Angoulême comics fest kicks off after sexism row Angoulême's 43rd international comics fest opened its doors on Thursday, hoping to turn the page on a sexism debacle earlier this month. The lack of women among the 30 nominees for the prestigious Grand Prix prize prompted female authors to call for a boycott and generated a social media effort to highlight the work of women comics creators. Previous Grand Prix winner and author of 'Akira', Katsuhiro Otomo was this year's guest of honour, kicking off proceedings. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES