Florence Miailhe Oscar Nomination at 70 for Animated Short Papillon

Published: 24 February 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

French animator Florence Miailhe has achieved a late‑career milestone with her first Academy Award nomination at the age of 70 for her animated short Papillon (Butterfly), a deeply textured film about the life of French‑Jewish Olympic swimmer Alfred Nakache that has been widely praised ahead of the 98th Oscars. Miailhe — best known for her painterly, handcrafted animation style — spoke candidly about her artistic journey and what the nomination means to her as a creator dedicated to exploring memory, identity and resilience.

Miailhe’s Papillon is a visually striking, 15‑minute short that traces Nakache’s life from his early triumphs in competitive swimming to the horrors he endured under the Vichy regime and his deportation to Auschwitz before returning to life after the Second World War. Crafted frame‑by‑frame on glass with oils, pastels and sand, the film reflects Miailhe’s lifelong commitment to animation that is tactile and evocative, where each image carries emotional weight.

Speaking from New York while promoting the film to Oscar voters, Miailhe reflected on both her age and her artistic ethos. She described the work as “very difficult and stressful,” but said she relishes the challenge of creating something unique in a field now dominated by digital techniques. Her approach resists shortcuts, embracing hands‑on experimentation — a method that places her among the most individual voices in contemporary animation.

Miailhe acknowledged that she came to the story of Nakache partly through personal memory and family history; her parents knew Nakache and his wife through their involvement in the French resistance. This personal connection, she said, made the film not only a piece of art but a tribute — as well as a statement on discrimination and the human cost of injustice, themes that continue to resonate today.

Her nomination spotlights a body of work that spans decades, from early shorts to her acclaimed 2021 feature La Traversée, and underscores the continued relevance of traditional animation techniques in contemporary cinema. Papillon sits alongside other nominated animated shorts from around the world, each demonstrating the diverse and expressive potential of the medium.

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