Annecy Film Festival

the  Festival International du Film d'Animation d'Annecy (Annecy international Animation Film Festival) is an event held every year in the rural French town of Annecy.
The Festival is now a large scale event that encompasses all kinds of animation and pays respect to the most influential and creative animated films through a series of categories: Short Films, Feature Length Films, Films for Television/ Advertising, Student Films and Films made for the Internet.
When the festival first launched in 1960 it was an event that was held every two years, though since 1998 it has become an annual occurrence.

Short History

As I said the festival started in 1960, making last year its 50th Anniversary. The festival was actually born in 1956 when Pierre Barbin and the Annecy film club met and proposed a section for animated films to be places in the Cannes Film Festival. This idea didn't really suit the Cannes Film Festival, so instead a separate event was created to be held in Annecy to appreciate and award animations and their creators.
In 1960 the first ever film festival was held from June 7th to June 12th and the resounding success allowed the event to continue to happen and to grow to the huge event that it is today.

This is the poster that was used for the first ever Annecy Film Festival in 1960.
In comparison, this is the poster for last years 50th anniversary of the festival.