Cannes Un Certain Special Jury PrizeFamily/ChildComing of AgeAnimation
Childhood in our memories is always a little crooked, clumsy, and therefore all the more vivid. Flowing through bold, rustic brushstrokes, the world of Iron Boy bears a peculiar resemblance to such childhood recollections. Director Louis Clichy, an animator who previously contributed to Pixar’s WALL-E and Up, brings a story rooted in his personal experience to his solo feature directorial debut. Christophe, who intended to follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer, is fitted with iron body braces due to a physical disability. The braces are meant to straighten his body yet instead steer him away from his predetermined path in life, allowing music, friendship, and new emotions to seep into the crevices. The moment the organ-playing boy’s reality branches out into free imagination, his physical limitations transform into a power to see the world as never before. Growth comes to everyone, but the path is never the same for any two people. Through one boy’s coming-of-age story, Iron Boy quietly awakens the distinct childhood lingering within each of us. It is a winner of the Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize, as well as the Annecy IFF Jury Award and Audience Award.
Louis Clichy was born in the Beauce region of France in 1979. After studying animation at the École des Gobelins, he began his career as an animator at Pixar, working on WALL-E (2008) and Up (2009). He went on to co-direct Asterix: The Land of the Gods (2014) with Alexandre Astier, which won the César Award for Best Animated Film, followed by Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion (2018), another commercial and critical success. Having devoted years to 3D animation, he reached forty and sought to reclaim "something he′d lost along the way," returning to the ink-line style of his early shorts to complete his first solo feature directorial effort, Iron Boy, drawn from his own personal experience. The film swept numerous awards in 2026, and its striking hand-drawn 2D visuals made it one of the year′s biggest breakout stories in the animation world.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
