120 Emile Reynaud Award 2025: A Girl Along the Water
- Clément Martin
- Oct 31
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 3
The Émile Reynaud Award 2025: Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières
The Émile Reynaud Award is a distinction that honors a French professional animated short film. Originally created in 1943 by La Critique Cinématographique Parisienne, it has been awarded annually since 1977 by the Association Française du Cinéma d’Animation (AFCA).
This year, six short films were selected:
Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières (Caïmans Productions, Animais AVPL, Valk Productions)
The Death of the Fish by Eva Lusbaronian (Miyu Productions)
Mise en culture, récolte et dispersion des épines by Jeanne Girard (Novanima, A Perte de Vue, l’Incroyable Studio)
God Is Shy by Jocelyn Charles (Remembers)
Long Distance by Iulia Voitova (Welaï Productions, Avec ou sans vous)
Carcassonne–Acapulco by Marjorie Caup, Olivier Héraud (12//24 Films)
selected shorts films - Image source AFCA
On this World Animation Day, celebrated on October 28th, the six shortlisted films were shown on the big screen at Cinéma Le Méliès in Paris and at the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes.This remarkable selection, which brought this October’s "Fête du Cinéma d’Animation" to a close, offered audiences a delightful mix of offbeat humor, sharp wit, dance, the supernatural, moments of weightlessness, and deep dives into poetic worlds.
There could only be one winner — and the members of the AFCA awarded the Émile Reynaud Prize to "Water Girl" by Sandra Desmazières (Caïmans Productions, Animais AVPL, Valk Productions).
Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières France, Portugal, Netherlands – 2025 – 15'06''
Written and directed by Sandra Desmazières
Produced by Jérôme Barthélemy, Daniel Sauvage & Olivier Catherin
In co-production with Animais – Nuno Amorim & Vanessa Ventura – and Valk Productions – Richard Valk
Original music by Manuel Merlot, Cedryck Santens
Train Train Studio: Gilles Cuvelier, Marine Blin12//24 Studio: Marianne Chazelas, Maxime Fossier
Editing by Guerric CatalaSound editing by Antoine Citrinot, Alexis PlaceFoley by Grégory VincentSound mix by Cyril HoltzColor grading by Richard Deusy
With gentleness and tenderness, the film draws us into the world of female divers of all ages who harvest shellfish from the sea.When these women dive, age seems to dissolve as if, beneath the surface, they return to their true element.
“Water Girl " follows the life of Mia, one of the divers, filled with joys, sorrows, encounters, and disappearances through a contemplative journey across time, .
The water and the marine world blend poetically with reality, memories, and the dreams of Mia, now an old woman.
The sea, as a constant presence, envelops the entire course of her life.
Sandra Desmazières wanted to make a film about women’s lives, about the transformation of their bodies, motherhood, and the passage of time.The story found its setting when she discovered a documentary about these female divers, whose world became the framework for her narrative.
The animation was created primarily using TVPaint, except for the sequences handcrafted by Sandra Desmazières herself. The images were printed, then drawn and painted by hand, rescanned, cut out, and re-integrated into the animation.
More than 25 000 Images were drawn and painted by hand to give the film its organic vibrancy and remarkable graphic quality, at times reminiscent of a “living Paul Gauguin”, immersing us fully in the world of these female divers.
Sandra Desmazières talks about her film (in french) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQepC-JMb-o
While waiting to see it on the big screen, you can watch the film on the ARTE platform: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/108511-000-A/fille-de-l-eau/
If the platform is not available in your country you can watch the trailer on : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo3FEZtoaY8
Sandra Desmazières gifted us with a beautiful poem about a woman’s life along the water.
As with any well-deserved award, it was celebrated properly… without water!
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