The French film festival circuit just can’t quit Fight!, a super-charming animation starring two wrestlers made of wool.
It takes less than a minute — 40 seconds exactly — to see why. Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels (both former Cannes winners in animation) managed to turn a heavy material into the lightest, airiest showdown you’ll ever attend. While there’s plenty to admire in the pacing and direction, it’s the duo’s eye for detail that makes the film feel like art, from the wind-ruffled manes of the stoic wrestlers to a truly elegant pool of vomit toward its end.
Fight! from Marc James Roels on Vimeo.
The short was originally used as a trailer for a 2012 French film festival. It’s now a contender itself, an official selection at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival happening in France’s Rhône-Alpes region at this very moment. Let’s hope our lutteurs play fair.
