What is Dead May Never Die
2012 · France
Directed by Kadavre Exquis
Genres: animation, experimental
Tones: contemplative, surreal, whimsical
A retro-futuristic animated time capsule that drifts through fragments of 20th-century imagery and ideas — from moon landings to film credits — strung together as a series of small visual experiments. Self-directed, animated, and scored by French artist Kadavre Exquis.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A self-made time capsule that treats 20th-century iconography as *material* rather than nostalgia — moon landings and film credits spooled through the same surreal blender, daring you to find the connective tissue. Most scouts would call this a portfolio piece; Felix calls it a manifesto.
Kadavre Exquis situates himself squarely in the lineage of structural animation and found-footage collage, yet the self-composed score grounds what could be precious visual fiddling into something genuinely meditative. A formal exercise that earns its contemplation.
The masterstroke here isn't the retro-futurism or the concept — it's the decision to let the director's own jingle-score carry the visual fragments, turning what looks like untethered experiments into a coherent (and oddly moving) rhythm. One choice that holds the whole thing together.
Reviews
Hints of yesterday's future in Kadavre Exquis' new work.