Tennis balls join in a choral, admiring the fate of the tennis court and celebrating the ball girls. This match is tense and full of rivalry for both girls, but their eyes meet. Then, something unexpected occurs: attraction. A dynamic that begins as a bitter rivalry turns into a magnetic passion, as the girls search for a way to escape the competition that stands as a barrier to their love.

If Italian director Luca Guadagnino had created his Challengers (2024) using the language of animation and had paid more attention to more marginal characters of his love triangle, it would, most likely, look just like this short film by Shalev. Yes, to paraphrase one Latvian writer: the feelings easily jump over the tennis net erected by the mind, and in this game of sharp tones, rapid ricochets and melodic maneuvers romance is not an “issue” to be resolved – it becomes a force destroying the entire mechanism of rivalry. The film has been included in the program of Toronto Film Festival, but in RIGA IFF it will have its Baltic premiere.