“The Violinist” beat out major competition at Annecy, such as “In Waves,” “Viva Carmen” and “Iron Boy,” all already big hits at Cannes, to win on Saturday the biggest festival prize in animation: Annecy’s feature film Cristal.
A tale of two young violinist virtuosos in and after WWII Singapore, “The Violinist” certainly had its fans at Annecy, but most pundits thought the top feature prize would go to either “Iron Boy” or “Tangles,” both also being talked up as Awards season contenders.
Though an outsider, “The Violinist’s” victory seems particularly appropriate at an Annecy edition which not only packed the most powerful competition lineups in years and major studio announcements and unveils, led by Warner Bros. Animation, Netflix and Disney, but also underscored clearly major factors now galvanizing animation.
One is Asia and another co-production. Here “The Violinist” weighs in a Singapore’s first ever feature film in Annecy main competition which was made remarkably in co-production with Spain – another first – and Italy.
Produced by Singapore’s Robot Playground Media, Spain’s TV ON Producciones and Italy’s Altri Occhi, and directed by Singapore’s Ervin Han and Spanish Disney veteran Raúl García, “The Violinist” also suggests an anime influence in its rich painterly 2D (enhanced by 3D in key set scenes) as the embrace of anime by Hollywood and Europe proved one of the major industry narratives at this year’s Annecy.
