‘I like the challenge’: French animator Florence Miailhe on being nominated for an Oscar for the first time aged 70

The film-maker’s passionate and richly textured new short Papillon (Butterfly) tells the heartbreaking story of French-Jewish swimmer Alfred Nakache, who was stripped of his citizenship in Vichy France “My father would’ve loved me to swim competitively. I was in a club when I was young, but I always set off a little bit late in races – and so I had no chance of winning.” French animation director Florence Miailhe chuckles about her swimming career being over before it began. Happily, the same...

By Phil Hoad