The Seville European Film Festival is taking a step towards mainstreaming animation, integrating animated titles into its entire lineup rather than separating them as single films. The strategy highlights broader changes in Europe. Animation is increasingly accepted as a medium rather than a genre, and is becoming less limited to children and families.
Among the special features, Sylvain Chomet’s L’Amour, the only animated feature in the official selection, offers a biographical portrait of French playwright and director Marcel Pagnol. Written and directed by Chomet, the film blends hand-drawn visual richness with narrative reflection, as Pagnol reminisces about his childhood in Provence, early love affairs, and his introduction to film. Produced by What the Prod, Mediawan and partners, it will have a special screening in Seville as part of Pagnol’s 130th anniversary celebrations.
Among the films selected by the European Film Academy, Mairis Valade and Lian Cho Hung’s Little Amelie, or the Character of the Rain, adapts Amelie Nortonb’s childhood memoir The Metaphysics of the Tube into a hand-drawn meditation on early consciousness. The film is seen through the perceptions of a young child living in Japan and his bond with his caregivers, and unfolds as a series of images that map the birth of the world. Produced by Ikki Films and Maybe Movies, the title arrives in Seville after winning audience awards in Annecy and San Sebastian.
Also included in the lineup is director Michel Gondry’s “Maya, Give Me a Title,” which was developed over a five-year period based on the long-distance game between Michel Gondry and his daughter. To stay connected while living in different countries, Gondry had Maya come up with titles for his films, animated them using his trademark paper-cutting and collage techniques, and always cast her in the lead role. Throughout the film, Maya is a playful catalog of imaginary adventures formed through father-daughter interactions, including surviving an earthquake, becoming a mermaid, and even avoiding a tomato sauce catastrophe. Produced by Partisan Film and voiced by Maya Gondry and Blanche Gardin, this stop-motion production traces creativity as an act of connection.
Together, these films demonstrate a field that thrives on diversity in scale and method, from hand-drawn introspections to studio-backed folklore epics, and a festival that champions it and adapts accordingly.
Variety presents the remaining animated titles (of which there are quite a few) below.
“To the Woods” (Sakuru Bleu Productions, France)
Agnès Patron’s short story, co-written with Johanna Kroczyk, depicts a sister remembering her deceased brother through hand-drawn, shifting chiaroscuro. The film’s story emerged during the 2020 lockdown when the director took a new look at the bond between two young children and began thinking about sibling relationships in his own family. While writing with co-author Johanna Kroczyk, she realized that the core of her feelings traced back to her grandmother’s deep love for her brother, who died young. That connection has remained with her throughout her life, tied to the bittersweet changes from the wonders of childhood to adulthood. A meditation on the persistence of memory, the film relies on rhythm, contrast, and gesture rather than dialogue.
Dandelion’s Odyssey (Planètes) (Miyu Productions, Ecce Films, France, Belgium)
Momoko Seto’s poetic story follows four dandelion seeds that are launched into space after Earth’s destruction. “‘Dandelion Odyssey’ connects with our ecological consciousness around the world,” said Nicholas Eschbach, co-founder of Indie Sales. “With its unique worldview and captivating storytelling, we follow four dandelion species as they unfold an extraordinary story of survival and perseverance,” he continued. Fipresci and Annecy’s award-winning feature zooms in on the small living elements of our world and gives them a story. Oscar winner Nicholas Becker composed the music for this wordless film. This is Seto’s feature debut.
“The horizon from the tip of your nose” (independently produced, France)
Etienne Bonnet turns his severe childhood myopia into a visual reflection on perception and intimacy. The film is drawn and composed with varying degrees of blur, grain, and focus distortion to trace how vision shapes emotional attachments. The independently produced work exemplifies the festival’s focus on animation as an accessible tool for personal essay films.
“Fish River Anthology” (Aalto University Faculty of Arts, Seiza Films)
Veera Raminpaa’s stop-motion short film, set in a closed fish store, is set in soft music and existential humour. Featuring Finnish actors Mari Rantašila and Mika Lett, the film combines everyday consumption spaces with philosophical and comic undercurrents. Distributed by Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg, the film demonstrates the continued strength of Scandinavian animation in its hybrid tonal register.
“Le Jardin Rossini” (Gobelins, France)
Hervé Rossini communicates through the surreal gardens he cultivated, and on the night of his final exhibition, his private world becomes the setting for questions of heritage and memory. Co-directed by seven animation filmmakers from Gobelins, it evokes the inner landscape of the artist at the starting point in short layers of shifting visual styles. This film, voiced by Bernard Métraud and Mathilde Rams, reflects what we leave behind and how others reinterpret it.
“The Secret of the Chicken Rabbit and the Groundhog” (nWave Studios, Octopolis — Belgium/France/USA)
In this sequel to The Chicken Rabbit and the Dark Hamster, half-chicken, half-rabbit adventurer Hopper sets out to find a legendary marmot that is said to have the ability to rewind time. That power could save endangered species. Directed by Benjamin Muske and based on the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel by Chris Grine, the film combines character comedy, action set pieces, and a vibrant visual world. The film, which premiered at Annecy, continues nWave’s family-friendly animation philosophy.
“Le Secret des mésanges” (Folimage, Les Armateurs, Lunanime, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Will Production, JPL Films, Dragons Films, Pictanovo, Folimage anime, TNZPV, France, Belgium)
Nine-year-old Lucy, vacationing in her mother’s village, leads an investigation into a hidden chapter of her family’s history, with the help of her new friend Jan and a group of energetic blue tits. Directed by Antoine Ranchaud, the film uses hand-crafted cut-out animation that reflects Lotte Reiniger’s heritage and the poetic silhouettes of France. Created by Formage and Les Armaturs, the film offers a gentle rural adventure about curiosity, memory and a family story.
“The Bird From Within” (University of Porto Católica – Escola das Artes, Portugal)
Directed by Laura Anaholy and co-written with Ana Anaholy and Guilherme Mateus, this 2D and mixed media short depicts a woman struggling with her inner bird, a metaphor for inner conflict and self-regulation. Quietly paced and textured, the film expands on Portugal’s recent tradition of psychologically sensitive animated shorts.
“Eil” (Cartoon Saloon, HerStory, Ireland)
Directed by Giovanna Ferrari, this Iron Age mythical adventure tells the story of a young girl who journeys underground to restore her community’s water source, which has been stolen by magic. Featuring the voice work of Coco Teehan Roche, the film reflects BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning studio Cartoon Saloon’s interest in cultural folklore and environmental stewardship. Sold by Gkids in North America.
“Gilbert” (Agencia Freak, Spain)
Directed by Arturo Racal, Alex Sarru, and Jordi Jimenez, this short story tells the story of Gilbert, who delivers packages in a gondola across a small archipelago, and Sullivan, a trumpeter who lives next door. Their daily routine changes when Gilbert keeps a package addressed to Sullivan. Combining traditional 2D, cutout animation, and multiplane stop-motion techniques, the film foregrounds slowness, subtle humor, and low-key emotional stakes with its companions. It was screened widely at festivals and was shortlisted for the 2026 Goya Prize.
“Murmuration” (Spotted Bird, Beast Animation, Murmur Animation, Belgium, Netherlands)
Centering around a man who gradually transforms into a bird in a care home, this short story uses painterly transformation and slow metamorphosis to evoke a sense of community, aging, and belonging. It packs enough charm into a Cronenberg-style plot. The film is produced by Spotted Bird and co-directed by Janneke Swinkels and Tim Frijsinger.
“Le Cantique des Moutons” (Supinfocom Rubika, France)
When the shepherd wakes up, he finds the wine barrel empty and a sheep named Hervé talking to him. This short story uses stylized 3D and deadpan timing to explore the everyday, the frustrating, and the subtle absurdity. Some sheep smoke. The eight-minute short featured eight directors and was nominated for a Student Academy Award.
“Autokar” (Ozù Productions, Amopix, Vivi Film & Novanima, Poland, Belgium)
Berlinale winner Sylvia Schkiudu’s short story follows an eight-year-old boy who travels alone on a cross-border bus route in the 1990s, depicting the memory of migration through the shifting spaces of a child’s imagination. The soft line drawings and observational narrative pacing allow the viewer to understand the displacement that results from the loss of the pencil.
“My Brother, My Brother” (Donewar Brothers, Milkman Films, France, Germany, Egypt)
From the dual perspectives of identical twins, it details their shared childhood and eventual separation. This short uses split-frame structure and layering to differentiate and overlap memory traces, while simultaneously highlighting animation’s ability to express emotional states. Programmed in Seville in a work that explores family history. International co-production between France, Germany, and Egypt, produced by Donnewar Brothers and Milkman Film.
“One-Way Cycle” (Abano Productions, Puerto Nu, Sardinia em Rata, Spain, Portugal)
María recalls that in 1929 her mother, Adela, traveled from Asturias to Havana in search of sisters brought together by their childhood communal labor and childhood physical changes. Directed by Alicia Nuñez Puerto, this short story interweaves migration, past history, and menstruation, depicting lineage as something transmitted across oceans and generations. Animated by the Iberian team, it will be shown at Panorama Andalus, with support from Abano Productions and Sardinia Em Rata.
