2024 ANIMATION FIRST FILM FESTIVAL, OFFICIAL GRAPHIC. SOURCE: FIAF.ORG.

From Tuesday, January 23rd to Sunday, January 28th, the French Institute Alliance Française will present the seventh annual Animation First Film Festival — the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to showcasing the enduring legacy and trailblazing innovation of French and Francophone animation. The program Best of Annecy 2023, which highlights work from last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, will play on Friday, January 26th, at 9:45pm, at the FIAF Florence Gould Hall. The late Adrienne Mancia, a close friend and colleague of GME President Jon Gartenberg going back to the early 1970s, when they both worked in the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art, was one of the first curators to introduce the Annecy Film Festival in North America. She was also a jury member in 1993.

During her time at MoMA, Mancia revolutionized the job of the film curator by traveling to various parts of the globe and discovering the work of filmmakers who operated outside of commercialized or mainstream modes of cinematic storytelling, which she then brought back to New York. Artists she championed included first-time and independent filmmakers, experimental filmmakers, and animators. In addition to the Annecy Film Festival, Mancia regularly attended and discovered new work at Animafest Zagreb, and through her curatorial work, pioneered introducing animation from around the world to American audiences.

ADRIENNE MANCIA ON THE OCCASION OF RECEIVING THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL MEL NOVIKOFF AWARD IN 1998. SOURCE: MOMA.

In January 1997, Mancia spoke with Mark Langer for Animation World Magazine about her experiences curating animated programs for MoMA:

When I first came to MoMA, very little was being done in the area of animation. There was some material in the collection that Iris Barry had brought to the archive, but little animation work was being added to the collection or exhibited. I felt that this was an unfortunate gap in our activities… What I tried to do with the programming, a little subversively, was to draw it out for a week. With the ‘Best of Zagreb’ or ‘Annecy’ as an anchor, we would also program homages to filmmakers or present animation from various countries — Japanese animation, Khitruk, Pritt Pjarn, and so on… Frankly, outside of the Cinémathèque Québecoise, I do not know an institution where the exhibition of animation is a priority.

Below, see the program Mancia co-curated for MoMA’s “Best of Annecy” showcase in October 1977 with Louise Beaudet of La Cinémathèque Québecoise, Wayne Clarkson and Kelly O'Brien of the Canadian Film Centre of the School of The Canadian Film Institute (Ottawa), Ian Birnie of The Art Gallery of Toronto, and Camille Cook of The Film Centre of the School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S “BEST OF ANNECY” PROGRAM, OCTOBER 1977, CO-CURATED BY ADRIENNE MANCIA. SOURCE: MoMA.

Additionally, enjoy this photograph of Mancia (far left) with Louise Beaudet, Jacques Drouin, and Helene Tanguay, at Ottawa 96:

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GME Pays Homage to Adrienne Mancia's Passion for Animation and Contributions to International Film Culture Coinciding With This Year's Animation First Film Festival