FESTIVAL PATRON
An honorary distinction granted by IMAXINARIA to a living creator regarded as an essential reference in the world of animation. Through this recognition, the festival pays tribute to figures whose work stands out for its creativity, innovation and profound artistic influence, as well as for its prestige and international impact
In this edition, IMAXINARIA has the honour of inviting Sylvain Chomet as Festival Patron.
>> IMAXINARIA Program with Sylvain Chomet:
- Thursday, March 12 at 8:30 PM
Pre-screening presentation of LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE
- Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 PM
Animation Talk
- Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 PM
Pre-screening presentation of A Magnificent Life
Courtesy of Sylvain Chomet
Sylvain Chomet
A director, animator, screenwriter and author of an unmistakable filmography, Chomet is responsible for now-iconic works such as Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) and L’Illusionniste (2010). His instantly recognisable style combines extraordinary visual elegance with subtle humour and a melancholy that runs through all his stories, creating singular worlds inhabited by endearing characters, evocative music and a sophisticated animated craftsmanship.
Throughout his career, he has received top-tier international recognition. Les Triplettes de Belleville was nominated for two Academy Awards — Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song — and has become one of the most celebrated works of European animation. The film was also nominated for BAFTA Awards and won several César Awards, including Best Music. L’Illusionniste, meanwhile, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature and won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature, further reinforcing the director’s international prestige. In addition, his works have been selected at major festivals such as Cannes, Annecy and Toronto.
In recent years, Chomet has further expanded his artistic reach with high-profile projects. Among them is his memorable couch gag for The Simpsons, premiered in the episode “Diggs” (Season 25), which showcases his versatility and cultural influence, as well as the animated short created as the opening sequence of the film Joker: Folie à Deux (Todd Phillips, 2024). This piece, produced over ten months by a team of around fifteen professionals at Picture Box — the studio founded by Chomet himself — is conceived with a comic tone and a style inspired by classic Looney Tunes, reinforcing the dialogue between animation and large-scale contemporary cinema.
His contribution to contemporary animation is profound and far-reaching: Chomet represents the excellence of European auteur animation, combining traditional craftsmanship and modernity, humour and emotion, formal experimentation and thematic universality. His cinema has left a deep mark on the collective memory of audiences, becoming an essential reference for those seeking adult, poetic and sophisticated animated cinema.
IMAXINARIA thus celebrates his career and welcomes him as Festival Patron 2026, paying tribute to a trajectory that continues to enrich the path of animation worldwide.
Retrospective
La vieille dame et les pigeons
Sylvain Chomet | 23 min | UK | 1997 | +12
La vieille dame et les pigeons immediately consolidated Chomet’s international reputation. The film won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Short Film, the Genie Award for Best Animated Short, and the Annecy Festival Award in 1997, one of the most prestigious honours in world animation. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, expanding its international reach and confirming it as one of the most innovative, imaginative and influential works of European animation of the 1990s.
This medium-length film tells the story of a hungry police officer who, tired of surviving on meagre resources, observes how an old lady feeds a flock of pigeons every day with an abundant menu. Convinced that this could be his way out of hunger, he decides to disguise himself as a giant pigeon to join the feast. What follows is a visual satire full of black humour, social criticism and absurd situations, built with very little dialogue and an expressionist aesthetic that already anticipates Chomet’s auteur style. The short combines theatricality, cartoon rhythm and a gaze that is at once cruel and delicate on urban loneliness and the desire for survival.
Retrospective
Les Triplettes de Belleville
Sylvain Chomet | 80 min | France / Canada / Bélgium | 2003 | +12
Les Triplettes de Belleville became one of the great phenomena of contemporary European animation, achieving extraordinary critical and institutional impact. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (Belleville Rendez-vous) — and also received BAFTA nominations, including Best Film Not in the English Language. At the César Awards, it was nominated for Best Film and Best First Feature, winning Best Original Music, and gained wide attention on the indie circuit, with nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film also triumphed in the Francophone and Canadian context, winning the Genie Award for Best Picture, and was internationally recognised at the Satellite Awards, where it won Best Animated Feature.
This singular feature film tells the story of Madame Souza and her grandson Champion, a young cyclist preparing for the Tour de France. When Champion is kidnapped by the French mafia, Madame Souza and her faithful dog Bruno embark on an extravagant journey to the city of Belleville, where they are helped by the surprising Belleville Triplets, former music-hall stars. With handcrafted animation rich in detail, an expressionist aesthetic and humour that is as absurd as it is melancholic, Chomet builds a unique universe that combines cinephile homage, surrealism and exceptional visual talent.
Retrospective
Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol
Sylvain Chomet | 90 min | France / Bélgium | 2025 | +12
Recently premiered in France in October 2025, with a Spanish release scheduled for December of the same year, the film has begun its international journey with notable acclaim on the festival circuit. It was presented as a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival and has since been included in the programming of some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals. Highlights include its nomination for the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film at the 22nd Seville European Film Festival, as well as its selection at the Annecy Festival 2025, where it was nominated for the Crystal for Best Feature Film.
In 1955, Marcel Pagnol is a famous filmmaker. When Elle magazine asks him to write a text about his childhood, Marcel sees an opportunity to talk about his beginnings: writing. Realising that his memory is failing and affected by the limited success of his most recent works, Pagnol begins to doubt himself. Until the young Marcel — the child he once was — appears to him as if by magic. Together, they explore his past and relive his most cherished memories.