A Journey into the Boundless World of Animation at the Ayvalık International Film Festival!

Organized by the Seyir Derneği in collaboration with the Ayvalık Municipality, the Ayvalık International Film Festival—taking place September 14–20—is dedicating a special section of this year’s program to animated cinema. The festival presents a curated selection that brings together pioneering films—which demonstrate that animation is not merely a narrative medium for children but encompasses a vast world in terms of form and theme—alongside works by the genre’s master filmmakers.

The animation section, consisting of six films, features productions from different eras and regions. The section brings together films spanning a wide spectrum, from hand-drawn animation to rotoscoping, and from enchanting watercolor atmospheres to cyberpunk aesthetics. Stories spanning from childhood to adulthood, post-war dystopias, biographical narratives, and films that reveal the complexity of human relationships set out to explore animation’s diverse narrative forms and expressive possibilities.

The selection includes Akira by Katsuhiro Ôtomo, In Waves directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, Iron Boy / Le Corset by Louis Clichy—which won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival—and We Are Aliens / Wareware wa uchûjin by Kohei Kadowaki, Sylvain Chomet’s new film A Magnificent Life / Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol, and Leah Nelson’s Tangles once again demonstrate that animation is not merely a technical medium but an unlimited cinematic language in emotional and narrative terms. In addition, Marjane Satrapi’s modern classic Persepolis—Satrapi passed away this year—will also be featured in the festival’s Anılarına section.

Director Louis Clichy—who worked as an animator on Pixar classics (Wall-E, Up) and won a César Award for Astérix: The Mansion of the Gods, which he co-directed with Alexandre Astier—invites audiences into the French countryside of the 1980s with his first solo feature film, Iron Boy / Le Corset, a deeply personal and touching coming-of-age story. The film centers on the life of 11-year-old Christophe, who, while trying to meet the expectations of his strict father on the family farm, suddenly begins experiencing fainting spells and is forced to wear an iron corset to stay upright. Focusing on the pains of Christophe’s transition from childhood to adolescence as he leaves farm life behind in pursuit of music and a new friendship, the film bears traces of Clichy’s own childhood memories.

Utilizing traditional drawing techniques—adorned with the organic glow of Chinese ink and watercolor rather than digital templates—and distinguished by its natural voice acting and original musical choices, Iron Boy was awarded the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered.

Adapted from AJ Dungo’s autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, the sensitive animated film Dalgalarda / In Waves—which explores love, loss, and the struggle to reclaim life—marks the feature film debut of Vietnamese-born director Phuong Mai Nguyen, who has received César and Oscar nominations for her short films. Focusing on the touching love story and grieving process of AJ, a shy high school student in Los Angeles, and Kristen, a surfing enthusiast, the film transforms the grieving process into a visual feast that celebrates the joy of life, friendship, and unwavering resilience rather than presenting it as a dark drama. Making its world premiere as the opening film of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival, In Waves blends the minimalist aesthetic of the graphic novel with the vibrant California light and colors inspired by the paintings of David Hockney.

Adapted from Sarah Leavitt’s world-renowned autobiographical graphic novel and making its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Tangles is directed by Leah Nelson. Nelson focuses her debut feature film on the life of Sarah, who is forced to leave her vibrant life in 1990s San Francisco and return to the conservative town she had fled from due to her mother’s advancing Alzheimer’s disease. Rather than delving into the mind of the Alzheimer’s patient, the film focuses on Sarah’s anxieties, memories, and emotions as she struggles to understand how to cope with her mother’s illness. It stands out for its voice cast featuring star names such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Abbi Jacobson, and Seth Rogen. Using improvisational voice performances to tackle a tragic subject with dark humor and deep compassion, the film captivates with its hand-drawn black-and-white aesthetic, occasional splashes of color that appear only during moments when Sarah’s emotions run high, and the poignant music composed by Dan Romer.

Japanese director Kohei Kadowaki’s first feature-length animated film, We Are Aliens / Wareware wa uchûjin, brings the distance between the innocence of childhood and the burdens of adulthood to the big screen with mesmerizing realism and emotional depth. Beginning with the quiet betrayal of an ordinary child in a small Japanese town, the story focuses on the compelling journey of two close friends, Gyotaro and Tsubasa, from their elementary school years into adulthood.

Through the fragile relationship of these two young men, whose paths diverge as they grow up, the film addresses universal themes—such as peer bullying, the complexity of human relationships, and the moral burdens one wishes to forget—with an impartial and sincere perspective. Utilizing the rotoscoping technique to naturally capture children’s small and “superfluous” movements in everyday life, the film stands out for its observational framing, which evokes the styles of Sylvain Chomet, Norman Rockwell, and Johannes Vermeer. We Are Aliens premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight section.

Sylvain Chomet, one of the most original and masterful directors in animated cinema, brings the unique world he created in films like The Triplets of Belleville and The Magician to the life of Marcel Pagnol, a legendary figure in French literature and cinema. The hand-drawn 2D animated film A Magnificent Life / Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, focuses on Marcel Pagnol—one of the greatest storytellers of French literature and cinema—as he confronts his own past, childhood, and the legendary figures who shaped his life while writing down his childhood memories. Bearing witness to the birth of sound cinema, the founding of France’s first film studios, and the creative struggles behind Pagnol’s timeless works, the film brings to the screen—through a warm, humorous, and original animated style—a great storyteller’s return to his own story. In this film, where scenes pre-shot with live actors serve as references for the animation, Chomet makes extensive use of dialogue for the first time, blending live-action footage and archival footage with animation. The film’s score is composed by world-renowned jazz and classical musician Stefano Bollani.

Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s 1988 dystopian animated masterpiece Akira—adapted from his own graphic novel—continues to retain its freshness as a cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre and one of world cinema’s cult classics. Set in Neo-Tokyo, which rose from the ashes of the Third World War in the year 2019, the film centers on the story of motorcycle gang leader Kaneda and his childhood friend Tetsuo, who unexpectedly develops mystical and telekinetic powers. Akira explores social chaos, the lust for power, and the dark frontiers of human evolution within a magnificent dystopian atmosphere. Its flawless visual craftsmanship—achieved through 24-frame-per-second animation, considered the pinnacle of traditional cel animation— Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s iconic music—a synthesis of traditional and industrial sounds—and its visual atmosphere, which has gone down in cinematic history, Akira transformed Japanese animation into a global phenomenon and, by profoundly influencing modern popular culture, became a timeless masterpiece. This timeless classic will be presented to audiences in a newly restored version to mark its 20th anniversary.