Skip to main content
Water Girl film image; illustration of a woman

Water Girl

Fille de l’eau

VIFF Short Forum

Anchored by her relationship to the sea as a freediver, Mia recalls her past.

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

France/Netherlands/Portugal

Year

2025

Language

No Dialogue

18+
15 min
Animation Shorts Women Directors
Animais, Valk Productions

Credits & Director

Producer

Jérôme Barthélemy, Daniel Sauvage, Olivier Catherin

Screenwriter

Sandra Desmazières

Editor

Guerric Catala

Original Music

Manuel Merlot, Cedryck Santens

Sandra Desmazières headshot

Sandra Desmazières

Born in 1978, Sandra Desmazières studied at Duperré and ENSAD in Paris, where she discovered animation. Her graduation film, Sans queue ni tête, won the Cartoon d’Or in 2003, and in 2021, she directed Flowing Home, which was shortlisted for a César and an Academy Award in 2022. Her latest film, Water Girl (2025), was co-produced by Caïmans Productions and Animais and Valk Productions, with the participation of Arte. Desmazières is currently working on a new short film project, J28, and a feature film, Tempête Rouge. In addition to her films, she works as an illustrator and colourist for comics.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Blue Caftan

Dir. Maryam Touzani
122 min

Richly erotic and deeply moving, Maryam Touzani’s queer-themed film takes us to urban Morocco and into the lives of three beautiful souls. Halim is a master tailor; Mina is his loyal wife; Youssef is the man who slowly comes between them.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Sun Never Sets

Dir. Joe Swanberg
102 min

At the suggestion of her much older (divorced) boyfriend, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) takes a summer to reevaluate her life and date other people. She's reluctant at first, but then reconnects with an old flame... A gentle indie comedy from Joe Swanberg.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Hanging by a Wire

Dir. Mohammed Ali Naqvi
78 min

The Himalayas, Aug 22, 2023: a cable car bearing 8 passengers (six of them schoolkids) is left dangling 900 feet above the ground when two out of three cables snap. This nailbiting documentary recounts the increasingly frantic rescue attempts.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Andrei Rublev

Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
183 min

Andrei Tarkovsky's vast and vivid episodic epic tells the story of a Russian monk and painter of religious icons 1400-1428, during the time of the Tartar invasions.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Union County

Dir. Adam Meeks
97 min

In this authentically grounded addiction recovery drama, Will Poulter and Noah Centenio are foster brothers trying to get out from their dependence on opioids through a progressive government program in Ohio.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

PULP: What Do You Do For an Encore?

Dir. Garth Jennings
90 min

Always the coolest of the Britpop bands, Jarvis Cocker's Pulp commemorated 40 years of music and friendship with a reunion tour and film, with Sing director Garth Jennings at the helm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema