After Grandpa (or Après Papi in the original French)
is a very special animation – you might want to grab a coffee and a hankie before
you watch it. It tells the story of
young Loup, a boy fascinated by insects who has just lost his grandfather.
However, he soon realises that Grandpa isn’t quite as gone as everyone
else thinks. Loup must confront his fear
as he discovers the reason for his grandfather’s return.
Après Papi was directed by Swann Valenza, Florian
Gomes Freitas, Juliette Michel, Victoria Leviaux, and Axel Sence, with an
original score by Nans de Jesus. The film has already received significant
recognition, winning Best Student Project at SIGGRAPH and reaching the finals
of the BAFTA Student Awards in the Animation category.These super-talented creative made Après
Papi while students at MoPA School of Animation in France.
You won’t be surprised to learn, after watching this, that
Goodbye, My World (original French title Au Revoir Mon Monde) garnered a number
of international awards, including the Gold Medal in Animation at the 2024
Student Academy Awards. Karim’s world is
about to end, but unfortunately he is miles away from his girlfriend. To make
matters worse, Karim works as a mascot for a sushi restaurant – and he can’t
get his costume off!
Can Karim make it to his beloved before the asteroids
crashing down on Earth wipe out all life on the planet?You can probably guess the answer (but there
are plenty of twists along the way). This is a short, but epic adventure - you know how we love apocalyptical visions here at Kuriositas!
This short was directed by Astrid Novais, Florian Maurice,
Quentin Devred, Maxime Foltzer, Estelle Bonnardel, Baptiste Duchamps – all students
at the MoPA Animation Film School. Music is provided by Titouan Gramain and the
sound designer is Benjamin Martin.Thanks to these wonderfully talented young creatives who have made
something really quite special here.
This is great. In one of the most emotional moments ever
broadcast on France’s The Voice Kids, 14-year-old Louis D stunned
the nation - and the show’s judges - when he sang Si j’avais su
("If I Had Known"), a heartbreakingly personal ballad by French
singer Claudio Capéo. We don’t normally cover this kind of show on Kuriositas
because you have probably have seen it on your own devices before, but most of
you reading this are English speakers (if I am to believe the stats!) and may well not
have had the opportunity to watch this before.
What made the performance so extraordinary wasn’t just
Louis’s vocal ability or maturity. It was the fact that Claudio Capéo
himself was sitting just a few metres away - serving as one of the show’s
coaches. And the song Louis chose was written by Capéo in memory of his late
grandmother.It’s a song filled with pain
– if I had known being the chorus trigger…
“If I had known… I would have told you all the things
that I had never told you… that your skin smells like roses… that your wrinkles
resemble the waves where children swim.” “If I had known… that time doesn’t wait… that it would be the first time I
saw you for the last time… I would have hugged you tight… I would have said
goodbye a bit better.”
You get it. As Louis sang the raw, grief-filled lyrics (now popular at French funerals),
Capéo’s face told the story: a mixture of disbelief, pride, and visible
emotion. By the final note, he was overcome. All four coaches turned their
chairs - a rare unanimous endorsement - and Capéo, visibly moved, rushed to
embrace the young singer. “You turned my heart inside out,” he said. “It’s the
first time I’ve lived something like this.”
Louis went on to become a finalist in the 2024 season of The
Voice Kids France, ultimately placing third. But many will remember him not
for the trophy he didn’t win—but for the one-of-a-kind moment he created.
The song, Si j’avais su, is a melancholic reflection
on lost chances and unsaid goodbyes. For Louis to interpret it so powerfully at
such a young age - and in front of its creator - felt like something more than
a talent show moment. It was a shared human experience, captured live.
Even if you’ve never heard of either singer, this short clip
might just stop you in your tracks.
Le Marais is a district of Paris which, were you to choose, could be a holiday destination in itself. Although it seems to be seen more and more as simply the gay quarter that should tell the seasoned traveler something – gay districts usually take root in neighborhoods which are diverse, cultural and historic (and therefore interesting to the curious). Le Marais is all of those – and more.
So, take a tour through Le Marais on something typically French – a skateboard. Seriously. Filmmaker Thomas Guerrin followed an (unnamed) boarder through the streets of Le Marais (using a glidecam + 5D III) capturing, in this unusual way, the architecture and feel of the place. He captures the people too – Le Marais has long been home to Jewish and Chinese communities and he captures these as well as other categories more typical of French life, such as the older lady with her host of pampered dogs!
It is difficult enough to capture the spirit of a place without being on a skateboard, but Guerrin artfully captures the essence of Le Marais in all its variety. I have yet to see a better advert for my favourite Parisian district.
Taking place in a colorful and musical universe, Al Dente is a short film which tells us the story of a little street girl discovering the magic and the dangers of an ogre's kitchen. It isn’t quite as harmless as it sounds – I am pretty sure that some of the imagery used in this animated short would have given me nightmares (up to the age of, oh, about 25) so do watch this first before you decide to show it to any small people in your household!
After all, Al Dente as a term describes when something is cooked so that it is firm but not hard, something that still offers resistance to the bite but is nevertheless cooked through - and that is how the ogre likes to eat the children he has captured!
Al Dente was created by Mael Francois, Carlos Felipe Leon and Jean-Francois Barthelemy for their graduation project at Supinfocom (yes, I should just change the name of Kuriositas to Animation at Supinfocom, I know).. Music is by Matthieu Alvado.
It is something of a feat to be the coolest example of anything in Paris, which could certainly be a contender for the coolest city in the world regardless. Yet the door which opens up to number 29 Avenue Rapp is, we believe, the coolest door in Paris. See if you agree.
This is the story of a young girl and a young boy, Abel and Apolline. Apolline lives in the summer and Abel lives in the winter and so by their very natures they are never supposed to meet – there must always be a barrier in between them. Yet the two children live isolated lives and it is only a matter of time before they come across each other in the forest in which they dwell. Yet when they do meet – and summer and winter collide – they soon realise that to co-exist is much more difficult than either of them may have imagined.
This is a very sweet if not somber animated short, directed by Carlos De Carvalho and Aude Danset and I found it entrancing. It is almost, I imagine, like a long lost piece by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, discovered and brought to us for the first time. It also goes to show that animation aimed at children does not necessarily have to have a happy ending and that, on occasion, bitter sweet tells the best tale.
Do you ever look in the mirror in the morning and wonder where all the years went? If so then you can take heart – a little! At least your life does not flash before your eyes in a few short minutes as it does in this remarkable film by Ramon and Pedro (aka Antoine Tinguely and Laurent Fauchère). The Mirror or Le Mirroir in its original French shows a young boy becoming a man and we get to witness the physical evidence of some of his rites of passage until, effectively, the lights go off.
Ramon and Pedro have been in existence as an artistic union since 2004, their alter egos for slightly longer. They were featured in Shots Magazine in the New Directors section, which led them to sign with Partizan Worldwide. Since then, R&P has directed commercials for clients such as Diesel, AOL, Panasonic, Citroën, Milky Way and many more.
Sometimes life can bring about unexpected, chance encounters. Here, a technician on board an aircraft carrier comes across a kite during his duties. This leads to something of a flight of the imagination for the weary sailor.
Elegiac and poetic, this short animation is really something special.
More so when you consider that Eole is a short 3D movie directed by three students at Supinfocom Arles in France. The students are Aurélien Martineau, Etienne Métois and Moana Wisniewski. This is an exception piece of animation.
The question what have the Romans ever done for us? Was famously asked in the Monty Python film Life of Brian and certainly you might think that a few thousand years later that question is potentially redundant. However, a one look at the Pont du Gard aqueduct bridge may put paid to that idea.
They certainly made things to last. Although the Pont du Gard is no longer a functioning aqueduct bridge, the very fact that it isclose to two thousand years old and still standing is testament to the skills of its builders (although of course it has had renovations over time). The fact that it has gone from being useful to simply decorative is neither here nor there.
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris contains the graves of many famous people, including Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. One person you may not have heard of, however, is Victor Noir. It is, in fact, his monument rather than his memory which draws people to his final resting place and for reasons you may not automatically associate with a cemetery.
You may have already noticed that much of his face is the familiar grey-green of oxidized bronze you would expect from a monument dating from 1891 (Noir died in 1870). However, the lips and the nose are unaccountably shiny. Victor Noir’s mouth and nose are regularly caressed and kissed. Yet the host of women who descend upon his tombstone have more than Victor’s face in mind when they visit. Despite only the faintest trace of a smile across it, Victor Noir is, it seems, still very pleased to see you.
This is the Poitou Donkey. Only thirty years ago, less than thirty of these beautiful and friendly animals were left. Now, thanks to a conservation programme, it looks as if the dreadlocked donkey is set to stay awhile on Planet Earth. Our sibling site, the Ark in Space, has its story.
Take a trip around a nature reserve with something of a difference: all the animals within its walls are hybrids. Above you can see the killer whale penguin hybrid, just one of menagerie caught on camera by a pair of intrepid French journalists (in truth students at ArtFX). However, things do start to get a little worrying when their guide leaves them and they stray where they shouldn’t…
The time-lapse is dead, long live the hyperlapse! This is perhaps not a completely truthful statement but one which could be argued over a glass of wine or two. And where better to do that than the city of lights, Paris? This remarkable hyperlapse by Kirill Neiezhmakov shows the city in all its spectacle.
The video shows some of the best examples I have seen of the hyperlapse techniques which involves moving the camera while still shooting at a speed normally associated with time-lapse. It’s a new(ish) technique and one that has been evolving at some speed recently - Neiezhmakov and his ilk are comfortably taking it to the next level with some huge, sweeping shots that make you wonder exactly how they were done. They certainly make me scratch my head. Have a gawp and see if you can work it out yourself.
When people say that a place is picture postcard perfect there is usually the scent of slight exaggeration in the air, a hint of hyperbole which should perhaps be accompanied by a pinch of salt.
Yet Eguisheim, a charmingly picturesque village in north-eastern France can be said to be just that without any suggestion of embellishment. Perhaps if the hobbits and the munchkins got together they would live somewhere like this. Little wonder that the place was voted France’s Favorite Village (Village Préféré des Français) 2013.
Take a look and discover why.
If you are a traveler heading for a particular destination then it is always a good idea to look at how the people of that country perceive their own towns and villages and where they head for a break: it can be very telling. Why? Precious gems like Eguisheim can sometimes be hidden away by a nation for itself to covet. Mes amis, you have the Eiffel Tower! Leave us a little to call our own!
For a day, Paris became the capital of the world when 1.6 million People converged on the streets of the French capital. Just a few days after the country suffered one its worst terrorist attacks the country responded with the biggest demonstration in its history, larger even than those which marked the Liberation of Paris in 1945. Across France up to four million people participated in events to demonstrate unity after the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher supermarket which killed 17 people.
Here are a selection of pictures from the rally which show the staggering amount of people who wished to show to the world that they were still in harmony, that the ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité are still very much intact. More than 40 leaders from around the world also participated yet today was very much a day of the people, by the people and for the people. May their ideals persevere, flourish and grow stronger forevermore. As Je Suis Charlie still echoes through the streets of Paris and proliferates around the world, so it is hoped, will peace.
When you are proudly marching through the streets in your ceremonial uniform, the one thing that tops off your general resplendence is the bearskin, the tall fur cap that has been used by the guards regiments of the British Army for centuries. However, when one of the bearskins takes on a life of its own, there may be trouble ahead.
Created by students at ESMA in France, Forward March gently ribs the British (yet the propensity for tea at a certain time might be said to help save the day here). However, it’s the crazy bearskin come alive that steals every scene here. Pierrick Barbin, Rimelle Khayat, Loïc Le Goff, Guillaume Lenoël and Garrick Rawlingson are the students responsible for Forward March. So, if Mr Angry of Tunbridge Wells is reading this, those are the names you may wish to include in your hopping-mad missive to the French Embassy…
This is just amazing. Indila is a French singer who released her first album at the end of last year. This is the first single taken from the album and it’s wonderful, ethereal and enigmatic. Lyrically it is all about her having one last dance before the pain and suffering of love overtakes her again. Marry that to a pitch perfect video by WeKapture and you get this little slice of heaven (ok, Gallic angst but it's still fabulous because that's what it is).
Stranger and stranger objects seem to be washing up on beaches and shores around the world. Recently the citizens of the French seaside town of Saint-Brévin-Les Pins have been witness to the arrival of the vast skeleton of a giant sea snake (serpent d'océan in French).
Yet it hasn’t had the world’s cryptozoologists rushing to France.
It is the new work by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping and its message is more environmental than pseudo-scientific.
This huge sea serpent fantasy is made from aluminum and is a massive 130 meters in length. Stretching along the beach the serpent (created for the local Estuary Festival) affords the viewer dramatically different perspectives depending on the angle from which it is viewed and whether the tide is in or out.
Today (1 December) is World Aids Day when we remember all those lost to this terrible disease of the human immune system. It also gives an opportunity to drive home the message that the war against Aids is far from over. Directed by 2AM, this short video has adult themes for a serious message but a great ‘reveal’ at its end which is full of ironic humor. Don’t get caught out, folks, always stick one on!
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