Black Box Selected for the Annecy Official Competition 2026

DOVRE, March 25, 2026 – There are moments in this work that catch you off guard. You send a film out into the world, you wait – and then, quietly, something extraordinary happens.

Black Box has been selected for the Official Short Films Competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, taking place from 21st to 27th June 2026.

I have been part of many festival journeys over the years. But this one feels a bit different.

What Annecy Means

Annecy is not just a festival. For those who work in animation, it is the festival – the place where the art form is celebrated at its highest level, where filmmakers from every corner of the world gather to share their most personal and daring work. To have Black Box selected for the Official Competition is a recognition that goes beyond any single award. It is an invitation to be part of a conversation that matters.

For a film as quiet and contemplative as Black Box – a non-verbal, monochrome meditation on memory, loss, and the passage of time – this feels exactly right. Annecy has always had room for films that ask something of their audience. Films that don't rush. Films that sit with you long after the lights come on.

A Film That Deserves to Be Seen

Black Box is directed by Anton Dyakov, the Russian-born animator who received an Oscar nomination for BoxBallet (2020) and won the Youth Award at Annecy itself for Vivat, Musketeers! (2017). Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Anton has faced enormous personal and professional challenges. His anti-war stance has led to censorship and rejection from Russian state funding bodies – and yet he continues to make films of extraordinary humanity and craft.

Black Box is one of them. The film follows an elderly photographer as he studies old photographs, trying to reconnect the broken thread of memory with the people they depict. It is not a story about his life. It is a quiet requiem for those who came before – and a reflection on how we carry, and inevitably lose, the people we love.

The film was begun in Russia but completed across borders: Anton working from his place of exile in France, in close collaboration with Trollfilm here in Dovre. It is a small team, as the credits confirm: Anton Dyakov as director, production designer and animator, animation also by Elizaveta Kharchenko, music, and sound design by composer Alexey Gallyamov, and produced by Claus Gladyszak for Trollfilm – his first production with us, and what a nice way to begin.

Looking Ahead

We have already booked our hotel and are counting down the days. Annecy in June – with Black Box in the Official Competition – is something we will not take for granted for a single moment. We look forward to sharing this quiet film with audiences who may welcome a moment to pause – in a world that spins ever faster and worships the tyranny of the now.

The Black Box trailer can be viewed here. For more about the film, visit our In Production page.