Percheron

How much can a bout matter when a daughter's freedom is at stake? That is the starting question of Percheron, a short film by Shane Jonathan Collins submitted to the International Sport Film Festival 2026. Its synopsis introduces a terminally ill father and one last opportunity to fight. This premise places boxing within a conflict involving both family and crime, where the time remaining and the body's vulnerability matter as much as money.

The film's world also takes shape away from the ring. Domestic spaces, alleyways and a trophy room accompany conversations about debt, promoters and betting. A medical encounter brings health into the preparations for the fight. These settings allow viewers to approach the bout through what precedes it: financial pressure, relationships of power and responsibility towards a loved one. The match therefore belongs to a network of interests that begins outside the ropes.

The submission lists Ireland and the United Kingdom as the countries of origin, English and French as the languages, and a running time of seventeen minutes. Benjamin Garnier and Andrew French are among the principal cast. Within the story, the proximity of bodies and enclosed spaces accompanies the movement from conversations to boxing action. The fighter's body is where material need and personal danger meet: following that relationship offers a way into the story without revealing its developments.

Collins brings to this work a career spanning fiction and documentary. His professional biography records film studies at TU Dublin and screenwriting studies at the National Film School, alongside titles such as Dub Daze, True and the music documentary Nearly Never Made Me. For Percheron, the credits published by the director name Owen Cant as cinematographer, Irfan van Tuijl as editor and Shane O'Neill as composer.

For those encountering the film through this introduction, the starting point is a father and the bond he is trying to defend. Percheron invites viewers to consider what accompanies the entry into the ring: who decides, who pays and what responsibilities a fighter carries with him. The story leaves the audience to discover how this opportunity to fight will take shape.