Florence Miailhe on Her César-Nominated Short,Papillon

French animation director,writer and artist Florence Miailhe has been a familiar figure on the global animation scene with acclaimed shorts such as Conte de Quartier,Hammam and her stunning 2021 feature The Crossing (created by using oil paintings on glass). This year, the brilliant artist delivered another powerful animated short titled Papillon, which received a César nomination (French Academy Award), a cristal nomination at Annecy and the Grand Prix at Stuttgart which also qualifies it for oscar consideration. This beautifully crafted, poetic short is inspired by the life of Alfred Nakache, a French swimming champion that was deported during the Second world War. Nominated for a César earlier this year (French academy Award), Papillon is produced by Oscar-winner Ron Dyens (Flow, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds, Portraits de voyage) and features music by Pierre Oberkampt. Miailhe was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about her new creation:

Animation Magazine: Can you please tell us a bit about the beginning of the project.When did you decide to tell this powerful story in animation?

Florence Miailhe: I was preparing my feature film The Crossing, the project was moving forward, but we were struggling to find the necessary funding, and at one point, I began to lose hope. I told myself that maybe I would have to give up on this film. That’s when I started thinking about a new project, this time for a short film. And then, I don’t really no how brain works, but a memory came back to me: that of Alfred Nakache, whom I had met when I was about ten years old, and whom my father admired a lot.

I remembered that my father knew this swimming champion and always spoke of him with great respect. At the time, I was taking swimming lessons with his younger brother, William Nakache, and at every lesson, my father never failed to remind me: “You know, William, he’s the little brother of Alfred Nakache, the great swimming champion!” and one day, Alfred Nakache came to the lesson. My father was already quiet old – I was ten, and he must have been in his fifties – and I remember seeing him, this man who was so admired by my father.

Diving into Memory: The Story Behind ‘The Butterfly Swimmer’

What inspired you to tell the story of Alfred Nakache?

I instantly wanted to tell the story of his whole life through this last swim. Especially since he died only a few miles from where I used to swim as a child. It all seemed obvious to me: telling this story brought together many themes that are dear to me – resilience, transmission, memory, but also political issues, such as the fate of a Jewish swimmer facing adversity. And then there was also this personal connection: I had learned to swim with Alfred Nakache’s younger brother. I almost felt like it was a direct transmission – as if Alfred had taught his brother, who had taught me.

Also, the butterfly stroke… it’s a lovely stroke, very symbolic.

there was this connection to water, which I love deeply. I love swimming, I love water. For me, water is a splendid way of telling stories as it carries memory through fluidity. And then, in animation, water offers something very subtle, very poetic, almost abstract. Representing water also evokes emotion, transformation, transition. It all made sense. It was obvious.

How long did it take to make?

Actually, it happened relatively quickly. I already had in mind how I wanted to tell the story, both in terms of script and narration. It all came together very quickly: writing the script, creating the storyboard… It was obvious to me that the character would dive into the water, and that with each dive, he would recover a memory linked to water. I coudl really visualize the film.

The production itself took 100 days of animation.There were three of us working on animation and then we had a quick post-production time, so we made the film in a year. Which is very quick… Well, “quick” is relative-it’s animation.

Diving Deep: How Animation Unlocks Memory and Emotion in ‘The Butterfly Swimmer’

Animated painting proved to be the ideal medium for bringing the story of The Butterfly Swimmer to life,particularly in its handling of transitions.Director and animator, explains that the technique lends itself beautifully to visually representing shifts between different states – memories, eras, and emotions – offering a continuity that live-action struggles to achieve.

The choice of animation also allows for a compelling portrayal of the protagonist, Nakache, at various ages.A key scene exemplifies this, showing an elderly Nakache swimming, then diving underwater where his appearance seamlessly transforms into that of a younger man. This kind of rapid, yet believable, transformation is uniquely suited to the animated format.

The film utilizes symbolism powerfully, particularly when Nakache dives into the water, representing a descent into painful memories of the Second World War. The animation reflects this emotional weight, depicting the water as cloudy, brown, and gray, creating a nightmarish atmosphere and transforming the pool into a space of suffering and remembrance.

A particularly striking, abstract sequence sees Nakache emerging from the water not into reality, but into a dreamlike landscape awash in vibrant colors. This passage isn’t about finding resolution or oblivion, but rather signifies a move to another stage in his internal journey.

Ultimately, it’s through these fluid transformations and passages that the narrative’s layers are interwoven, creating a deeply emotional and visually arresting experience.

Diving Deep into Memory: A Conversation with ‘Papillon’ Director Vincent Patar

Vincent Patar’s animated drama,Papillon,is a poignant and visually arresting adaptation of Thierry Jonquet’s graphic novel,recounting the true story of Alfred Fronville,a French boxer wrongly convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to life in the penal colonies of French Guiana. Patar recently spoke with Animation Magazine about the film’s unique aesthetic and the emotional weight of fronville’s journey.

What was your approach to the visual style of the film?

We wanted to create something different from customary animation. We opted for a 2D technique that combined several layers. The backgrounds were painted digitally, but we then added a layer of textures – scanned paper, watercolor washes – to give them a more organic feel. On top of that, we used a glass plate, and the characters were drawn directly onto it. This created a sense of depth and allowed us to play with the reflections of the water and the deformation of what was under the glass.

The characters were then animated either directly on the background or on the glass whether thay were underwater or on the surface.Underwater, they became more abstract, almost blending into the surroundings. On the surface, they were depicted more realistically.

Color seems to be a very crucial element in Papillon.

Color also played a fundamental role. I really enjoy working with color, and for this film, each period of the main character’s life was associated with a particular palette. With the production designer, Margaux Duseigneur, we established a kind of blue chart: sky blue for childhood, turquoise blue for adolescence, navy blue for later life, and a blue verging on purple for the end of his life, when he dives for the last time.

The pools at Auschwitz with dull, muddy, slightly greenish, almost dirty colors. The idea was that each moment of his life, each memory, would be linked to a particular color scheme.All of this has a subconscious effect on the viewer, but it was very carefully thought out.

[Image of Papillon film still]

Did anything surprise you about Alfred’s life as you researched it?

As soon as I came across his story, everything surprised me.It’s an unbelievable life. But a few things made a deep impression on me. The first is his return from the camps. In 1945, he weighed barely 40 and we’r

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