Singapore's 'The Violinist' wins top Cristal at Annecy animation festival
Singapore's hand-drawn WWII epic 'The Violinist' took the Cristal Award for best feature at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Saturday, a surprise victory over Cannes favorites like 'Iron Boy'.
Cristal for 'The Violinist'
The Violinist, directed by Ervin Han and Raul Garcia, is a historical drama tracing Singapore and Malaya from 1929 through the Japanese occupation of World War II. It follows two childhood friends, Kai and Fei, both virtuoso violinists, whose lives are torn apart by war. The film is produced as a Singapore-Spain-Italy co-production, marking the first Singaporean feature in Annecy's main competition in 15 years. Its hand-drawn 2D animation, enriched with 3D in key scenes, drew comparisons to anime and proved a highlight for the festival.
'Iron Boy' sweeps three awards
Louis Clichy's Iron Boy, a French drama about an 11-year-old boy in rural 1980s France battling a spinal condition that forces him to wear an iron corset, won the Jury Award, the Audience Award, and the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution. The film had premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard, where it won the Special Jury Prize and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Its warm reception at Annecy is expected to fuel awards-season talk.
Contrechamp and other prizes
In the Contrechamp sidebar, Blaise, a dramedy from French directors Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue about a shy 16-year-old and his dysfunctional family, received the Grand Prize. The film, expanding on a TV series, premiered in Cannes' ACID lineup. The Contrechamp Jury Award went to A New Dawn, an anime by Japan's Yoshitoshi Shinomiya that debuted in Berlin. Alberto Vázquez's Decorado, a Spanish fable about an unemployed mouse rebelling against a controlled city, won the Paul Grimault Award. In television categories, Rémi Durin's preschool show The Great Dreamscape won the Cristal, while Takopi's Original Sin and The Broos earned jury and audience honors.
A sombre tribute
The ceremony was held Saturday night in Annecy. Festival artistic director Marcel Jean paid tribute to Luis de la Rosa, a Mexican illustrator and animator who contributed to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Space Jam: A New Legacy. De la Rosa died in a train accident in Annecy on Wednesday evening, casting a shadow over the festivities.
