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Venezia Diorama

Through a series of animated art boards depicting a decaying Venice, the film unfolds like a set of postcards, capturing the mythical city's final moments of fragility.

Blending archival footage with contemporary observations, and anchored by the story of the 1902 collapse of St Mark's Campanile, Venezia Diorama invites us to reflect on a city slowly eroding, yet suspended in time.

  • Nicolas Piret
    Director
    La bride - The dog's leash (Graduation shortfilm 2022), Silent Panorama (2024)
  • Nicolas Piret
    Writer
  • Nicolas Piret
    Animation
  • Nicolas Piret
    Editing
  • David Grançon
    Producer
    Flow (Oscar 2025)
  • Gregory Zalcman
    Associate producers
  • Alon Knoll
    Associate producers
  • Dominique Jochmans
    Sound postproduction coordinator
    Ghost tropic (2019), How to have sex (2023)
  • Thomé Dubeaux
    Sound engineer
    Oiseau de passage (2022), Daniela Forever (2024), Têtes brûlées (2025)
  • Roland Voglaire
    Re-recording mixer
    Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Nature
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    Belgium
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam
    Rotterdam
    Netherlands
    January 29, 2026
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen
    Nijmegen
    Netherlands
    April 2, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Aspen Shortsfest
    Aspen
    United States
    April 8, 2026
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Kaboom International Animation Festival
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    March 13, 2026
  • Florida Film Festival
    Orlando
    United States
    April 15, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Norwegian Short Film Festival

    June 10, 2026
    Norway
    Official Selection
  • Shanghai International Film Festival
    Shanghai
    China
    June 12, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Palm Springs International ShortFest
    Palm Springs
    United States
    June 23, 2026
    Best Animated Short Special Mention for Craft
  • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
    Karlovy Vary
    Czechia
    July 3, 2026
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Manifest Pictures
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
Director Biography - Nicolas Piret

Belgian artist and director. Graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and a master at La Cambre. His various backgrounds in contemporary drawing and comics have led to his films The Dog's Drama (Graduation film 2022) and Silent Panorama. (2024)
His films, animated alone and entirely by hand with meticulous attention to detail, have been screened at international festivals such as IFFR, Karlovy Vary, Annecy and TIFF. And they have earned him recognition from the AFI Fest and French Syndicate of Cinema Critics for his craft.

In 2026, he concluded his “Natural Drama” film series with Venezia Diorama presented in world premiere at the IFFR Rotterdam, followed by Aspen.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Take Five (Flow - Oscars 2025) presents Venezia diorama, its new production.
Supporting the emergence of a young author, who concludes his thematic series/trilogy on the balance between man and nature.

Nicolas Piret continues his formal experiments inspired by comic books, this time creating 11 moments of nature in cases, composed like postcards, drawn alone and entirely by hand.
On these 11 sheets of paper, Nicolas combines collages of archival images with drawings based on personal observation.

His distinctive style is based on a process of successive drawing and erasing, leaving on the sheet the ghostly trace of each movement as well as the rips of paper that move like the foam of the waves.

By gradually deteriorating, the animation of Venezia Diorama reveals a city unaware of the importance of the walls that protect it and the ecosystem that surrounds it.

The film employs a minimalist narrative style to draw attention to the intimacy and poetry of the place.
It sketches a portrait of a Venice on the brink of disappearing, frozen in a timeless diorama that questions our relationship with the past and the present.