Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

A giant talkative frog casually reciting Nietzsche, Joseph Conrad and Ernest Hemingway sets out to save Tokyo from a massive worm with the help of a schizophrenic bank employee whose co-worker is trying to cope with his frustrated wife and his stray cat. All of this happens right after the devastating earthquake in the city in 2011. This remarkable mishmash forms the basis of French composer-filmmaker Pierre Földes' debut feature, inspired by a handful of Haruki Murakami's short stories.

The literary world of Murakami - one of the greatest writers of contemporary literature - balances fantasy and reality, and is filled with cigarette smoke, pondering men, playful philosophy, sex and irony. Bringing his stories to the big screen is tricky, certainly in live-action. Animation might be a better fit, according to Pierre Földes.

Between existentialism and delightful irony, and with a characteristic touch of absurdity, the filmmaker perfectly captures the spirit of Murakami's language. As if the two of them are on the same unique wavelength. To convince the famous author and his entourage to sell the rights, the animator even created a "graphic bible" presenting his approach.

"What is visible to everyone is not the most important thing", the frog says in the film. But Földes' innovative visual style is one of the highlights of this adaptation. For each shot, a live-action reference was first filmed. Afterwards, the animators would swap the actors' heads for a 3D model of the character's face. Behind all the absurdity - both narratively and visually - are portraits of people struggling with the shadows of their fears and weaknesses, searching for themselves and their place in the world.

Before the screening of 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' the Murakami-inspired short film 'Yomoyama Short Stories' by Fuka Katayama will be shown.