Three Animated Works From Egypt, Iran and Armenia Selected for Annecy 2026
Annecy, 21-27 June 2026 | Animated works from Egypt, Iran and Armenia joined the official Annecy 2026 programme, including two commissioned films and one short film competition title.
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Three animated works connected to Egypt, Iran and Armenia were selected for the official programme of the 50th Annecy International Animation Film Festival, held from 21 to 27 June 2026 in Annecy, France.
The selection included Detention’s Ripple Effect: Why Inhumanity Breeds Hatred by Egyptian filmmaker Ahmad Mohammad Nady and The Notebook by Iranian directors Aghil Hosseinian and Sogol Sanagoo in the Commissioned Films section.
Winter in March by Armenian-born filmmaker Natalia Mirzoyan was selected for the Short Films Official competition. Annecy listed the film as a co-production between Armenia, Belgium, Estonia and France.
Annecy is one of the major international festivals dedicated to animation. Its programme includes short films, features, television works, commissioned films, graduation films and immersive projects from across the world.
According to the official Annecy 2026 awards list, none of these three works received an award at this year’s festival. The Cristal for a Commissioned Film went to Unloved, while the Jury Award for a Commissioned Film went to Eco Beat.
Detention’s Ripple Effect: Why Inhumanity Breeds Hatred
Director: Ahmad Mohammad Nady
Country of production: Egypt
Section: Commissioned Films
Running time: 40 seconds
Detention’s Ripple Effect: Why Inhumanity Breeds Hatred is a short commissioned animation from Egypt, directed by Ahmad Mohammad Nady.
The film was created in connection with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Nady Studio. It reflects on detention, torture and captivity, using visual metaphors to show the pain of people held in prisons and places of occupation.
The film presents the subject through a broader human perspective. It looks at how cruelty and the loss of dignity can create anger, trauma and hatred that continue beyond prison walls.
Nady Studio described the film as a cinematic vision of the pain of torture in detention and captivity, built through symbols and visual metaphors. Its selection for Annecy placed the work within an international platform dedicated to animation.
Ahmad Mohammad Nady is an Egyptian animation filmmaker and artist based in Cairo. His work moves between animation direction, concept art, storyboard, character design and studio-based production. He has also been connected with Nady Studio, an Egyptian animation and art production studio.
The Notebook
Original title: Daftar yaddasht
Directors: Aghil Hosseinian, Sogol Sanagoo
Country of production: Iran
Section: Commissioned Films
Running time: 1 min 23 sec
Techniques: Animated objects, clay, puppets
The Notebook is an Iranian commissioned animation directed by Aghil Hosseinian and Sogol Sanagoo.
The film is the title sequence for a series of the same name. Using handmade miniatures and stop-motion, it hides small visual clues that are connected to the story.
These clues refer to the story of a retired detective with Alzheimer’s who is searching for the killer of his parents. As the mystery unfolds, the title sequence becomes part of the series’ visual storytelling.
Annecy lists the film under the category of educational, scientific or industrial films. Its production and distribution are credited to Hossein Akbari and Filmnet, with music by Behnam Rad. The script is credited to Sogol Sanagoo and Aghil Hosseinian.
Its selection places an Iranian stop-motion title sequence alongside international commissioned works, including advertising films, music videos, festival trailers and campaign works.
Winter in March
Director: Natalia Mirzoyan
Countries of production: Armenia, Belgium, Estonia, France
Year of production: 2025
Section: Short Films Official
Running time: 16 min 22 sec
Winter in March is a stop-motion animated short by Natalia Mirzoyan, an Armenian-born animation director and artist based in Estonia.
The film follows a young couple who wake up to news of war and repression. What begins as a quiet domestic moment slowly turns into a surreal nightmare, as images of violence, fear and collapse enter their home and push them toward escape.
The story is rooted in March 2022 and in the experience of people leaving Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Mirzoyan has described the film as an animadoc based on several hours of interviews with her friends Kirill and Dasha, both part of the St. Petersburg artistic and intellectual world.
The film combines documentary material with a handmade visual language. It uses puppets, fabric textures and cotton-like snow to build a visual world around fear, guilt, helplessness and displacement.
Winter in March also connects with Mirzoyan’s own life. Born in Yerevan to a Jewish-Armenian family, she later moved to St. Petersburg to study art and worked with Studio Peterburg. After returning to St. Petersburg in early 2022, she and her family were forced to leave Russia after the beginning of the war.
The film premiered in La Cinef at the Festival de Cannes in 2025, where it won the 3rd Prize ex aequo. It later received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Film and the Grand Prix at Feinaki Beijing Animation Week 2025.
Winter in March was also selected by Uppsala Short Film Festival as a candidate for the European Film Awards 2027 short film category. Its selection in Annecy’s official short film competition continued the film’s international festival run.
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