130 - André Martin Award 2026: A Sensory Explosion!
- Clément Martin
- Apr 23
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 24
The National Animation Film Festival came to a close after six days of a whirlwind of animated creations and encounters.
I was delighted, during the festival’s awards ceremony, to announce the winner of the André Martin Award for a feature film. The André Martin Award was established in 2015 by Francis Gavelle, CITIA, and the AFCA to recognize a French short film and a French feature film (or French co-production) released in 2025. This award holds special significance this year, as it coincides with the centenary of André Martin’s birth.
Eleven feature films were in competition this year, showcasing a diversity of themes, techniques, and accolades that reflect the vitality of French animation. We hope this vitality endures in these turbulent and financially challenging times:
Hola Frida ! by André Kadi and Karine Vézina
La vie en gros by Kristina Dufková
La mort n'existe pas by Félix Dufour-Laperrière
Falcon express de Christian Tassy and Benoît Daffis
Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes (Little Amélie or the Character of Rain ) by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
Le secret des mésanges by Antoine Lanciaux
Slocum by Jean-François Laguionie
Arco by Ugo Bienvenu
Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol by Sylvain Chomet
Maya, donne-moi un titre by Michel Gondry
La Vie de château, mon enfance à Versailles by Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat et Nathaniel H'Limi.
The award was presented to Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han, which had previously won the Audience Award at the most recent Annecy Festival.
The Jury
The 2026 jury was composed of French, Canadian, and Romanian professionals:
Apolline Caron-Ottavi: Editor and Programmer at Cinémathèque québécoise (Canada)
Christophe Chauville: Editor-in-Chief of Brefcinéma (France)
Nicolas Métayer: Co-Director of Le Vincennes cinema (France)
Mihai Mitrica: Director of Animest Festival (Romania)
Caroline Vié: Journalist and Film Critic at 20 Minutes (France)
They awarded an exceptional film—here’s why.
Credits
Directed by Maïlys VALLADE & Liane-Cho HAN
Written by Liane-Cho HAN, Aude PY, Maïlys VALLADE, Eddine NOËL
Graphic Design Eddine NOËL, Marietta REN, Liane-Cho HAN, Maïlys VALLADE, Rémi CHAYÉ, Marion ROUSSEL, Justine THIBAULT, Simon DUMONCEAU
Art Direction Eddine NOËL
Edited by Ludovic VERSACE
Original Music & Orchestration Mari FUKUHARA
Sound Kevin FEILDEL, Fanny BRICOTEAU
Line Producers Nidia SANTIAGO, Edwina LIARD, Claire LA COMBE, Henri MAGALON
Executive Producers Jean-Michel SPINER, Mireille SARRAZIN
Character Design Marion ROUSSEL, Maïlys VALLADE, Marietta REN
Background Design Eddine NOËL
Prop Design Camille LETOUZE, Marick QUEVEN
Storyboard Artists Lucrèce ANDREAE, Olivier CLERT, Chloé NICOLAY, Alice BISSONNET, Jonathan DJOB NKONDO, Nicolas PAWLOWSKI, David CANOVILLE, Éléa GOBBÉ- MÉVELLEC, Alexander PETRESKI, Merwan CHABANE, Liane-Cho HAN, Marietta REN, Rémi CHAYÉ, Ahmed NASRI, Maïlys VALLADE
1st Assistant Director Laetitia NURDIN
2nd Assistant Director Auriane LABOISSE
Layout & Posing Supervision Marion ROUSSEL, Hanne GALVEZ
Animation Direction Juliette LAURENT
Animation Drawing Direction Joanna LURIE
Background Layout Direction Eddine NOËL
Color & Background Direction Justine THIBAULT
Compositing Direction Tevy DUBRAY
Special Effects Direction Stéphane CHUNG
Lighting & Shadows Direction Pascal HERBRETEAU
Pipeline Direction Clément GENDRON, Fanou LEFEBVRE, Jérôme FROMEAUX
Production Management Diane MOSCET, Kelsey CHUNG, Xavier PARIAS, Sophie COUTAZ
Based on
"Amélie ou la métaphysique des tubes" by Amélie NOTHOMB (Éditions Albin Michel).
Production
A MAYBE MOVIES and IKKI FILMS production,in co-production with 2 MINUTES, FRANCE 3 CINÉMA, PUFFIN PICTURES, and 22D MUSIC.
With the support of: CNC (Centre National du Cinéma),CANAL+, ÎLE-DE-FRANCE REGION, RÉUNION REGION, NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE REGION, MAGELIS, CHARENTE DEPARTMENT, BRITTANY REGION, EUROPEAN UNION, CICLIC – CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE REGION (in partnership with the CNC),and the support of ALCA.
Residency & Funding
Benefited from a residency at CICLIC ANIMATION,with the support of ANGOA and PROCIREP,and the participation of FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS, ADN, and CINÉ+ OCS.Financially supported by PALATINE ÉTOILE 20, INDÉFILMS INITIATIVE 11, and SG IMAGE 2021.
Sales & Distribution
International Sales: GOODFELLAS ANIMATION
Theatrical Distribution: HAUT ET COURT
A Team of Friends
"Little Amélie or the Character of Rain" "(Amélie ou la métaphysique des tubes") is, above all, a film made by friends who have worked together for years. Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han first collaborated 14 years ago as storyboard artists on Mark Osborne’s The Little Prince (2015). Since then, they’ve worked closely with Rémi Chayé on films like Long Way North and Calamity. Rémi himself also contributed to the storyboard and layout of Amélie. Others, like Eddine Noël, are regular collaborators within this "artistic family"—a tight-knit group that keeps creating together.
An Ambitious Adaptation
Adapting a novel, especially a bestseller, is always a daunting task. Tackling an autobiographical novel about the early childhood of Amélie Nothomb, a prolific and singular writer as renowned as she is complex, is no small feat. The team not only had to make careful choices about which elements of the literary narrative to include but also had to craft a cohesive story, structured here by the rhythm of the seasons.
The Subject
The film explores the first three years of a Belgian expat girl’s life in Japan, from her birth to age three, including the pivotal moment at two and a half, when her language and perceptions burst forth in a flood of emotions. It delves into grief: the loss of loved ones, of places left behind, of life’s fleeting phases, all seen through the child’s eyes, her perceptions, and her raw emotions.
From her origins, where Amélie fancies herself God, to early childhood—with its discoveries, joys, frustrations, separations, and loves—the film strikes straight to the heart. It’s impossible not to feel Amélie’s emotions deeply, as the film powerfully evokes the formative experiences of our own childhoods, resonating with an almost visceral force.
The film is also a meticulous portrayal of late-1960s Japan, with precise research into its homes, furniture, objects, and natural landscapes.
A special focus is placed on Amélie’s relationship with her nanny, Nishio-San. Like all children, her bond with this adult figure creates lasting, indelible connections—deeply rooted in memory and identity. Yet this fusion is disrupted by a character haunted by the traumas of World War II and its deaths, which seep into the little girl’s relationship with the world.
The Art of Framing and Staging
The film delivers a purely cinematographic pleasure, with every shot’s composition serving the storytelling while maintaining the simplicity essential for an animated feature. The carefully constructed movement continuity draws us into an intimacy, a closeness that immerses us in Amélie’s world. We find ourselves living her life alongside her.
The film also masterfully captures a child’s-eye perspective. For instance, Amélie’s house was fully modeled in 3D—even though the film is 2D—to ensure accurate scales, angles, and perspectives, placing the child authentically within each frame.
In an interview for Issue 7 of Blink Blank (1), Liane-Cho Han discusses "Maïlys Vallade’s cinematic grammar", a signature style clearly evident in this film. This comes as no surprise when you look back at Vallade’s graduation film from Gobelins, created with five other students 17 years ago. The short already showcases their early fascination with framing, focal length, and staging, the very foundations of their visual storytelling.
You can watch the film, which won the Best Graduation Film award at Annecy in 2010, here:
Color and Light
To fully immerse us in Amélie’s world, the colors, constrained by the economic realities of feature-length animation, may lack the texture and vibrancy of more organic techniques. Yet they are so meticulously composed, precise, and symbolic that they burst into a luminous, colorful explosion, carrying us through the rhythm of the seasons. The flat hues transform into radiant variations, and when combined with the careful framing and staging, they create a true sensory explosion.
In Amélie, There Is Rain
The film transports us to late-1960s Japan, with its traditions, interiors, and meticulously recreated objects. Nishio-San, Amélie’s nanny, shares elements of Japanese history and culture in a way the child can grasp. She traces the characters of Amélie’s name, explaining that it contains "amé" (雨), the word for "rain" in Japanese.
But in Amélie, there is also "âme" (soul), and this film proves that animation can reveal the depths of the human soul. Kudos to the teams who brought this film to life, and to the jury for awarding it the André Martin Prize in this, the year of his centenary!
While we wait to watch (and rewatch) the film on the big or small screen, you can check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQfevunCodU
📖 Get your hands on the "Amélie et la Métaphysique des Tubes" artbook! Dive into 256 pages of storyboards, animation, backgrounds, and behind-the-scenes secrets from the film.🔗 Order now
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(1) Interview with Liane-Cho Han, Maïlys Vallade, and Eddine Noël in Blink Blank no.7, p. 39.
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