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We continue our reviews of animation school juries with Piktura, formerly known as Pôle 3D. The school changed its name for its 20th anniversary, both to highlight the diversification of its courses (3D animation, video games, 2D animation, illustration…) and to have a clearer, more impactful name outside France.
Nous faisions partie du jury de la filière animation 3D de Piktura, aux côtés de différents studios : le président du jury était Vincent Philbert de nWave (nous l’avons interviewé l’an passé, et le studio nWave a fait forte impression à Annecy avec un film en compagnie de Jean-Paul Gaultier). On retrouvait également au sein du jury des dirigeants/représentants de différents studios et entités : Illumination, Dreamwall, Piano Sano Films, MPC, Noranim, Jungler, Unit Image, MPC, Studio Raclette, Superprod, Istories Prod, ainsi que l’enseignante Cécile Welker, le réalisateur Tanguy de Kermel, la réalisatrice Naomi Van Niekerk.
Students in their 3rd and 5th years presented short films on various themes. Here’s an overview!
Piktura 2024 – Master 2 Films – 3D animation
The Master 2 films are created by students who have spent five years at the school (three years for a Bachelor’s degree, then two for a Master’s). In other words, we already met these students two years ago during the jury for their Bachelor’s projects. They showed us that the past two years have allowed them to gain technical skills and artistic maturity.
Two animated short films were showcased. The first one is D.S. Al Coda, which follows Yann, a man consumed by the fear of going deaf. He begins to draw the sounds around him in the city…
Un court très ambitieux, qu’il s’agisse de pipeline avec de nombreux éléments procéduraux ou de lighting/compositing. La seconde partie du film nous a réservé une grosse surprise, avec une approche assez rare en court étudiant : nous n’en dirons pas plus, pour vous laisser la surprise dans les festivals ou lors de l’arrivée du film en ligne.
La réalisation est signée Maxime Wattrelos, Jeremy Trochet, Louis Cocquet, François Mainguet, Emma Feret, Rachel Cuvilliez, Florian Lecocq.
The second animated short, Sublime, received the jury’s commendation. It follows a doll born in a world that worships beauty, populated by strange creatures.
The team cited inspirations such as Ghostland, Videodrome, Alice by Jan Švankmajer, La casa lobo, and REC. The result is a disturbing, fascinating film whose imagery could fit into the series Love, Death & Robots: the short sometimes reminded us of Jibaro by Alberto Mielgo.
Sublime explores multiple themes: beauty, internalized misogyny, the impact of media, religions, as well as cannibalism and sexual violence. Visually, the film is very coherent, and the team put great care into the characters, backgrounds, clothing, and direction.
The film is directed by Marie Heribel, Candice Yernaux, Juliette Buysschaert, Camille Leroy, Joséphine Vendeville, Martin Laurent, Lucas Foutrier.
Piktura 2024 – 3rd year students – 3D animation
Let’s move on to the Bachelor 3 projects, made after three years of study. Gabriel Delcrois, Arthur Lecocq, Arthur Delcroix, Julien Vanas, Romuald Gouriou, Clarence Delehaye, and Noëmie Ivelou unveiled Théâtre de Guerre. During a theatrical performance of puppets glorifying war, a wounded soldier discovers the hidden truth…
The film incorporates multiple stakes and influences, notably Jacob’s Ladder. The short received the jury’s commendation for its technical achievement.
Next, we have Ombr, by Charles Menet, Célia Rakotoarisoa, Mathis Binauld, Margaux Bonnet, Rick Vanel Njike Ngassam, Lucie Jelmoni. The film presents the memories of a family, playing with the characters’ shadows without showing them directly. Once again, there are visual references beyond animation, touching on the filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky.
A touching project, it received the jury’s commendation for the emotion it generated.
Memento Vitae follows three children in costume on Halloween night. Their candy hunt leads them to a ghost train, where they confront painful memories.
Anaïs Lecocq, Lola Leviez-Deblauwe, Basile Galiegue, Quitterie Quipourt, Mathilde Maigre, and Paul-Louis Couton drew inspiration from the Mexican Day of the Dead for this short.
Sassuma Arnaa evokes the Greenlandic legend of the mother of the sea, seeking revenge for an act committed by her father.
Antoine Mignot, Théophile Recolet, Victor Cazeaux, Océane Duval, Karent Brezac, Paul Jaillet, Simon Vandamme opted for a cut-out paper style, posing several pipeline challenges.
While some Bachelor 3 students will join the animation industry, others will continue with two more years of study. We will have the opportunity to talk about them again during the 2026 jury.
Overall, Piktura stays true to its ambitions. It aims to propose ambitious short films with strong and varied themes.
We also appreciated the fact that we had a lot of time to talk with the students, ask them about the challenges they faced, give them some feedback.
We will share the short films on 3DVF when they are available online. Until then, congratulations to the students, and don’t forget to follow us on social media: Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube.
