Among the films written and supported in residence that were released in 2024, below are works by artists who have won the Odyssée programme, coordinated by the ACCR since 2003, and who have benefited from a residency grant at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud.

- Hurikán (Last Films / MAUR film / Laïdak Films) is a humorous short film by Czech director Jan Saska, who enjoyed a residency at Fontevraud in 2018 with his screenwriter Václav Hašek. Unveiled at the Annecy Festival, the film won the coveted Audience Award! The film has been selected for all the major international festivals (including the prestigious American festivals SXSW and Sundance) and has already won, among others, two new Audience Awards, including the one at the Premiers Plans Festival in 2025.

- It Shouldn't Rain Tomorrow (AIM / Wait a Second!) by Maria Trigo Teixeira is the fourth short film written in residence to have its premiere at the Annecy Festival. The director was welcomed in Fontevraud in 2021. The film received several awards and honourable mentions at festivals; in particular, it won the Best First Film award at the Primanima Festival in Hungary.

- Sans voix (DOK Mobile) by Swiss director Samuel Patthey, who was in residence at Fontevraud in 2020, is an autobiographical short film about clubbing. The film premiered at the Locarno Festival this summer, where it won two awards (Best Short Film and Junior Jury Award, for the Swiss competition). Three other prizes were awarded to it at the end of the year, including the Best Swiss Film Prize at the Fantoche Festival and the Best Animation Prize at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma.

- Nothing We Say Can Change What We've Been Through (Sprüzzli) by Francesca de Bassa is a short experimental film in mixed media about anxiety and the difficulty of communicating. Francesca was in residence in 2020. The film won four awards and commendations during the year, including best film (in the very short film category) at the Cambridge Short Film Festival.

- Shadows (Piano Sano Films / Shaghab films) is an animated documentary by Jordanian director Rand Beiruty. She benefited from a writing residency at Fontevraud in 2021, with Polish director Marta Magnuska (artistic director and lead animator on the project). It premiered at the Venice Biennale last September and has since won the Best Animated Film Award at the Leeds Festival and the Jury Prize for a short film at the Carcassonne Political Film Festival.

- Something Divine (Novanima / Amopix / Safeframe) is an intimate animated documentary about a love story shattered by war. Co-directed by Mélody Boulissière and Bogdan Stamatin, who both came to write their film in residence at Fontevraud Abbey in 2018, the short film was released at the end of 2024. It has already been selected for around twenty festivals and has received several awards, including the First Film Award at the Paris International Animated Film Festival (PIAFF) and a Special Mention at the largest international documentary film festival (IDFA in Amsterdam). > To watch a video making-of of the film

In 2024, the residents' films released last year also continued their life at festivals; among them, three multi-award-winning films achieved impressive track records: The Family Portrait by Lea Vidaković (over 25 awards), Nun or never by Heta Jäälinoja (around 40 awards already) and Beautiful Men by Nicolas Keppens (around 30 awards and an Oscar nomination!).

The year 2025 promises to be at least as rich in discoveries. In particular, we are awaiting the imminent release of the films Seul comme un chien by Marta Reis Andrade, Keko et Kiki by Mauro Carraro, Birds of Paradise by Tomek Ducki, La petite reine blanche by Théo Hanosset and Mathieu Georis.

Article from the NEF Animation website, to be consulted in full here (FR).