For moviegoers seeking a unique, surreal and probing animated experience, New York City’s Film Forum will present the U.S. theatrical premiere of Pierre Földes’ Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman on Friday, April 14. Following this engagement, the critically acclaimed European co-pro will enjoy a wider rollout across U.S. theaters through Zeitgeist Films.
Adapted from internationally bestselling author Haruki Murakami’s short stories and brought to the big screen using an innovative live-action 3D motion-capture process, the Film Forum describes an animated tale wherein ‘mundane and psychedelic narratives interlock ingeniously, as each protagonist traverses emotional and physical distances, fantasy and memory, in search of deeper human connection. The result is an elegant, whimsical and haunting experience.’
Synopsis: A lost cat, a voluble giant toad and a tsunami help an unambitious salesman, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant save Tokyo from an earthquake and find meaning in their lives.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Distinction for Best Feature. The film also won the Grand Prize at Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, and screened at festivals in Toronto, Busan and Rotterdam.
The project is the feature film directorial debut of composer Földes (son of Oscar-nominated computer animation pioneer Peter Foldes), who also wrote, animated and composed. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is produced by Tom Dercourt, Pierre Baussaron, Olivier Pere, Pierre Urbain, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, David Mouraire.
The voice cast features Ryan Bommarito (Komura), Shoshana Wilder (Kyoko), Marcelo Arroyo (Katagiri), Scott Humphrey (Sasaki), Arthur Holden (Mr. Suzuki) and Pierre Földes as the Frog.
Production companies are Cinéma Defacto and Miyu Productions (France), in coproduction with Studio MA (France), micro_scope (Canada), An Original Picture (Netherlands), Doghouse Films (Luxembourg), Production l’Unité Centrale (Canada), Arte France Cinéma and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. The Match Factory handles international sales.
Film Forum presents Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman with support from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund and the Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film.
