime feature film adaptation of Nahoko Uehashi (Moribito series, The Beast Player)’s fantasy novel series Shika no Ō / The Deer King. It is set to be released in Japan on September 10, 2021. 

Acclaimed animator Masashi Ando (Princess Mononoke & Spirited Away animation director, Your Name. character designer/animation director) makes his directorial debut at Production I.G (Ghost in The Shell, Miss Hokusai). 

Source: Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021 official website / Twitter

©2020 Seiko Tanabe/KADOKAWA/Josee Project

© Akihiro Nishino / “Poupelle of Chimney Town” Production Committee

(C)2021 “The Deer King” Production Committee