Natalie Portman-Produced French Animated Film ‘Arco’ Wins Annecy

Arco, a French animated feature about of unexpected friendship and the fate of a world impacted by climate change, has won the Cristal for best film at this year’s Annecy film festival.

The feature debut of famed French illustrator Ugo Bienvenu, which premiered in Cannes and counts Natalie Portman among its producers, follows Arco, a 10‑year‑old boy from the year 2932 who inadvertently travels back in time, via a rainbow, to 2075, where he encounters Iris, a young girl living through environmental collapse. Their burgeoning friendship becomes a tender yet urgent bond across time, rooted in innocence, curiosity and shared heartbreak. In her rave Hollywood Reporter review, Lovia Gyarkye called Arco “a considered meditation on ecological disaster within the dulcet grooves of a charming story about adolescent friendship.”

The top prize for the Contrechamp sidebar section went to Endless Cookie, a Canadian animated documentary from Seth and Pete Scriver, which premiered at Sundance. The lo-fi, often surreal feature explores Pete’s memories of growing up as a First Nations person from Shamattawa, Manitoba, touching on topics ranging from the legacy of residential schools and corporate land exploitation to systemic incarceration, interspersed with funny and surreal interludes.

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, an adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s novel, directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han, won Annecy’s audience award for best feature.

The Annecy film festival, which wrapped up with a gala awards ceremony Saturday night, has become a must-attend for the international animation industry, and a tastemaker for awards season. Last year’s two big winners: Competition Cristal winner Memoir of a Snail and audience award winner Flow, both scored Oscar nominations, with Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow winning the Academy Award for best animated feature.

The competition jury prize went to ChaO, from Japanese director Yasuhiro Aoki, which imagines a chaotic future Shanghai populated by hybrid beings and shifting power dynamics. The Paul Grimault Award went to Momoko Seto’s Dandelion’s Odyssey, which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, and follows a group of seeds as they journey across varied ecosystems, exploring the fragility and resilience of life.

The Square, from South Korean director Bo-Sol Kim, which blends political commentary with experimental animation in its story of a Swedish diplomat in Pyongyang who begins a clandestine affair with a local traffic officer, took the jury prize of the Contrechamps section.

The winners were announced at a gala ceremony in Annecy Saturday night.

See the full list of 2025 Annecy Festival award winners below.

FEATURE FILMS – COMPETITION

CRISTAL FOR A FEATURE FILM
Arco, dir. Ugo Bienvenu, France
JURY AWARD
ChaO, dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Japan
PAUL GRIMAULT AWARD
Dandelion’s Odyssey, dir. Momoko Seto, France/Belgium
GAN FOUNDATION AWARD FOR DISTRIBUTION
Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake, dir. Irene Iborra Rizo, Spain/France/Belgium/Chile/Switzerland
AUDIENCE AWARD
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, dir. Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, France

FEATURE FILMS – CONTRECHAMP

CONTRECHAMP GRAND PRIX
Endless Cookie, dir. Seth Scriver, Pete Scriver, Canada
CONTRECHAMP JURY AWARD
The Square, dir. Bo-Sol Kim, South Korea

SHORT FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A SHORT FILM
The Night Boots, dir. Pierre-Luc Granjon, France
JURY AWARD
Les Bêtes, dir. Michael Granberry, USA
ALEXEÏEFF–PARKER AWARD
Sappho, dir. Rosana Urbes, Brazil
OFF‑LIMITS AWARD
The Graffiti, dir. Ryo Orikasa, Japan
JEAN‑LUC XIBERRAS AWARD FOR A FIRST FILM
Zwermen, dir. Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger, Netherlands/Belgium
AUDIENCE AWARD
The Night Boots, dir. Pierre-Luc Granjon, France

TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A TV PRODUCTION
Christo The Civilized Barbarian: “Hunting Party”, dir. Shaddy Safadi, USA
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SERIES
Lena’s Farm: “Volles Nest”, dir. Elena Walf, Germany
JURY AWARD FOR A TV SPECIAL
An Almost Christmas Story, dir. David Lowery, USA
AUDIENCE AWARD
Freaked Out: “Major Decision”, dir. Théo Grosjean, Mothy Richard, Belgium/France

GRADUATION FILMS

CRISTAL FOR A GRADUATION FILM
Zootrope, dir. Léna Martinez, France
JURY AWARD
Between the Gaps, dir. Martin Bonnin, France
LOTTE REINIGER AWARD
Q, dir. Masataka Kihara, Japan

VR WORKS

CRISTAL FOR THE BEST VR WORK
Fragile Home

Special Prizes

FRANCE TV AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM
Pooya Afzali, for At Night

SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A SHORT FILM
Sebastian Hilli, for Dollhouse Elephant

SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A FEATURE FILM
Arnaud Toulon, for Arco

PABLO PICO DISTINCTION – SACEM AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IN A FEATURE FILM
Jean L’Appeau, for Death Does Not Exist

CANAL+ JUNIOR JURY AWARD
Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears, for Forevergreen

YOUNG AUDIENCE AWARD
Francis Desharnais, for The Great Annual Party of the Creatures of the Moon

ANDRÉ MARTIN AWARD FOR A FRENCH SHORT FILM
Pierre‑Luc Granjon, for The Night Boots

FESTIVALS CONNEXION AWARD FOR A VR WORK
Ondřej Moravec, Victoria Lopukhina, for Fragile Home

XPPEN AWARD FOR A GRADUATION FILM
Jiali Tan, Haoyuan Zhu, for Won’t Be Here

VIMEO STAFF PICK AWARD FOR A SHORT FILM IN THE OFFICIAL AND OFF‑LIMITS CATEGORIES
Michael Granberry, for Les Bêtes

CITY OF ANNECY AWARD
Justice Rutikara, for Ibuka, Justice

CITY OF ANNECY JURY SPECIAL DISTINCTION
Niko Radas, for Psychonauts

MIFA Pitch Awards

ALL CATEGORIES

CINEKID FOR PROFESSIONALS PRIZE
The Star‑Child

MIFA – BEST PERFORMANCE PRIZE
Crocodile Dance

MIFA – ANIMATION DU MONDE PRIZE
Sun Chaser

FEATURE FILMS

SACD PRIZE
Maryam & Varto

CICLIC PRIZE
Saima – Scenes from a Midlife Crisis

CRISTAL PUBLISHING PRIZE
The Northern Star

TITRAFILM PRIZE
The Last of the Pebbles

SHORT FILMS

SACD PRIZE
A Blue Monday

ARTE FRANCE PRIZE
Kateryna

CICLIC PRIZE
Haan

NEF ANIMATION PRIZE
Very Flexible Girl

FILMVÆRKSTED VIBORG PRIZE
Where Is My Espresso?

STUDIOS ALHAMBRA PRIZE
Escucha El Río

TV SERIES & SPECIALS

DISNEY TELEVISION ANIMATION PRIZE
Pouic and Pica

PRIX CICLIC
Brune

TITRAFILM PRIZE
Beasties

STUDIOS ALHAMBRA PRIZE
The Star‑Child

DOCUMENTARIES

EURODOC PRIZE
Ouch!

DOK LEIPZIG PRIZE
Black Diaries

TITRAFILM PRIZE
Erased

CRISTAL PUBLISHING PRIZE
Ouch!

BIPTV PRIZE
Playing House

CICLIC PRIZE
Red Zone

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES

WEIRD MARKET PRIZE
Damned

THE BOOSTER BY UNITED XR EUROPE PRIZE
Poems of Life

NEWIMAGES PRIZE
The Mother Tree

ANIDOX XR RESIDENCY PRIZE
DeMaré – A Sensory Journey to the Depths of the Ocean