Antoine Chapon

Antoine Chapon (b. 1990) is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. His work creates hybrid forms using film, CGI animation, and archival footage. His first short film, “My Own Landscapes,” won the Best Short Film Award at Visions du Réel. The film was selected for over 40 festivals, including Sundance, Telluride, Palm Springs, Sarajevo, and Premiers Plans. His work has been presented at ZKM|Karlsruhe, the Centre Pompidou, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Singapore Art Museum. He is a Berlinale Talents and IDFA Academy alumnus. In 2025, his second documentary short film, “Al Basateen,” won nine awards and was selected for the Berlinale, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Sarajevo, Côté Court, and AFI Fest, among others. Both of his short films were eligible for the César Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2023 and 2026. He is currently writing a feature film as part of the annual selection of Groupe Ouest (France) and the MacDowell artistic residency (USA).

Les larmes d’Achille

Annual Selection 2025

Bastien, 23, is a corporal in the Army returning from Mali. As soon as he gets back, he is assigned a new mission: to organize, within six months, a competition for the Army’s new video game in order to attract and recruit large numbers of young gamers. At the same time, Bastien and three other soldiers are participating in group therapy that involves reenacting the explosion of an armored vehicle that killed three of their comrades. The body of one of them, Arthur, could not be repatriated. At night, Arthur’s ghost returns and demands that Bastien provide a body worthy of their love so that his soul may cease to wander. As preparations for the competition intensify, Bastien secretly hijacks the Army’s video game to offer Arthur a body and a virtual burial.