Scale (film)

Scale is a 2022 French animated short film directed by Joseph Pierce. The film debuted at the 2022 Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival and was produced by Melocoton Films (France), in co-production with Bridge Way Films (UK), Endorfilm (Czech Republic) and Ozù Productions (Belgium). Scale has received several nominations and awards, including a nomination for Best British Short Film at the 2022 British Independent Film Awards and winning the Golden Zagreb Award at the 2023 Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films. In August 2022, the film won the Oscar-qualifying award for Best Animation at HollyShorts Film Festival, and became eligible for the 96th Academy Awards. The film is also in the official selection for the 2024 César Awards.

Background
The film is an adaptation of the homonymous novella written by Will Self as part of the short story collection Grey Area (1994). Pierce, who read the story as a teenager, felt compelled to adapt the story into an ambitious animated short.

Cast

 * Sam Spruell as Will
 * Zahra Ahmadi as Eden
 * Evelyn Neghabian Pierce as Edith
 * Minou Neghabian Pierce as Lyla

Plot
An opium-addicted father obsessed with the UK highway system narrates his descent into crippling addiction and isolation, and how he lost his sense of scale.

Reception
Since its release, the film has been selected for various festivals around the world: