CG-animated family drama Flow (pictured, 85 minutes) dominated the prize scene at last week’s Annecy Festival, scoring a total of four wins—including the much-coveted Jury Award and Audience Award. 

Produced by Dream Well (Latvia), Sacrebleu Productions (France) and Take Five (Belgium), Flow revolves around a cat who escapes a great flood on a boat with several other animals. The buzzy film is slated to launch theatrically in France on October 30. 

Historical anime feature Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (114 minutes) from Japan’s Shin-Ei Animation took home the Paul Grimault Award, and the Cristal TV Award went to The Drifting Guitar, a half-hour special from JPL Films (France) and Nadasdy Film (Switzerland) featuring a hybrid animation style with puppets and cutouts. Komadoli Studio/Folimage/Momakin/Nadasdy Film co-pro Lola et le Piano à Bruits (26 minutes) earned the TV Special Jury Award, while the TV Series Jury Award went to the “Versailles Ghost” episode from Xilam’s My Life in Versailles.

Other kids & family winners included La Poudrière’s 2D-animated short Noodles au Naturel (CANAL+ Junior Jury Award); and comedy short Hello Summer (Young Audience Award), a co-pro from Vivement Lundi!, Stedio Bororo, Maur Films and Last Films. 

Bonnie Arnold, the veteran producer behind iconic kids franchises such as Toy Story and How to Train Your Dragon, was also honored with Annecy’s Golden Ticket. This lifetime achievement recognition was presented to Illumination founder Chris Meledandri in 2023.

A full list of this year’s Annecy Festival prize winners is available on the event’s official website.