Michel Gondry will be honored at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, the world’s premiere animation fest. The filmmaker behind “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Be Kind Rewind” will receive the Honorary Cristal “in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the vitality of animation.”
“Michel Gondry assumes the legacy of Georges Méliès as much as that of Norman McLaren,” the festival’s artistic delegate Michel Jean said in Wednesday’s announcement. “His boundless creativity and innovative approach have brought hand-crafted animation back into the mainstream, as brilliantly illustrated by ‘The Science of Sleep.’”
Gondry has a history with Annecy, but has never actually attended the festival.