L'Illuminé, Animation Film Festival

With over 2,000 attendees welcomed during its last edition, L’Illuminé has established itself as an unmissable event for cinema enthusiasts, families, students, and industry professionals.
Over three days, the festival will offer screenings, premieres, meetings, workshops, an illustration market, school sessions, and professional appointments. The visual for this edition was created by Noémi Gruner, a director and illustrator from Montpellier.

A Guest of Honor

Sébastien Laudenbach, director of La Jeune Fille sans mains and Linda veut du poulet ! (Crystal for Best Feature at the Annecy Festival and César for Best Animated Film), will be present throughout the festival, which will celebrate his entire body of work. His latest feature film, Carmen, l’oiseau rebelle, will be screened as a premiere during the opening night. Cinéma Diagonal
He will also give a masterclass open to all about his journey and artistic universe. Centre Rabelais

A Common Thread: Adaptation and Illustration

This 6th edition will explore the connections between literature, comics, illustration, and animated cinema. Indeed, the programming will feature a significant number of animated films—both short and feature-length—derived from adaptations of literary or graphic works, leading to a natural collaboration with bookstores in Montpellier and its metropolitan area around this theme.

In this same spirit, L’Illuminé will host an illustrator market on Saturday, in collaboration with the Tamala collective. About ten artists will be present. Centre Rabelais
A roundtable entirely dedicated to this theme will take place during the professional day, in partnership with AFCA. ESMA

8 Premieres

8 premieres will be offered during the festival in 4 different venues.

• Opening of the festival with Carmen, l'oiseau rebelle by Sébastien Laudenbach as a premiere, in the presence of the director. Cinéma Diagonal

• Premiere of the film Blaise by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue, in the presence of the directors. Cinéma Diagonal

• Premiere of the film Un monde entre nous by Kohei Kadowaki as part of the Nuit Manganimé. Cinéma Utopia

• Young Audience premieres: La Rivière à l’envers by Paul Leluc, Julian et le grand carnaval by Louise Bagnall, New-York, Miriam et moi by Rémy Schaepman and Léahn Vivier-Chapas. Cinéma Nestor Burma

• Premiere of Méli-mélo by Leah Nelson. Cinéma Utopia

• Premiere of the short film 2h14 by Luciano Lepinay, produced by the Montpellier company Les Fées Spéciales and supported by the Montpellier Metropolis. Centre Rabelais

FOCUS ON SÉBASTIEN LAUDENBACH

Retrospective dedicated to the work of Sébastien Laudenbach (short and feature films), in the presence of the director throughout the festival. Centre Rabelais and Médiathèque Pierresvives
Masterclass on his journey and practice of animated cinema on Saturday. This meeting is organized by AFCA and moderated by its general delegate, Isabelle Vanini. Centre Rabelais

YOUNG AUDIENCE

A program entirely dedicated to young audiences and families for two days, starting from age 4, featuring workshops, meetings, and activities associated with screenings to introduce animated cinema and its techniques.

2 venues dedicated to this extensive program: Cinéma Nestor Burma with 5 screenings including 3 premieres (La Rivière à l’envers by Paul Leluc, Julian et le grand carnaval by Louise Bagnall, New-York, Miriam et moi by Rémy Schaepman and Léahn Vivier-Chapas as premieres, and Le Noël d’Ernest et Célestine by Aurélie Raphaël and Le Mystère de Lucy Lost by Olivier Clert) and Médiathèque Pierresvives, for the screening of Linda veut du poulet ! by Sébastien Laudenbach.

Workshops and activities for ages 4 to 14

• Each screening is associated with a workshop or activity. A “collective mural” workshop is planned following the screening of Linda veut du poulet ! at the Médiathèque Pierresvives with the Montpellier artist and illustrator Mélusine.

• At the Nestor Burma cinema, Le Noël d’Ernest et Célestine and La Rivière à l’envers will be paired with a cinema workshop,

• Julian et le grand carnaval will be followed by a cinema snack,

• Le Mystère de Lucy Lost by a cinema exchange,

• New-York, Miriam et moi by a meeting with the directors.

NUIT MANGANIMÉ

• A night dedicated to Asian animated cinema, from evening until dawn at Cinéma Utopia. A workshop in the manga universe will accompany this exceptional moment.

• A program mixing manga adaptations, must-sees of Japanese animation, and original works, including the premiere of Un monde entre nous by Kohei Kowadaki.

• Other screenings of the night include Peleliu: Guerre au paradis by Goro Kuji, Cowboy Bebop by Shin'ichirō Watanabe, Look Back by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, Blue Giant by Yuzuru Tachikawa.

• Get your best cosplays ready, brush up on your classics, and join us for a night filled with numerous activities: quizzes, music, mangas, and other prizes to win throughout the night. So, are you ready to stay up until dawn?

• A manga workshop (drawing and animation) for those over 15 will take place at E-Artsup School on Saturday afternoon. The workshop is led by Geoffroy Bernard (background artist on the successful manga series Dreamland by Reno Lemaire).

SHORT FILMS

• An expanded selection with three “panorama” programs of short films dedicated to the best of international production, featured in the biggest film festivals: the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Cannes Film Festival.

• A program dedicated to animated documentaries.

• A selection of student short films made by students from animation schools in the Occitanie region, with the presentation of the Student Short Film Award by students from the CAV option at Joliot-Curie High School in Sète for the third consecutive year.

CLOSING SESSION

The closing session will feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit by Robert Zemeckis, a classic. The session will be accompanied by quizzes and a contest with prizes to win, and the festival will conclude with an aperitif at Centre Rabelais.

Festival website

Find all practical information and plan your visit.