An event that inspires thousands of filmmakers from all backgrounds.
The Nikon Film Festival, which has been offering since 2009 the opportunity for everyone to submit a short film of less than 2 minutes and 20 seconds to a renown jury. This year, Les Films de l'Europe contributed with 'Feu à volonté'.
Fire away !
For the 2024 edition of the Nikon Film Festival, the organizers chose the theme of fire, inviting filmmakers to explore it in its broadest sense. This allowed participants the freedom to interpret and present their audiovisual creations accordingly. In the short film "Feu à volonté", produced by Les Films de l'Europe and directed by Olivier Arnold, fire played a central role.
It symbolized growth, unpredictability, and perhaps mirrored the temperament of the filmmaker from Haut-Rhin, known for his collaborative work with Les Films de l'Europe. In the film, Arnold invites viewers to a birthday celebration where candles multiply endlessly, defying the protagonist's futile attempts to extinguish them with his weary breath. Alongside him, a whimsical accordionist adds to the absurdity of the situation. However, the scene takes a dramatic turn when the candle blower, driven by a fleeting madness, decides to end the spectacle.
Watch the film here !
With its success, the Nikon Film Festival has drawn slightly fewer than 3000 films this year, all eager to be among the fifty selected for the final on April 10th.
A third narrative short with Arnold
It is now the 3rd collab with Olivier Arnold. The first two are actually in festivals now and they're named "Un dernier tour de Piste" and "Albert, Socrate et moi".
"Supporting independent artists is also one of our missions," Clément Nachbauer, director of photography at Les Films de l'Europe, readily declares before laughing as he adds, "especially when they're as quirky as Olivier."