The 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival - the world's largest animation festival - became the most important institutional test case for AI work in traditional animation circles. The festival received many shorts submitted that were either entirely or partially made with AI tools, ultimately programming two in the Off-Limits sidebar (one student, one professional). German director Ulu Braun's "Gerhard" - by an established experimental filmmaker, not a tech demo creator - ran in Off-Limits and was widely covered.
Beyond the official selection, Annecy's MIFA marketplace hosted multiple panels on generative AI, from asset generation to real-time animation. Autodesk presented its AI tooling for animators. The festival declined to take a formal stance on generative AI: artistic director Mickaël Marin said Annecy would act as a "witness" to industry change, not arbiter of it, and Marin emphasised that "there can be no dogma" in the festival's approach.
The atmosphere, however, was charged. International animation unions held what was described as a "historic" anti-generative-AI protest during the festival, with statements that "GenAI seeks not to support artists, but to destroy them." The juxtaposition of in-program AI shorts, MIFA AI panels, and union protest defined Annecy 2025: the largest traditional animation festival in the world had to confront AI work in its main programme, the marketplace, and the picket line, all in the same week.
For studios, the takeaway is structural: AI animation work can now place at the top traditional festival in the discipline, but the labour politics around it are far from settled.