Five films made with the help of AI spark controversy at Annecy, the largest animated film festival in the world | Culture

Often, along with films, film festivals also present some controversy. And the one in Annecy, which this week celebrates the most notable of international animated cinema, was not going to be any less. Founded in 1960 by a small group of artists from the animated world, in just over six decades it has gone from being a niche of that technique seen by many as “for children” to becoming the largest animated film exhibition and the second largest film competition. most important in France, only behind Cannes. Until June 15, some 17,000 attendees from 104 countries are expected in Annecy, who will transform this small French town straight out of a fairy tale at the foot of the Alps into the world capital of designed films. A place where anything goes, where artists and technicians coexist and where art and industry go hand in hand. With permission from this year’s most talked-about guest: artificial intelligence.

The festival started on Sunday with the screening of the latest work by Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius in his first animated adventure, The Most Precious of Cargoes, and a tribute to the cursed filmmaker Terry Gilliam, who he said came to Annecy looking for inspiration among animators. Portugal is the guest country and the Spanish feature film Rock Bottom, by María Trenor, competes in the official section. Two other Spanish titles, The sultana’s dreamby Isabel Herguera, and black butterfliesby David Baute, do the same in the parallel Contrechamp section.

There is much more to this ever-changing festival that seeks to accommodate both new artistic and technical trends, independent and studio films. But the focus in this edition is on a handful of works, four short films and one feature film, accepted in programming despite, or perhaps because of, having content generated by artificial intelligence tools.

Since its announcement, the controversy was served and comments such as “shameful” or “thieves” responded angrily on the networks to the decision or its authors. “It is very sad to read so many messages full of hate from people who, apparently, have not taken the time to investigate the techniques that have been used,” Verena Repar, director of Echoes of Grief, one of the works selected in the student category and where, according to the author’s admission, just 50 seconds of the 19 minutes of footage of her work were generated using generative AI.

Who Said Death Is Beautiful?a zombie film by director Ryo Nakajima, and three shorts from the Off-Limits section (Data Flesh, from the Chilean Felipe Elgueta; Glass Houseby Boris Labbe, and The Great Tree Piece, by Claudia Larcher have taken the same stakes at a time when there is great concern about the impact of AI not only on the rights of authors but also on the future work of artists. According to a study published this year by the Animators Union in the United States, in 2026, 21.4% of jobs in animation, whether in film or television (approximately 118,500 jobs), will be affected by animation tools. Generative AI to the point that they could be replaced or eliminated. “We already know what is happening in the big studios with the layoffs and the reduction of staff in production,” reminds this newspaper the Spanish producer Xosé Zapata, Goya for best short film with The Monkey and behind the film Dragonkeeper. “But, from my point of view, the future will never be AI, but our people. What hope do we give them if we say that the future is a machine? “Stresses the producer, present in Annecy to talk about his next project with Salvador Simó, candy words.

In statements released by the festival, its artistic director, Marcel Jean, recalled that there are no rules that disqualify works for using images generated by AI, adding that, among the more than 3,400 proposals received in this edition, many more used these tools, but for the most part there was no “a vision” that made them worthy of being selected. “However, a minority embarked on a fertile path. Works that provoke questions that we must share with the public, with the industry, with the juries… Hence the selection of what we found most relevant, capable of stimulating or provoking debate,” he indicated in reference to the vilified works.

The filmmakers Carlos Fernández de Vigo and Lorena Ares, from the group Dr. Platypus & Ms. Wombat and head of the Professor Octopus AI Lab, could not agree more. “I have no doubt that there is a before and after of artificial intelligence. That is why the debate is necessary but based on knowledge. A positive discussion that should be held in the artistic space. Annecy is assuming its responsibility as a leader, as a great representative of what the animation industry is and its role internationally. Because a deeper reflection is required,” Fernández de Vigo tells this newspaper.

Both will pass through Annecy with different projects and presentations, including the panel that, under the title Emotional Films, It will show 14 models where, thanks to AI, movies and video games will react in real time to the user’s emotions. “It is such an overwhelming technological leap that the industry is taking a long time to have a debate based on knowledge, or wanting to understand what it does, what it does not do and where the artist’s will lies,” adds Fernández de Vigo, while Ares highlights the need for greater transparency in training and tools when talking about AI. Some of these tools, such as Midjourney or Dall-E, are under scrutiny for generating content without supposedly respecting copyright in their databases. That is the case of Stable Diffusion, used by the feature film Who Said Death Is Beautiful? and at the center of several complaints for violation of the copyright.

As José Luis Farias, director of Next Lab Animation, corroborates, the rules of the game are clear and are the non-infringement of intellectual property. “The problem with AI is that very superficial information is being given and to understand it well and have a critical voice you have to have fairly deep technical knowledge. Furthermore, we are only talking about generative AI, when there are many types of tools where no copyright is violated and are very useful in the production and development of animation, video games and other audiovisual arts,” adds the creator of Weird. Market, which this year has launched in collaboration with the market of this festival the XR&Games space, a new section with which Annecy seeks modernization by entering other fields of animation.

As Marcel Jean recalled, in 1982 the director Zbigniew Rybczyński raised blisters in Annecy when his short film Tango won the grand prize. Made with animated photographs with techniques of stop motion, was not considered animation. The work not only won the Oscar months later, but is currently considered one of the jewels of animated cinema. “I have not dedicated two years of hard manual work only to hear comments full of hate from so many voices without knowledge,” the author of Echoes of Grief on his Instagram account encouraging those who are interested to get to know his work before speaking.

_