The short film Hatker, directed by Alejandro Ariel Martín, will be the only Argentine representative in the Official Competition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which will take place in France from June 8 to 14. The film will compete alongside productions from around the world in one of the most prestigious events in animated cinema.
Written by Martín himself along with Florencia Pilotti, Hatker is a creation of the Epirenov studio and offers a haunting metaphor on the world of work: in a dimly lit office, a group of workers hang from the ceiling by their hats. Alienated and trembling, they seem unaware of their strange condition—until the ringing of a telephone signals the disappearance of each of them, one by one. Only Hatker dares to resist, triggering a radical transformation.
Argentina’s presence at the festival is rounded out in the Perspectives section, where El circo de los payasos bigotones was selected. Directed and written by Ana Comes, Tomás Alzogaray Vanella, and Paz Bloj, the short is set in a Latin American country and adopts the tone of a children’s tale to recount a series of macabre events that take place in a circus—blending horror elements with social critique through a highly original lens.
The 2025 edition of Annecy will feature 182 works in competition from 54 countries. According to official data, 45% of the selected titles are directed by women. “This edition is a rich mix of debut films and fresh voices, along with established filmmakers, several of whom are returning award-winners,” noted Marcel Jean, the festival’s artistic director.
Competencia Oficial
Allah Is Not Obliged – Dir. Zaven Najjar
A Magnificent Life – Dir. Sylvain Chomet
Arco – Dir. Ugo Bienvenu
ChaO – Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki
Dandelion’s Odyssey – Dir. Momoko Seto
Death Does Not Exist – Dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière
Into the Mortal World – Dir. Zhong Ding
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – Dir. Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
Olivia y el terremoto invisible – Dir. Irene Iborra
The Last Blossom – Dir Baku Kinoshita
Competencia Contrechamp
Balentes – Dir. Giovanni Columbu
Endless Cookie – Dir. Seth y Peter Scriver
La gran historia de la filosofía occidental – Dir. Aria Covamonas
Jinsei – Dir. Ryuya Suzuki
Lesbian Space Princess – Dir. Emma Hough Hobbs y Leela Varghese
Memory Hotel – Dir. Heinrich Sabl
Nimuendajú – Dir. Tania Cristina Anaya
Olivia & las nubes – Dir. Tomás Pichardo Espaillat
Space Cadet – Dir. Kid Koala
The Square – Dir. Bo-Sol Kim
Tales from the Magic Garden – Dir. David Sukup, Patrik Pass, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec
Competencia Oficial de Cortometrajes
9 Million Colors – Dir. Bára Anna Stejskalová
At Night – Dir. Pooya Afzali
Atomik Tour – Dir. Bruno Collet
Bread Will Walk – Dir. Alex Boya
Carcassonne-Acapulco – Dir. Marjorie Caup, Olivier Heraud
Dog Ear – Dir. Peter Vacz
Dollhouse Elephant – Dir. Jenny Jokela
Fusion – Dir. Richard Reeves
Hairy Legs – Dir. Andrea Dorfman
Hatjer – Dir. Alejandro Ariel Martin
Il Burattino et la Balena (The Puppet & the Whale) – Dir. Roberto Catani
La vie avec un idiot (Life with an Idiot) – Dir. Theodore Ushev, Alexandra Ushev
Les Bêtes (The Beasts) – Dir. Michael Granberry
Luna Rossa (Red Moon) – Dir. Priit Pärn, Olga Pärn
Murmuration – Dir. Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger
My Brother, My Brother – Dir. Abdelrahman Dnewar, Saad Dnewar
My Wonderful Life – Dir. Calleen Koh
Ordinary Life – Dir. Yuriko Mizushiri
Ovary-Acting – Dir. Ida Melum
Praying Mantis – Dir. Joe Hsieh
Sappho – Dir. Rosana Urbes
Shadows – Dir. Rand Beiruty
Shocking Dreams in the Circus – Dir. Xun Sun
Signal – Dir. Emma Carré, Mathilde Parquet
Sisowath Quay – Dir. Stephanie Lansaque, François Leroy
Star Wars: Visions “Black.” – Dir. Shinya Ohira (Japón)
Sulaimani – Dir. Vinnie Ann Bose
Tapeworm Alexis & the Opera Diva – Dir. Thaïs Odermatt (Suiza)
Thank you, Doctor Farsi – Dir. Samaneh Shojaei
The Exploding Girl – Dir. Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
The Girl Who Cried Pearls – Dir. Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski
The Gnawer of Rocks – Dir. Louise Flaherty (Canadá)
The Magician – Dir. Bogdan Muresanu (Croactia, Francia, Romania)
The Night Boots – Dir. Pierre Luc Granjon (Francia)
The Pool or Death of a Goldfish – Dir. Daria Kopiec (Polonia)
Midnight Specials (Proyecciones de Medianoche)
All You Need Is Kill – Dir. Kenichiro Akimoto
Another World – Dir. Kai Chung and Tommy Ng
Heart of Darkness – Dir. Rogerio Nunes
Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage – Dir. Kenji Nakamura and Kiyotaka Suzuki
Nightmare Bugs – Dir. Saku Sakamoto y Osamu Fukutani
Works in Progress (Proyectos en Desarrollo)
Carmen – Dir. Sébastien Laudenbach
The Cat in the Hat – Dir. Erica Rivinoja y Alessandro Carloni
Daisy’s Life – Dir. Masaaki Yuasa
The Devil’s Vein – Dir. Germán Acuña
Fairyheart – Dir. Anita Doron
Fallen – Dir. Louis Clichy
Heirloom – Dir. Upamanyu Bhattacharyya
In Waves – Dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen
Lucy Lost – Dir. Olivier Clert
The Mourning Children: Nagiko and the Girls Wearing Tsurubami Black – Dir. Sunao Katabuchi
The Violinist – Dir. Ervin Han y Raul Garcia
Zsazsa Zaturnnah – Dir. Avid Liongoren
Series
Bitches – Dir. Marion Tacconi
Get Jiro – Dir. Rick Morales
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch – Dir. Guillaume Dousse y Félicien Colmet Daâge
Women Wearing Shoulder Pads – Dir. Gonzalo Cordova, Rodolfo Ambriz, Arturo Ambriz, Ana Coronilla, Fernanda G. Manzur, Irene Melis, Beto Petiches, Marta Hernaiz Pidal
