Amen – These Porkers aren’t Ready for the Pot

There comes a time in a young pig’s life when human eyes notice his increasing dimensions and decide enough is enough – this porker is ready for the pot. So it is with the young pig featured in Amen, a graduate thesis film by students at École des Nouvelles Images.  Although he almost gets the chop, his ingenuity – not to mention a somewhat revelatory experience in the monastery’s church – will save him and his friends from sizzling.  Or will it? You had better watch the animated short below to find out!

I have no idea if this film was inspired by pig escapes, such as the famous Tamworth Two, but as our porcine pals have a habit of getting away from their human overlords, this could have been inspired by any number of tales of daring escape in the real world.

Amen has enjoyed an impressive festival run, picking up awards at the Tirana International Film Festival 2025 in Albania, VIEW Conference 2025 in Italy, the Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart in Germany, Cyber Sousa – Xiamen International Animation Festival in China, The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Conde – Festival Internacional de Cinema in Portugal, and La Guarimba Film Festival in Italy, among many others. The film was directed by Orphée Coutier, Bettina Demarty, Kimie Maingonnat, Laurène Perego, Louise Poulain, and Avril Zundel, with an original score by Nicolas Cornil (MAAAV). Production was overseen by Julien Deparis for École des Nouvelles Images, with sound mixing by Pierre-François Renouf.

Windy Day

I love a visual, extended metaphor in the morning.  This animated short by students from the École des Nouvelles Images in France has the tagline “Wind carries away destinies.”  However, I think it is truer to say that this particular wind drives people to them.  The story is very simple, but beautifully told.  In a park we meet the various people enjoying their time there – a young couple with their child, and even younger couple discovering love for the first time, an old man with his dog and the harassed businessman trying to do a little work while having his lunch.  All are destined to meet the wind – but what will become of them?

This charming animation was directed by Martin Chailloux, Ai Kim Crespin, Élise Golfouse, Chloé Lab, Hugo Taillez, and Camille Truding, with an original score by Camille Riey (MAAAV). It was produced by Julien Deparis, and the sound mix was created by Pierre-François Renouf.

Kayak

This very funny animated short features possibly the most irresponsible father in the world – so you will have to suspend your disbelief (hey, it’s an animation, that’s normal).  When in need of something to do with his infant child to pass the day, this dad decides that kayaking would be a marvellous idea.  Chaos ensues – and when you add an eagle in to the mix, then anything could happen.  This was made by a group of very talented French students from Ecole des Nouvelles Images as their graduation work – simply fantastic!