S.O.U.R.C.E. - Water Wars on Alien Worlds: The Final Mecha Duel for Humanity’s Last Oasis

In the far future, water has become scarce in the universe, leading inevitably to war.  On the planet Airon, a unit of mechas of the intergalactic corporation S.O.U.R.C.E. has been assigned to take over the last oasis, but met fierce resistance.  Finally, there are only two left – and this is their last battle. Whoever wins will gain the only remaining pure source of water in the galaxy…

This animated short by a group of ESMA students is, effectively, one long battle sequence and as such shows off their animation skills with panache. It’s breath-taking, non-stop and ingenious.  Yet there is also a poignant story at the heart of all this sound and fury, which you only appreciate right at the end.  Hats off to these students for telling this story – a visual metaphor for how our own planet is going frankly!

The short was directed by Alexandre André, Louis Bonnaud, Adrien Gouloubi, Mathieu Hebrard, Pierre Lopez, Anton Markov, Evana Mingsisouphanh, Maxence Porelli, and Ludovic Vacher with music by Seiji Champollion. Sound was by Guilhem Favard, José Vicente and Yoann Poncet with the voices provided by José Vicente.