Experiencing Interruptions?

ROUND MACHINE

This film (Fr+st Eng) is based on the music and lyrics from 'Bertier's album.

In the near future, a man, a poet, wanders in a world where he seems to be the only human being. He wonders about the future of civilization. The place of women, war, fascism, cyborgs, finance. He doesn't have much hope. His memories of the old world haunt him. On his journey, he witnesses the results of a century of human destruction. He crosses universes as strange as they are surreal. Until we understand that they're dreaming. He's dreaming within the dream, which is itself a dream. A dark film about the future of the planet and human beings.

  • Lucas Racasse
    Director
  • Lucas Racasse
    Writer
  • Pierre Dungen
    Writer
  • Lucas Racasse
    Producer
  • Pierre Dungen
    Key Cast
  • Lara Herbinia
    Key Cast
  • Yan Péchin
    Key Cast
  • Yan Péchin
    Original Music
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Machine Ronde
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Runtime:
    25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 23, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    4,800 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Belgium
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium
  • Language:
    French
  • Shooting Format:
    digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Lift-Off First-Time Filmmaker Volume 3
    London
    United Kingdom
    August 12, 2024
    UK premiere
    Official Selection short Filmmaker
  • Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions Volume 3
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 23, 2024
    Official Selection short
  • Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    February 17, 2025
    Germany premiere
    Official Selection animation
  • OUTPUT FILM FESTIVAL
    Aarhus
    Denmark
    October 26, 2024
    Main selection
  • FESTIVAL ANGAELICA
    Pasadena
    United States
    October 21, 2025
    Official Selection film & serie
  • Hollywood Best Indie Film Awards
    Bifa
    United States
    March 12, 2025
    US premiere
    Official Selection Director Animation Film
  • Austin Lift-Off Film Festival
    Austin
    United States
    March 1, 2025
    Official Selection short animation
  • 24Frame Future Film Festival
    Bologna
    Italy
    October 25, 2025
    Official Selection short film in animation and/or with vfx
  • Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    May 4, 2025
    Japan Première
    International Anime
  • Los Angeles Movie & Music Video Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 8, 2025
    Official Selection Animation
  • Los Angeles Short Film Award
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 10, 2025
    First Time Director
  • 🏆 Monza Film Fest
    Monza
    Italy
    April 30, 2025
    Premiere Italy
    Best Soundtrack Winner
  • 🏆 Absurd Film Festival
    Milano
    Italy
    April 10, 2025
    Best Soundtrack Winner
  • 🏆 🏆 Hollywood Blood Horror Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    June 5, 2025
    Winner Best Animated & VFX
  • Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    July 2, 2025
    Animations
  • 🥉 Zepstone International Film & Music Festival
    Salt Lake City
    United States
    May 20, 2025
    Best Musical Film - Quarter-Finalist
  • 🥈 Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    January 22, 2026
    🏆 Honorable Mention Best Sound Design
  • New York Lift-Off Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    July 1, 2025
    Best Animation & Best First Time Film Maker
  • 🏆 Cult Movies International Film Festival
    UK
    United Kingdom
    June 30, 2025
    Winner best sound design
  • 🏆 Red Moon Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    June 28, 2025
    Winner Best Composer
  • 🏆 Night of Shorts
    Milano
    Italy
    June 30, 2025
    Winner Best Dystopian Short
  • 🏆 Medusa Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    June 30, 2025
    Winner Best Short Animation
  • 🏆 Magic Silver Screen
    New York
    United States
    June 30, 2025
    Winner best sound design
  • 🏆 Philadelphia Film Awards
    Philadelphia
    United States
    July 1, 2025
    Winner animation
  • 🏆 NYC Independent Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    July 31, 2025
    Winner Best Soundtrack
  • 🏆 🏆 Miami International Gold Awards
    Miami
    United States
    July 6, 2025
    Winner Best original score & Sci-Fi Short
  • 🏆 Rome International Movie Awards
    Roma
    Italy
    July 4, 2025
    Winner Animation
  • New Filmmakers NY
    New York
    United States
    October 1, 2025
    Official Selection Animation
  • 🏆 🏆 Champs-Élysées Film Awards
    Paris
    France
    July 7, 2025
    France Premiere
    Winner Animation Short & Sound Design
  • Street Movies Festival
    Belgrade
    Serbia
    September 13, 2025
    Serbia Premiere
    Official Selection short
  • 🥈 Humro Cinema Film Fest
    Pokhra
    Nepal
    August 5, 2025
    Nepal premiere
    Official Selection Best Soundtrack
  • 🥉 Stockholm City Film Festival
    Stockholm
    Sweden
    July 27, 2025
    Sweden premiere
    Official Selection short animation
  • 🥈 Lion King International Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    July 31, 2025
    Finalist Short Animation
  • 🥈 Frames of Newyork
    New York
    United States
    August 3, 2025
    Finalist Animation
  • Tokyo Film & Screenplay Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    August 14, 2025
    Official Selection Animation
  • 🥈 Elegant International Film Festival
    Kolkata, West Bengal
    India
    August 17, 2025
    India premiere
    🥈 Finalist Animated film
  • Rio Cine Awards
    Rio de Janeiro
    Brazil
    August 1, 2025
    première Brazil
    Official Selection Best International Short – Pão de Açúcar Award
  • Paris Lift-Off Film Festival
    Paris
    France
    September 1, 2025
    Official Selection Short Film Live Action Narrative
  • 🏆 Ipê Amarelo Film Festival
    São Paulo
    Brazil
    January 1, 2026
    Winner Short Film
  • Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    October 1, 2025
    Netherland premiere
    Official Selection best art direction
  • Global Visionaries Film Festival
    Đà Nẵng
    Vietnam
    September 21, 2025
    Vietnam premiere
    Finalist Best Animation Film (Main Category)
  • 🥈Silverlens Film Awards
    Karnataka
    India
    October 20, 2025
    Finalist Best Short FIlm (Main Category)
  • Spring Time International Film Festival
    Kolkata
    India
    December 19, 2025
    Official Selection Animated Film
  • The Flight Deck Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    November 7, 2025
    Official Competition ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ꜰɪʟᴍ & music
  • 🥈 The Macoproject Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    December 20, 2025
    Honorable mention Short Film
  • 🏆 Nicomedia International Film Awards
    İzmit
    March 11, 2026
    Turkey premiere
    Winner Best Animation
  • Osaka Horizon International Film Festival
    Osaka
    Japan
    June 14, 2026
    Official Selection Animated Film
  • The Short Film Channel
    Nottingham
    United Kingdom
    April 16, 2026
    Official Selection Animated Film
  • 🏆🏆 BIMIFF – Brazil Independent Magazine and International Film Festival
    Rio de Janeiro
    Brazil
    March 10, 2026
    Winner Best Animation - Best Post Production
Distribution Information
  • Moyens du bord Productions Brussels
    Sales Agent
    Country: Belgium
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Lucas Racasse

French visual artist born in 1969, based in Brussels. He has been producing animated films for 25 years. With his production company Moyens du bord, he has made numerous music videos, films for live performance and a few short films. He is currently working on his first animated feature film: 'Serial Timer'
Today, and for the past few years, he has been devoting most of his time to his personal work. His first short-feature-length animated, 25 minutes long, was released in 2024. 'Machine Ronde' (Round Machine).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Hello, you'll find this profile very atypical. And totally outside the box. I'm often asked if I'm a film director. I answer "I don't know, but I make films". With my little production company, Moyens du bord (literally, "make do with what you've got"), we make films on very low budgets. And, above all, without any subsidies. We've always wanted to be free. We use whatever we can find. Free footage. Paid footage. Video, images, illustrations... Anything we can't find, we make ourselves or commission. We work with animators from all over the world sometimes, which is fun. Even if our work is still DIY, it's still film.

The film I'm showing you isn't my first, but it is my first long animated short (25min). A film I wrote, directed and produced, first and foremost for myself.
Listening to the demo of the new album by my friends in Bertier (a Belgian rock band), Pierre's lyrics and poetry gave me the idea for this film. I then asked Yann Pechin (the famous French guitarist), who composed the music, if he would provide me with all the recorded sound tracks used to produce the musical album "Machine ronde - 2024". To my great surprise, he agreed. So I was able to use all the tracks from the album, instrumental or sung and remixed, to create the soundtrack for this film.

You could call it a short film or a music video, because it's a bit of both, and it uses exclusively the material from the 10 songs on Bertier's album. Which I don't think has ever been done before.

I hope you like this film, and that you'll make room for it at your festival. For I believe that do-it-yourselfers are always welcome among the greats. Thank you for reading.