• EVERYTHING BEGAN AT THE END OF 1972, with an exhibition named ten million images. It was buzzing with publishers, book sellers, readers and comic creators in 15 euphoric days. The city of Angoulême decided to create the Festival: the first edition opened on January 25th, 1974. Pratt created the poster. Hogarth, Kurtzman, Tillieux and Franquin honored the newborn with their presence.
• AT THE SAME TIME (1973 - 1978) saw the creation of numerous comic magazines: l'Echo des Savanes, Fluide glacial, (A Suivre), Circus, Metal Hurlant amongst others. The comic book underwent remarkable change. The most famous comic creators in Angoulême are: Herge; Eisner; Reiser; Moebius; Gotlib; Tardi; and Bilal.
• AGAINST THE ODDS, the Festival overcame various storms and obstacles thanks to its wise idea of establishing its existence on a great ambition: making Angoulême the city of comics beyond the January Festival.
• 1982: that year Paul Gillon received the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême and Claire Bretecher the 10th year special prize. The Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary and is at its best, even organizing exhibits about French comics in New York. While conquering America, the Festival builds the foundation of what will become a major axis of its agenda: education. A specialized section is created at the L'Ecole Régionale des Beaux Arts: "l'atelier-ecole de BD" (comic workshop school).
• 1989: After 15 years of extraordinary expansion Angoulême is the comic's capital. Now Angoulême is the unavoidable professional meeting place while remaining a cultural event and a public open exhibit.
• 1990 is the year the "International market of rights," a gathering of publishers from around the world to negotiate at Angoulême the buying and selling of comic use rights, is created. This important innovation contributed to consolidating the professional aspect and the international dimension of the Festival.
• 1993, the Festival is 20 years old. Frank Margerin, author of Lucien and Morris who brought to life Lucky Luke are the masters of ceremony. The loyalists of the first edition are present, notably Franquin and Will Eisner. A huge 4 day party where public and professionals anchor Angoulême as the unavoidable gathering of all comic book lovers.
• 1996 beyond the success of the Festival, whose figurehead that year is Guillemin, the event developed its action of promoting comics all year long in France and abroad, notably with an important exhibit on European comics that will tour the U.S. for more than a year before going to Asia.
• 1997 the exhibition "Sur les traces d'Andre Juillard" (tracking Andre Juillard) is a real journey through the city mixing cultural heritage and comics, encouraging local economic actors to dress the town in the comic's colours and develop cultural tourism.
• 1998: The festival celebrates its 25th anniversary. The buzz is at its peak, thousands of comic fans made the journey.
• 1999 the push for opening toward the public and youth is successful. Under the sponsorship of Boucq, that year's Festival hero, a tribute is paid to the talent of Michel Greg and Alexandro Jodorowski. In parallel, the Festival has an important multimedia section.
• 2000 The international dimension of the Festival is anchored by the award of Robert Crumb. An exceptional tribute is made to the unorthodox talent of Jean Giraud/Moebius through an unforgettable exhibit, spark of genius. Moreover the multiple natural "bridges" between comics and creative new technology (multimedia, internet, etc.) are highlighted on one hand through the Cyber comic space for one, and the presence of a Quebec delegation that proposes a surprising virtual comic exhibit on the internet, on the other hand.
• 2001 For the first time a woman, Florence Cestac, is the star of the event. The exhibit of her work allows the Festival to re-affirm its consideration for the young public. It is also the return to Angoulême of a prestigious guest, Japan, whose authors and publishers distinguish themselves with 2 large exhibits. This showcase of Japanese Manga attracts a new public that also discovers the Festival. The international presence is also enriched by the presence of Swiss and African comics. On the educational front, the Festival answers one of the public's demands and creates the young talent booths providing full information on how to access the comic industry. That year the Festival marks the highest record of visitors.
• 2002 The Festival confirms its position as the first European comic event. Media coverage of the event is very strong. On the creative front, international comics are also in the spotlight with, on one side, the American comic world and, on the other side, an ambitious exhibition with the work of 48 young cartoonists from around the world. The Festival is also honored to welcome once again, for a tribute from the entire field, one of the greatest contemporary comic masters, American Will Eisner.
• 2003 sees a shift in the history of the Festival. Under the sponsorship of François Schuiten with the support of Benoit Peeters, this 30th edition will be remembered not only for the spectacular immurement of the Angoulême theatre initiated by the creator of the Cités Obscures, but also for the international encounters. Neither debates nor conferences, these encounters allow presentation, with multimedia support, of the most creative part of a cartoonist work... Dave McKean, Katsuhiro Otomo, Art Spiegelman and Jiro Taniguchi, amongst others allowed to this new event to flourish. Other remarkable events include the exhibition "Feraille Museum" (diverting from traditional exhibits to benefit an imaginary character that itself symbolizes 100 years of popular comics) and the retrospective, surprisingly diverse, was dedicated to Korean comic books.
• 2004 the 31st edition of the International Comics Festival pays tribute to Regis Loisel. In a spirit of cultural diversity the Festival welcomed cartoonists from around the world. Acclaimed by the young public the famous Bande à Tcho ! from Titeuf is also present, next to the surprising work of Englishman Dave McKean. The human side of comics is presented with a theatrical piece inspired by the legendary comic creator Will Eisner, but also with living exhibits of studio work or inside Art classes. And the implications of Groland, the imaginary country popularized by Canal+ adds more fantasy to the festivities.
• 2005 is an exceptional vintage. Zep, remarkable publishing phenomenon, gives incredible energy to the Festival. Highly acclaimed by the public, the international encounters mature. This 32nd edition also witnesses the birth of a stage event, the drawing demonstrations, and launches a new permanent manga space - Manhwa, entirely dedicated to Asiatic comics.
• 2006, the Festival celebrates 40 years of comics by Georges Wolinski. On the international front, Finland and African artists, as well as Kotobuki Shiriagi of Japan are on the front page. The young public has a treat with the Cosmic Capsule exhibit while the drawing demonstrations, created the previous year, continue to flourish. Not to forget a novelty: the production by the Festival of a short fiction movie, Between 4 Pages, by Les Requins Marteaux.
• 2007 is yet again a big event. The Festival programming is conducted and well animated by one of the major young generation cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. Multiple initiatives that put forth the spectacular and lively dimension of comics are presented to the public (The Comics 24h, Comic Impro, Drawn Encounters, etc.) while the first phase of a multi-annual project is launched: the universal comic exposition. Last but not least, a great French artist, Brigitte Fontaine, surprises everyone at the Angoulême Theater with an exceptional performance in collaboration with the cartoonist Blutch drawing live.
ENGLISH VERSION
