Ron Dyens

Sacrebleu Productions, kicked off by Ron Dyens back in ‘99, has become a kind of cult hero in the animation scene. They didn’t just dip a toe into the pool—they cannonballed in with Long Way North, which didn’t just charm the Annecy crowd (snagged the Audience Award, no less) but pulled in around 600,000 viewers in France and sold in over 20 countries. Not bad for a debut, right? Fast forward to early 2020, and Anca Damian’s Marona's Fantastic Tale rolls out, racking up festival invites (Annecy, European Film Awards and the like), a handful of prizes (BIAF, Reanimania), and serious critical buzz. Charades got it into more than 15 countries, plus it scored the André Martin prize and a spot in CNC’s École et Cinéma program. Jump to 2022: Michaela Pavlátová drops My Sunny Maad. The movie walked away with Annecy’s Jury Prize, made the rounds at major festivals—including the Golden Globes—and scooped up the César for Best Animated Film in 2023. Then there’s Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds by Benoît Chieux, hitting cinemas December 2023 after opening Annecy and snagging another Audience Award. And in 2024, Gints Zilbalodis’ FLOW premiered at Cannes, swept four Annecy awards, made it to over 60 big-name fests, and took home 35 prizes. Sacrebleu’s also behind 90+ shorts, popping up at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, and more, grabbing hardware like the Palme d'Or and several Césars. Honestly, their trophy shelf must be creaking.