(Animation – DCP – 2K – 25′ )
Got ! oh my Got (B) – Lardux Films (F) – Luna blue Film (B)
An animated political farce somewhere between grotesque theatre, propaganda and a media nightmare
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Synopsis
Charles-Édouard Vroum, the kangaroo-brief tycoon, buys himself a party and launches a bid for the presidency. His platform? National apple pie, a wall to keep out migrating birds, and no shortage of manliness. We laugh — at first. For as Vroum climbs in the polls, the farce begins to crack, the grotesque starts to bleed, and a whole nation finds itself ready to cheer on the worst. All About Briefs and Apple Pies is a fable about how we slide into the abyss, smiling.
Director’s Note
At the origin of this new project lies the astonishing re-election of Donald Trump and the shockwave it sent through Western democracies. The film emerged from that sense of collective bewilderment.
Yet the Trump phenomenon was preceded by a long and troubling rise of farright movements across Europe and the rest of the world. Toxic ideas once thought buried by history are now becoming normalized within democratic societies. As Marine Le Pen declared in 2024: “We may not have won the election, but we have won the battle of ideas. It is an ideological victory.”
We are now living through a deeply unstable political climate, increasingly shaped by radicalized discourse and the normalization of extreme positions once believed to belong to the past. But beyond immediate current events, what interests us in All about briefs and appel pies is not the event itself, but the mechanisms that make it possible.
The film dissects a method through the form of a political fable. Vroum embodies a century of ideological strategies: the simplification of language, the invention of internal enemies, the instrumentalization of masculinity, the collapse of boundaries between politics and spectacle, and more.
Contrary to what the excesses and apparent chaos of the American magnate might suggest, there is indeed an older strategy at work — one that has been theorized and refined since the European fascisms of the 20th century. The tools may have changed, but the methodology remains. This is the foundation on which the project is built.
The structure of the film and the character of Vroum are heavily inspired by Umberto Eco’s definition of fascism, particularly the recurring traits identified in Ur-Fascism. History also reminds us that authoritarian shifts are never accidents; they emerge through alliances, compromises, economic interests and media collusion.
We chose satire, grotesque imagery and theatrical excess because absurdity and exaggeration can also become powerful ways of revealing truth. This approach shapes the visual language of the film as well: little by little, the contemporary world slides toward an aesthetic inspired by the years 1915–1930, as reality itself begins to fracture under the effects of propaganda, spectacle and ideological contamination.
About Aesthetic & Production
All About Briefs and Apple Pies is structured in acts like a theatrical performance — a major aesthetic influence on the project — the film deliberately embraces a composite form, blending outrageous political speeches, parody campaign clips, television broadcasts, reworked archive footage, dreamlike sequences and deliberately kitschy songs.
The audience is constantly pulled between these different registers, reflecting the chaos of an era in which the boundaries between politics, spectacle, identity delirium, provocation and advertising slogans have completely dissolved.
As the story unfolds, the visual universe gradually and almost imperceptibly shifts from the contemporary world toward an aesthetic inspired by the 1920s and 1930s, until reality itself becomes fully contaminated.
The film’s visual language draws heavily from the European avant-gardes of the years 1915–1930. These influences root the project in a dialogue between past and modernity. Some of William Kentridge’s theatrical productions — which draw from similar artistic sources — are also major inspirations for the film.
From a production standpoint, Eric Ledune continues his exploration of the mechanisms of political domination through a hybrid and deliberately chaotic satirical fable. It will be his ninth short film, and his first created in digital 3D.
All About Briefs and Apple Pies extends an already strong collaboration with Lardux Films, following Eric Ledune’s two previous films. The partnership with Luna Blue Film — previously involved in Camille through the Belgian Tax Shelter system — also continues a coherent co-production dynamic. Both companies are already collaborating on an animated feature film, and this synergy already provides the project with a stable, experienced and reliable production framework.
Visual Research
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2D Exterior Designs
2D & 3D Interior Designs
2D Character Designs
2D & 3D Vroum Designs
Vroum’s Naive Thoughts – 2D Animation
Reworked Archives – 2D Animation
Early Animation Tests
Selected Filmography
CAMILLE (2022)
PORNOGRAPHY (2016)
DO-IT-YOURSELF (2007)
Project Status
The screenplay and shot breakdown are currently completed. Several visual development pieces and early animation tests have already been produced in order to define the film’s visual language and its gradual shift toward an aesthetic inspired by the 1920s and 1930s.
The project is currently in development and seeking co-producers, broadcasters and 3D animation studios interested in ambitious hybrid visual approaches.
A first animatic and additional animation tests are planned during the next development phase.