Los Angeles, CA (August 21, 2025). Mercenaire is a short film by Pier-Philippe Chevigny. Producer Geneviève Gosselin-G. and Pier-Philippe Chevigny, who is the Writer and Director, present Mercenaire at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Logline: Hired at a slaughterhouse thanks to a social reinsertion program, an ex-convict struggles to find another job while repressing the violence that boils within him.
Synopsis: Recently released from prison for a murder committed in unclear circumstances, David (Marc-André Grondin) struggles to adapt to his new-found freedom. Reluctantly hired at a pig slaughterhouse thanks to a social reinsertion program, he desperately tries to find another job while struggling to adapt to his new work environment. When he witnesses the cruelty of his new colleagues, he must fight to repress the violence that boils within him.
The Official Trailer for Mercenaire Directed by Pier-Philippe Chevigny
Mercenaire has been to multiple festivals, and won awards. It had it world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2024. TIFF is Canada’s Top Ten. It won Special Jury Award at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 2025. It also won Marion Hansël Award at Festival international du film francophone de Namur 2024. It is a won Best Narrative Short Film at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma
It is a winner at the Vital Award Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue 2024. It won the Best Short Film Ramdam Festival 2025 (Belgium). It got a Jury Mention Bref International Film Festival 2025 (Italy). It screened at Brooklyn Film Festival 2025 (US Premiere) and Palm Springs International Shortsfest 2025 (West Coast Premiere). It also screened at Busan International Short Film Festival 2025. Curta Cinema Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival 2025. It was also at Internationale Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg, Germany, 2025
Mercenaire screened at these festivals
– Festival Regard, 2025
– Filmoramax 2024
– Festival du nouveau cinéma, 2024
– Tehran International Short Film Festival, 2024
– Aesthetica Short Film Festival, 2024
– Corto Dorico Film Festival, Italy, 2024
– Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival, Greece, 2025
– Ennesimo Film Festival, Italy
– Festival internazionale Segni della Notte, Urbino (Italy)
– FILMETS Badalona Film Festival (Spain)
– Madrid Film Festival of the Americas (Spain)
– La Guarimba Film Festival (Italy)
– Le Cri du Court (France)
About Pier-Philippe Chevigny
He is a filmmaker from Montreal, Quebec. His films combine anxiety-inducing camerawork and suspenseful scripts based on contemporary social issues. His short films Tala, Vétérane, and Rebel were selected at over 200 festivals worldwide. In 2023, his first feature Richelieu was presented at Karlovy Vary, Tribeca, Palm Springs and Namur where it won the Bayard for Best First Feature. In 2024, he returned to the short film format with Mercenaire, a social drama that world premiered at TIFF. He is currently developing his follow-up feature.
About HollyShort Film Festival
An Oscar®-Qualifying short film festival based in Los Angeles. Since its establishment in 2005, HollyShorts has grown into a premier platform for independent filmmakers worldwide. As an Academy Awards-qualifying festival in four categories, HollyShorts presents a diverse selection of innovative short films across various genres.
About BitPix
Bitpix is a streaming service for shorts films, accessible on over 1000 devices including iOS devices, Android devices, MACs, PCs, streaming media boxes such as Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast. Bitpix was created by filmmakers for filmmakers. Born and bread out of the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, Bitpix is your home to watch the best short films from around the world—every day. Bitpix News is your home for the latest news, reviews, and updates about these shorts featured on the platform.
About 88th Street Productions
HSFF provides 88th Street Productions access to over 40,000 short films and filmmakers in all genres, The Company has long standing relationships with these filmmakers, talent and entertainment industry executives. 88th Street is able to activate these relationships to source to access projects in all genres. Alta Global Media provides access to established filmmakers, executives and talent agencies.
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