'Into the Forest' wins Annecy young audience award at festival
Swiss filmmaker Antonin Niclass's stop-motion short "Into the Forest" won the Annecy Young Audience Award on Friday at the Annecy Animation Festival. The Milos-Films production follows three handcrafted monkeys who use imagination to transform a cold Lausanne studio into a vibrant jungle—one of the festival's top honors for youth-focused animation.
Key Takeaways
- "Into the Forest" claimed the Annecy Young Audience Award on Friday at the 2026 Annecy Animation Festival.
- Antonin Niclass directed the Swiss stop-motion short, produced by Milos-Films and shot at Hélium Films studios in Lausanne.
- Three puppet monkeys build a homemade jungle inside a frozen animation studio, with no dialogue and an evolving electronic score.
- The film features Oshi, the baby orangutan puppet from Claude Barras's "Savages" (2024), via a collaboration with Nadasdy Film.
- Niclass previously screened at Annecy with "Do Not Feed the Pigeons" (2021) and "Coup de Théâtre" (2022).
What Is 'Into the Forest' About?
The short opens in a quiet studio where everything feels frozen in time. A little monkey wakes, spots a jungle glowing on a computer screen, then breaks free of its animation rig—symbolizing the moment a puppet stops being an object and becomes a character.
Joined by two companions, the three handcrafted monkeys transform their cold workspace into a lush forest using creativity, collaboration, and resourcefulness. The film has no dialogue; monkey cries, expressive sound design, and music carry the narrative instead.
According to Variety, Niclass aimed to root the educational aspects of stop-motion filmmaking inside a gripping adventure rather than a behind-the-scenes tutorial.
Who Made the Film and Where Was It Produced?
"Into the Forest" was directed by Lausanne-based Antonin Niclass and produced by Milos-Films. The short was shot at Hélium Films' studios in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Niclass is a graduate of the U.K.'s National Film and Television School and has become a familiar Annecy presence. His earlier selections include the graduation film "Do Not Feed the Pigeons" and the commissioned short "Coup de Théâtre."
The production also reunited the puppet of Oshi, the baby orangutan from Claude Barras's "Savages," through a collaboration with Nadasdy Film. Composer Fabio Amurri and sound designer Loic Kreyden crafted an electronic score that shifts from mechanical studio rhythms to melodic, natural tones as the jungle takes shape.
Why Does the Annecy Young Audience Award Matter?
The Young Audience Award spotlights shorts that resonate with children and teens at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Niclass told Variety that crafting a film for young audiences was an unexpected but exciting challenge.
For Niclass, who lives near Annecy and whose grandmother was born just 30 minutes from the festival city, the win carries personal weight. Being selected for competition felt like sharing his work with talented peers and children practically from his backyard.
The 2026 festival has drawn major studio attention as well—Warner Bros. Animation unveiled new projects including a "Dark Shadows" animated series during its Adult Animation Showcase on Friday. For more festival and streaming coverage, see our Streaming & TV Alerts section.
What Message Does Niclass Want Viewers to Remember?
Niclass hopes the youngest viewers enjoy watching the monkeys seek a home of their own. The core theme is resourcefulness: stuck in a cold studio, the characters use imagination and teamwork to build something rough but entirely theirs.
He also wants audiences to feel the joy of collective creation. The three monkeys combine their skills toward a common goal, and that effort benefits others beyond themselves. On a deeper level, the opening escape from the animation rig frames creation itself as an act of emancipation—when filmmakers lose control, characters become autonomous in viewers' minds.
With meticulous handcrafted animation and layered sound design, "Into the Forest" celebrates both the artistry of stop-motion and the freedom that imagination can unlock.