The animation festival maintained Sunday in Annecy after the knife attack

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the main global event in the sector, will open as planned on Sunday, three days after the knife attack which injured six people, including four children, in the city, announced its organizers on Friday, citing the “isolated” nature of this tragedy.

"The dramatic events that occurred (Thursday) affected Annecy residents deep within themselves, France and beyond our borders", write in a press release the management and the team of the festival and the related market planned for 11 to June 17. “It has now been proven that this is an isolated act. Also, in consultation with the authorities and as indicated by the mayor François Astorg, the festival will open on Sunday June 11, ”he added.

Since his arrest on Thursday, the perpetrator of the attack, Abdalmasih H., a Syrian refugee wandering in France after several years of stability in Sweden, has given no explanation for his attack. At this stage, his motivations seem "without apparent terrorist motive", according to the Annecy prosecutor's office.

The organizers, however, decided to "postpone the launch of the outdoor sessions to Monday, June 12", as a "sign of support for families and victims". Screenings of the Ukrainian films Le Royaume de Naya and French Le Petit Nicolas, what are we waiting for to be happy (awarded the Cristal d'or last year), were initially scheduled for Sunday evening near the lake of 'Annecy. "The screenings of the festival will be placed under the sign of the values ​​it has always defended: sharing, solidarity and fraternity", assure its organizers, who recently told AFP that they expect attendance well above the some 13,000 participants. of 2022.

A dozen feature films are in competition for the Cristal d'Or, awarded on June 17. It is the Franco-Belgian production "Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Currents" by Benoît Chieux which will open the ball on Sunday.