Two animated projects from The Philippines will be pitched at this year's Annecy Online Film Festival. These projects will both screen under the Annecy festival's Animation du Monde program. Oyayi, an animated feature film directed by Mitzi Delima will be among 10 projects from around the world pitched on June 18 under the Animation du Monde MIFA Pitches program. The film tells the story of a young outcast who heads to her mother's tribe looking for answers for why she was abandoned. Along the way, she discovers that Christians are forbidden in those parts.

Meanwhile, Papa Jorge’s Bedtime Radio Confessions, a Philippine animated series for adults co-produced by Rocketsheep Studio and Twenty Manila will be among five project pitches screened at this year’s Focus on South East Asia @ MIFA 2020. The program will screen online on June 15 as part of the Annecy 2020 Online Film Festival and it’s Animation du Monde program. Focus on South East Asia @ MIFA 2020 will showcase the outcome of Animation du Monde’s call for animated works that selected various projects from Southeast Asia. These selected projects were then provided mentorship and guidance throughout the production process. 

Papa Jorge’s is a tv series follow up to the 2019 adult animated film Hayop Ka! The animated film featured voice acting from stars such as Robin Padilla, Sam Milby, Angelica Panganiban, Arci Munoz, and Empoy Marquez. Like it’s film predecessor, Papa Jorge’s is an animated film about a collection of anthropomorphic characters. For this planned tv series, the narrative will focus on Papa Jorge’s radio show which will feature various callers throughout its different episodes. The show will feature characters in Hayop Ka! including the film’s protagonist Nimfa Dimaano.

Apart from Papa Jorge’s, Focus on South East Asia @ MIFA 2020 will also feature pitches from the animated films Abbu’s Best Curry in the World (Malaysia), Home (Indonesia) and the animated series Salad Bunnies (Malaysia) and Sherlock Sam and the Supper Club (Singapore).

This year’s Annecy Online Film Festival will kick-off on June 15th and run to June 30th. The project pitches for Focus on South East Asia @ MIFA 2020 will screen at the festival kick-off date under the “Animation du Monde” program founded by Annecy and MIFA. Under Animation du Monde, writers, animators, or filmmakers from around the world can submit their projects to the program, through which they gain the possibility of acquiring funding, co-production deals, or work collaborations and reach a global platform through the Annecy Film Festival. 

Animation du Monde focuses on countries where animation is still newly emerging under limited production capabilities. Filmmakers are encouraged to produce animated works that reflect their homes as part of Animation du Monde’s aim to promote “animation without borders.”

MIFA pitches is part of the Annecy Film Festival where filmmakers can showcase their original animated films currently in development. This year, the program collaborated with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the French Embassy in Singapore during the project selection and mentorship process. The organization previously collaborated with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) for 2019’s edition of FOCUS on Southeast Asia. Under this collaboration, FDCP and MIFA brought Animation du Monde to Manila from February 18 to 22, 2019. 

Cover photo from Annecy Film Festival Website