The Annecy International Animation Festival has postponed outdoor screenings until Monday after Thursday’s knife attack at a playground near the lakeside screening venue in the French mountain resort town. However, the festival will open as planned on Sunday.
Six people, included four young children, were wounded in the attack, which was characterized as an isolated incident. The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian national with refugee status in Sweden, is in custody.
Festival head Mickaël Marin and his team said in a statement, “The people of Annecy, France, and farther afield, have all been shaken to the core by yesterday’s tragic events. It has now been established that this was an isolated act.
“In consultation with the authorities and as specified by Mayor François Astorg, the Festival will be opening on Sunday 11th June. However, as a gesture of support to the families and victims, the Festival management and team have decided to postpone the open-air screenings until Monday 12th June.
“The Festival screenings will reflect the values that they have always endorsed: sharing, solidarity and fraternity.”
French media reported that President Emmanuel Macron and his wife traveled to the area to visit the victims in the hospital.
The festival, which runs to June 17, is expected to draw some 14,000 filmmakers, distributors and animation aficionados from around the world.
A work in progress screening of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and a first look at Disney’s animated musical “Wish” are among the highlights on the program. “Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The Winds” is the opening film.