Anaïs Caura

I love stories that take the road less travelled, unusual journeys and narratives that lead us to see the world differently. An animation director, author and art director, I have spent more than fifteen years moving between documentary, fiction and drawing, always eager to explore new ways of telling stories.

What I find exciting is developing my own projects just as much as stepping into the world of other filmmakers. For each film, I like to imagine a distinctive graphic identity, look for the visual language that suits it and find out how animation can enrich its storytelling. Giving shape to memories, bringing missing images to life, conveying an emotion or simply opening up another space within the story: this freedom is what makes my work so rewarding.

Over the years, I have learned to bridge two worlds that don’t always work the same way: documentary and animation. I can work on my own or put together and lead artistic and technical teams, in France and internationally. I enjoy following a project through every stage, from visual research to production follow-up, working closely with directors and production companies to find the right balance between artistic ambitions, technical constraints, schedules and budgets. My network of collaborators allows me to bring together the right talent for each project, with the pleasure of building a collective adventure around a shared vision.

I graduated in animation from the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2011, and began my career teaching art and with an artist residency in Quebec, before working with the production companies 2P2L and My Fantasy. For more than ten years, I directed Désintox, a weekly fact-checking programme broadcast in 28 minutes on ARTE, in partnership with Libération.

In 2017, I directed The Man-Woman Case for France Télévisions – Studio 4. The animated series travelled to many international festivals and received several awards, including the Jury Award for a TV series at the Annecy Festival, a special mention at Animafest Zagreb, Best Medium-Length Film at the 2ANNAS festival in Riga and Best Soundtrack at La Cabina festival in Valencia.

I have also had the opportunity to explore very different formats: programmes such as Les Poèmes d’actu, Culture Prime and L’Abécédaire for La Chaîne parlementaire, the animated documentary series Rien qu’un verre for France TV Slash, and the music video On nous ment by Gérard Manset, made in 2018 for Warner Music.

Documentary holds an important place in my work. I was art director on Alice Guy, l’inconnue du 7e art and worked on the animation for Patti Smith – La poésie du punk, Toni Morrison et les fantômes de l’Amérique and Opération Barbarossa, all broadcast on ARTE. Each collaboration is a chance to explore a new world and to find out how drawing can enter into dialogue with documentary footage.

In 2023, I received the SACD New Animation Talent award. In 2025, my work as graphic author on Opération Barbarossa won a SCAM award. That same year, I co-directed Le Gang de Roubaix for France 3 Régions and handled the art direction and animation of the documentaries La Lutte armée n’est pas un jeu d’enfant and À cœur vaillant for Occitanie TV. In 2026, I also created the drawings for L’Infiltré, a stage show by Océan produced by Les Plateaux Sauvages, another opportunity to take my drawing beyond the screen.

Alongside these collaborations, I pursue my own creative projects. In 2020, I developed Eugène, an animated feature film project adapted from The Man-Woman Case, whose trailer won an award at the MIFA Pitches in Annecy. I am now finishing Suzanne, a 90-minute animated documentary for ARTE about Suzanne Noël, a pioneer of reconstructive surgery and a figure of women’s emancipation, due for release in 2027. I am also venturing into comics with Députettes, my first graphic novel, written by Élodie Font and published by Bayard, out in 2027.

My experience as a reader for the CNC and as a member of various juries has also shaped the way I look at projects and writing. I enjoy sharing this experience by occasionally supporting authors and production companies as they develop their project files, as well as through mentoring, workshops and professional meetings. Teaching and passing on knowledge have always been part of my path.

I am based in Lille and have a special attachment to the Hauts-de-France region and its talent. I enjoy working with local studios and teams, while continuing to collaborate with professionals all over France and abroad.

Ultimately, what I love about my work is being able to move from one world to another, to invent new forms and to bring different perspectives together. Whether I am directing my own films or supporting other people’s, I always strive to put drawing and animation at the service of a story, with rigour, curiosity and the joy of creating together.