Acumen presents a fashion editorial and a short film directed by François Berthier. 

In a minimalist setting, a table, a chessboard with perfectly aligned pawns, an atmosphere where every gesture seems weighed and calculated. The story begins with the fleeting appearance of a woman, dressed in a sumptuous fur from the Yves Salomon archives. An almost spectral silhouette, she kicks off a silent game, where every movement on the chessboard echoes in the icy air that bathes this strange duel. Then she disappears, leaving behind a mysterious echo and palpable tension. Face to face, two enigmatic figures: a man and a woman, also wrapped in fur coats, embodying a feverish power, a hushed but implacable confrontation. The chess board, the symbolic arena of psychological warfare, becomes their battlefield. But here, the game is not just about strategy. It embodies a deeper struggle, a silent combat between two souls entangled in a relationship of power and vulnerability. Each move is much more than a simple movement on the stage: it's a gesture charged with meaning, a confrontation between the desire for control and the acceptance of the inescapable. The game intensifies, each piece moved with inflexible concentration. But as the man loses his footing, one gesture too many, one irrational move, and his king falls. The loss of control turns into an explosion of frustration. He overturns the chessboard, scattering the pieces in a chaotic dance across the floor, symbolizing an inevitable defeat, but also a rejection of reality. He gets up and leaves the stage, carried away by the weight of his failure. The woman, left alone, observes the fallen pieces. No triumph, no dazzling victory. She rests her head in her hands, engulfed by a heavy silence, a thought that seems to stretch beyond the confrontation. Did she win? Or did she lose too? The emptiness left by the end of the game becomes greater than the victory itself, as if the conquest of a game cannot fill the space of true liberation. 

Conceived as a fashion editorial under the artistic direction of Flora di Carlo, this short film highlights Yves Salomon's archival furs in a striking mise-en-scène, where each piece becomes an extension of the characters' emotions. A symbol of luxury and protection, the fur here becomes a carapace, a mark of domination and desire for control, while revealing an underlying fragility. The choice of black and white gives this film a timeless, icy and austere atmosphere. The coldness of the image and the absence of color accentuate the gravity of the moment and the emotional distance between the two protagonists. The contrast between light and shadow creates a visual tension that accompanies the silent duel, transforming each gesture into a precise, calculated choreography. The soundtrack, penned by Simon Delacroix, aka Toxic Avenger, punctuates this hypnotic dance with an intensity that underlines the dramatic crescendo of the game. The notes, sometimes hushed, sometimes percussive, envelop the scene in a mysterious, bewitching aura, translating into music the movements of the pieces and the feverish beating of the hearts that clash. The final image, of a broken room strewn across the black-and-white floor, offers a poignant final tableau. The woman, alone in the subdued light, lost in thought, seems carried away by the weight of this victory, which in the end is nothing glorious. Isn't victory sometimes just another form of defeat? A burden we carry without ever being able to get rid of it?

Échec & Mat is not just a story about a game, it's the story of a silent battle, an internal struggle that takes place in the invisible recesses of human relationships. A duel where the real question is not who won or lost, but whether the game was really worth the candle.

CREDITS TEAM Short Film

Directed by François Berthier
Co-Direction, Artistic Direction & Styling: Flora di Carlo
Editing & Color Grading: François Berthier
Lighting: Valentin Décoratif & Nicolas Sukhoon
Music: Composed & Produced by The Toxic Avenger
@toxavanger (P) & (C) Enchanté Records @enchanterecords

Makeup Artist : Ludovic Cadeo
Makeup Assistant: Feriel brizini
Hair Stylist: Léonie Chipie

CREDITS

Photographer François Berthier
Artistic Direction & Styling: Flora di Carlo
Lighting: Valentin Décoratif & Nicolas Sukhoon
Music: Composed & Produced by The Toxic Avenger
@toxavanger (P) & (C) Enchanté Records @enchanterecords

Makeup Artist : Ludovic Cadeo
Makeup Assistant: Feriel brizini
Hair Stylist: Léonie Chipier
Production Assistant : Tanja Aksentijević

Models :Héloïse Lebeau, Valentin Villedieu

Model Agency: Cover Management
Magazine: Acumen Magazine
Location: Galerie Joseph