"5 métres 80" - a great animated short film by Nicolas Deveaux

Last night, the French-German television channel ARTE showed the short film "5 métres 80" by the young French writer and director of animation films Nicolas Deveaux. The film, showing a group of giraffes performing trapeze jumps at a large swimming pool, was at least for me one of the highlights of this television season. Deveax, who in this film combines his love for animals and animation in a seemingly absurd way, creates a world which is both hilarious, affectionate and moving. 

Below are a few images from the "5 métres 80", in order to give you an idea of what the film is all about:

You can watch "5 métres 80" here.

I found this brief introduction on the Premiere Heure website:
As a writer and director of animation films (3D and relief), Nicolas Deveaux has a very personal world around two passions : image and the animal world.

In 2003, fresh out of his degree in computer graphics, he directed 7Tonnes2, a short-film showing a realistic elephant trampoline champion. Its critical acclaim (Annecy Festival) gave him the opportunity to work on mny projects from documentaries (« Sea Rex » : Imax relief, « Le Paresseux Géant » : TV doc) to commercials (Kinder, Okay Lotus, Lipton, SuperCroix...) and even amusement park films (« Cité de la Mer » in Biarritz, « EANA » in Normandy).

Already confirmed in a strong realistic style, he develops a graphic  and poetic writing inspired by lithographic engravings and prints.

Here you can watch Deveaux's 2003 production "7Tonnes2", which has been quite a success also on the web: