Every year, Annecy reminds me why I fell in love with animation in the first place. After decades of working in the industry, attending festivals around the world, and watching the business side of filmmaking evolve through technological revolutions and corporate transformations, I often arrive in Annecy carrying equal measures of excitement and skepticism. The animation landscape has become increasingly driven by algorithms, franchise expectations, and market predictions. Yet Annecy continues to be that rare place where animation reclaims its identity as an art form rather than merely a product. The 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival was one of…
Author: Nellie Tehrani-Ryce
Nellie Tehrani-Ryce
Nellie Tehrani-Ryce is an editor, festival reporter, and animation industry executive with more than two decades of experience in film and animation. As Associate Editor of Cinema Without Borders, she has covered major international film festivals, conducted interviews with filmmakers and animation artists, and contributed to the publication's editorial development. She also serves as the Programming Director of International Animation Day in Los Angeles, helping curate programs that celebrate global animation and emerging talent. Her distinguished career includes leadership positions at Paramount Animation, Psyop, Technicolor, and Animation Magazine, where she championed creative excellence and talent development within the animation industry.
Returning to Annecy in 2022 felt like witnessing the animation community rediscover its heartbeat. The festival had regained its energy, its crowded theaters, its spontaneous conversations by the lake, and its sense of celebration. Yet beneath the excitement, there remained an awareness that the world had changed. The films that resonated most strongly throughout the week reflected that reality. They were playful but thoughtful, nostalgic yet politically aware, intimate while speaking to universal experiences. The 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival demonstrated once again that animation continues to evolve beyond conventional expectations. The works honored by the festival challenged audiences…
There are animated films that entertain, films that impress through technical achievement, and films that quietly enter our emotional lives because they recognize something universal about family. Encanto belongs to the latter category. Watching it for the first time, I was struck not by its vibrant colors or infectious music—though both are extraordinary—but by the gentleness with which it addresses the burdens families pass from one generation to the next. As someone who has spent decades immersed in the world of animation, reporting from festivals and observing the ways animated storytelling continues to evolve, I have come to appreciate films…
Returning to Annecy in 2021 felt profoundly different from previous years. The world was slowly emerging from a period of isolation, uncertainty, and collective grief, and the films showcased at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival reflected these experiences with remarkable honesty. Rather than offering simple escapism, many of the year’s most memorable animated works embraced vulnerability, inviting audiences to confront questions of identity, displacement, aging, and the emotional scars left behind by history. Annecy has long been recognized as the beating heart of the animation world, a place where artists, producers, students, and critics gather to celebrate a medium…
East Los Angeles College, National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive, Hungary’s KEDD Animation Studio, and Cinema and Without Borders Foundation presented the Hungarian Animation Day, the seventh edition of the annual East Los Angeles College International Animation Day Festival featuring short animated films from Hungary. The goal of the ELAC International Animation Festival is to give an in-depth and entertaining introduction to contemporary international animation. Screenings of short animated films from around the world, analyses and Q&As with a panel of well-known animation experts, and a tribute to an international animation artist working in the U.S. animation industry are…
East Los Angeles College, National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive, Hungary’s KEDD Animation Studio, and Cinema and Without Borders Foundation are proud to present Hungarian Animation Day, the seventh edition of the annual East Los Angeles College International Animation Day Festival featuring short animated films from Hungary. Hungarian Animation Day will be held virtually on Friday April 23rd to April 29th 2021 at East Los Angeles College, and Cinema Without Borders web sites, where you can watch the films and the other parts of the festival. https://vimeo.com/529513753 The goal of the ELAC International Animation Festival is to give an…
There are films we watch simply to be entertained—films that occupy us for two hours and gradually fade from memory once the credits roll. Then there are films that remain with us for years, not because of their narrative complexity or visual grandeur, but because they awaken a question within us that we had long forgotten to ask. Pixar’s Soul was such an experience for me. Over the course of my life as a film critic, I have watched hundreds of films from different countries and artistic traditions, from the masterpieces of Italian neorealism to the poetic works of Iranian…
For six decades, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival has been the beating heart of the global animation community. Every June, artists, producers, students and critics from around the world gather in the picturesque French town of Annecy to celebrate the boundless possibilities of animated storytelling. In 2020, however, the festival faced its greatest challenge. As the COVID-19 pandemic brought international travel to a standstill and forced the cancellation of major cultural events worldwide, Annecy’s organizers made a bold decision. Rather than surrendering to circumstances, they transformed the entire festival into an unprecedented online experience. What emerged was not…
As someone who has spent decades around animation—watching it evolve from hand-drawn traditions to the astonishing technical sophistication of contemporary filmmaking—I approached Toy Story 4 with equal parts excitement and skepticism. The previous installment had offered what many believed to be a perfect conclusion to Woody and Buzz’s journey. The question lingered: did this story really need another chapter? To my surprise, Toy Story 4 justified its existence not by trying to outdo its predecessors in spectacle, but by asking a more intimate question: What happens after we fulfill the purpose we believed defined us? At the center of the…
ShortsTV, East Los Angeles College and Cinema and Without Borders are proud to present the Oscar® Nominated Shorts Animation Day, the fifth edition of the annual East Los Angeles College International Animation Festival featuring the 2019 Oscar® Nominated Short Films – Animation. “The goal of the ELAC International Animation Festival is to give an in-depth and entertaining introduction to contemporary international animation. Screenings of short animated films from around the world, analyses and Q&As with a panel of well-known animation experts, and a tribute to an international animation artist working in animation industry are all part of the festival program.” said…