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GKids, Annecy, Variety to Launch Yearly 'Animation is Film' Festival in Los Angeles

Animation distribution company GKIDS, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and entertainment trade magazine Variety announced in Annecy on Friday that they are working together to launch "Animation is Film," an annual animation film festival in Los Angeles.

The first festival will run from October 20-22 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theater in Hollywood. The event will host 20 programs, including feature films in competition, special presentations, retrospectives, and short film programs.

The three companies aim to "fill a gap in the US market by establishing a world class animation festival on par with the major events in Europe and Asia." The festival plans to "champion and support" women filmmakers, filmmakers from "a wide range of cultural, economic, and national backgrounds," and filmmakers who "use animation to pursue unique cinematic visions and who are unconstrained by conventional notions of what animation is capable of."

The festival hasn't yet announced any of the animated works that it will feature at the inaugural event.

GKIDS' website lists it as the current distributor for all full-length Studio Ghibli films except Tales from Earthsea. The company is also the distributor for anime films such as Ancien and the Magic Tablet, Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW, Patema Inverted, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, and Mai Mai Miracle, among others. The company is also the licensor for From Up On Poppy Hill, A Letter to Momo, and Miss Hokusai.

GKIDS' co-founder and CEO Eric Beckman also co-founded the yearly New York International Children's Film Festival event.

Established in 1960, Annecy is the world's oldest and largest animation film festival. This year, it runs from June 12-17 at the French community of the same name. This year's festival is celebrating 100 years of anime, and is also screening films such as A Silent Voice, In This Corner of the World, and Lu over the wall in competition.