Singaporean hand-drawn feature The Violinist won the Cristal Award for Best Film at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, becoming the first feature from the country to claim the festival’s top prize.

Directed by Ervin Han and Raúl García, the period drama traces the history of Singapore and Malaya from 1929 to the present through the story of two childhood friends and gifted violinists whose lives are torn apart by war and the Japanese occupation.

The film is also the first Singaporean feature to screen in competition at Annecy. The Violinist was produced by Singapore's Robot Playground Media alongside Spain's TV ON Producciones and Italy's Altri Occhi. France tv distribution is handling worldwide sales.

The Annecy Jury Award and the Audience Award were both presented to Iron Boy, the debut feature from French animator Louis Clichy, who previously worked on Pixar films Wall-E and Up.

In the Contrechamp competition, the Grande Prix went to Blaise, a dramedy directed by French filmmakers Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue. The Contrechamp Jury Award was presented to A New Dawn, an anime feature directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year.

In the television categories, French director Rémi Durin's preschool series The Great Dreamscape won the Cristal for Best Television Production. Japan's Shinya Iino received the Jury Award for Best Series for Takopi's Original Sin, while the Audience Award went to the hand-drawn French series The Broos, directed by David Mirailles.

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is widely regarded as the world's leading event dedicated solely to animation. Founded in 1960 and held every year in Annecy, France, the festival showcases the best in animated filmmaking

Here is the full list of 2026 Annecy winners:

Cristal Award for Best Feature Film: The Violinist (La Violonista)

Jury Award: Iron Boy

Paul Grimault Award: Decorado

Contrechamp Grand Prix: Blaise

Contrechamp Jury Award: A New Dawn

Gan Foundation Award for Distribution: Iron Boy

Short Film Cristal: Paper Trail

Short Film Jury Award: God Is Shy

Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film: Please

Off-Limits Award: Core Dump

Audience Award for a Feature Film: Iron Boy

Audience Award for a Short Film: God Is Shy

Cristal Award, TV Production: The Great Dreamscape

Jury Award, TV Series: Takopi’s Original Sin

TV Jury Award, TV Special: Song of the Storms

Audience Award, TV Production: The Broos

Cristal Award, Commissioned Film: Unloved

Jury Award, Commissioned Film: Eco Beat

Lotte Reiniger Award: Gently

Jury Award, Graduation Film: Dying Ember

Cristal Award, Graduation Film: Ball Face

Cristal Award, Best Immersive Work: A Long Goodbye