France Guest of Honor

This year, Mexico and France are celebrating the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and as part of the celebrations known as the Great Franco-Mexican Celebration, France will be the Country of Honor at the 15th edition of Pixelatl.

French animation is one of the oldest and most relevant in the world. Its origins date back to the late 19th century with Émile Reynaud, his "light pantomimes," his optical theater, and the first animated screenings before a live audience (two years before the Lumière brothers presented the cinematograph!), as well as what is considered the first animated film (Pauvre Pierrot, 1892), which was a sequence painted directly onto film.

Shortly afterward, using photosensitive film, Émile Cohl presented what some consider "the first animated drawing on paper" (Fantasmagorie, 1908), in which he experimented with lines that changed shape. Cohl also introduced animated inserts into a live-action film for the first time (Le Songe d’un garçon de café, 1910), animated using cut-out techniques, pioneered both stop motion and pixilation, and created the first animated series (La journée de Flambeau, 1916).

In 1919, Robert Lortac founded what is considered the first cartoon studio in Europe and also produced advertising animation, collaborating with prominent cartoonists and illustrators who also produced fiction. From then on, a succession of French artists and filmmakers developed and perfected techniques and created works that would become iconic, such as Paul Grimault (La Bergère et le Ramoneur, 1952, or its better-known second version, Le Roi et l'Oiseau, 1980); René Laloux (La Planète sauvage, 1973 and Les Maîtres du temps, 1982).

The importance of comics in the development of the French animation industry cannot be overlooked, with properties such as Tintin, Asterix, and Lucky Luke, which have received various adaptations over the years, or, more recently, the work of Michel Ocelot, who directed Kirikou et la Sorcière (1998) to great commercial success.

France is also a pioneer in recognizing animation as a medium of expression (rather than a "film genre"), as evidenced by the emergence of the world's most important and longest-running animation festival, held in Annecy since 1960.

Today, comics and animation are considered in France to be a cultural pillar and a means of preserving the language, with an ecosystem also driven by its schools, whose educational model makes them stand out as the best in the world and provides alternatives to a purely commercial model, allowing artists to develop their talent at a professional level.

And we are very proud of the relationship we have built with France over the years and that, on our 15th anniversary, France is our Country of Honor.

France at Pixelatl 2026

Some of the prominent members of the French delegation joining us this year include renowned director and screenwriter Jéremy Clapin (Oscar nominee, Semaine de la Critique winner at Cannes, and Audience Award winner at Annecy); Véronique Encrenaz, director of Annecy's MIFA; Jean-François Le Corre, founder of the animation studio Vivement Lundi!, which has produced films such as Yuku and the Himalayan Flower, (Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck, 2022).

Also joining us will be Nidia Santiago, producer at Ikki Films, with whom she developed Amélie and the Secret of the Rain (2025, Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang and Maïlys Vallade), an Oscar nominee, as well as Virus Tropical (2017, by Santiago Caicedo).

On the distribution and co-production side, we will be joined by Luce Grosjean, president and co-founder of Miyu Distribution, as well as two studios from the Angoulême region, Les Films du Poisson Rouge and Caribara Animation, looking to establish co-production opportunities.

In addition, this year we will have the presence and live coverage of Catsuka, the most important news site and animation platform in France.