Memoir Of A Snail

Source: Annecy International Animation Film Festival

‘Memoir Of A Snail’

Adam Elliot’s stop-motion animation Memoir Of A Snail has won the Cristal for best film at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The Australian film was selected from 12 titles in the main Competition. Elliot’s second feature Memoir follows Grace, a lonely misfit who hoards snails and who strikes up an enduring friendship with Pinky, an eccentric elderly woman. 

Anton and Charades co-represent sales on the film, and secured multiple key deals shortly prior to the festival opening including Benelux, Spain and Scandinavian territories.

Memoir had its world premiere in Annecy on Monday, June 10, and will open Australia’s Melbourne International Film Festival in August.

Gints Zilbalodis’ Latvian-Belgian-French feature Flow won four prizes: the Competition jury award, the feature film audience award, the best original music award for Zilbalodis and Rihards Zalupe, and the distribution award for UFO Distribution.

Charades is also selling Flow, with the two winners among six features the French sales firm had at the festival.

The film follows a solitary cat that must team up with various species after its home is devastated by a flood.

Shinnosuke Yakuwa’s Japanese title Totto-Chan: The Little Girl At The Window took the Paul Grimault award.

In the Contrechamp section, Isabel Herguera’s Sultana’s Dream won the Grand Prix, with Kristina Dufkova’s Living Large taking the jury award.

The festival presented 32 awards in total, across its feature, short, TV and VR sections.

It also confirmed its record attendance for 2024 at 17,400 accreditations – a substantial 10% increase on 2023’s 15,820. 103 countries were represented among the accredited guests.

“This year’s record participation underlines the vitality of the sector, in a constantly evolving sector,” said Mickael Marin, festival CEO.