CATDOLL: Theatrical animations "The Murder Case of Hana and Alice" and "100 Days of Red" were selected for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival

The long-form animated film "The Hana to Alice Murder Case" directed by the famous director Shunji Iwai and released in Japan on February 20 this year has been nominated for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival's Feature Animation Award. Also nominated is the animated film "100 Days Red" directed by Keiichi Hara.

Annecy is the world's largest and oldest animation film festival, where animation works and industry professionals from all over the world gather. It is scheduled to be held from June 15 to 20, 2015. "The Case of Hana and Alice" will compete with entries from all over the world. The awards of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival are composed of five categories: short film award, student work award, television award, commissioned work award and feature film award. In addition to the feature film award, the four awards other than the feature film award have been announced in early April. Among them, the short film award was won by five works including "Naples Night" directed by Japanese director Yusuke Sakamoto, and the feature film award was announced later. In the past, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival paid more attention to the short film award, while the status of the feature film award has gradually increased in recent years. Now, the competition for the feature film award has become the highlight of the film festival.

Japan is a frequent visitor to the festival, with many winning works, such as the Special Jury Prize for "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" directed by Mamoru Hosoda in 2007, the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award for "Colorful" directed by Keiichi Hara in 2011, and the Special Jury Prize for "Giovanni's Island" directed by Mizuho Nishikubo in 2014. Although Japan has won numerous awards, it has not won the highest award since "Pom Poko" directed by Isao Takahata in 1995, so this year's entries are highly anticipated.