Athens International Film Festival
aiff

BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN / SAULES AVEUGLES, FEMME ENDORMIE

A hallucinatory animated film based on stories by Haruki Murakami, featuring talking frogs, lost cats and heroes willing to abandon their murky lives. Balancing between the absurd, the surreal and existentialism, and masterfully recreating the mystical atmosphere with the metaphysical concerns of the Japanese author, the film constitutes a sui generis, a hypnotic creation that orchestrates a fanciful audiovisual tsunami as it chronicles the trials and tribulations of a handful of lost souls trying to reinvent themselves.


FRANCE, CANADA, NETHERLANDS, LUXEMBOURG | 2022 | COLOR | DCP | 108’ | ENGLISH

An eloquent frog saving Tokyo from a deadly earthquake, an unambitious banker, an ‘empty’ clerk in love with his best friend’s wife, a modern-day genie and a single wish, a lost cat, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23’s adagio… It’s a world distilled from three Murakami short story collections, an incredible animated debut by composer Pierre Földes, who definitely should have debuted earlier. Light and meaningful at the same time, free from a world that needs different people in order to change, filled with humour and unexpected cinephilia (a meaningful nod to Ford’s ‘Fort Apache’, among others), this is a film which claims, in a melancholic but very charming manner, that essence lies beyond sour rationalism. I.D.

DIRECTOR: Pierre Földes
SCREENWRITER: Pierre Földes
DoP: Étienne Boilard
MUSIC: Pierre Földes
EDITOR: Kara Blake
PRINCIPAL CAST: Ryan Bommarito, Shoshana Wilder, Marcelo Arroyo, Scott Humphrey, Arthur Holden, Pierre Földes

PIERRE FÖLDES
Composer, arranger, painter and filmmaker born in the USA and raised in Paris by Hungarian-English parents. He studied piano and music composition, he writes music for films, series, advertisements and video games. This is his debut as a director.

FILMOGRAPHY
2022
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman



        : Festival Darlings

        DECISION TO LEAVE / HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (Opening Film)

        DECISION TO LEAVE / HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (Opening Film)

        29/09/22, 21:45, DANAOS 1

        CLOSE (Closing Film)

        CLOSE (Closing Film)

        08/10/22, 21:30, IDEAL (Closing Film)

        MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE

        MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARRIAGE

        29/09/22, 19:30, ASTY
        08/10/22, 18:00, DANAOS 1

        SOUTH SENTINEL / SENTINELLE SUD

        SOUTH SENTINEL / SENTINELLE SUD

        29/09/22, 19:45, DANAOS 2
        08/10/22, 17:30, ASTOR

        RULE 34 / REGRA 34

        RULE 34 / REGRA 34

        29/09/22, 21:45, ASTOR
        05/10/22, 22:00, ASTOR

        DARKLING / MRAK

        DARKLING / MRAK

        30/09/22, 20:00, ASTOR

        THE MENU

        THE MENU

        30/09/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1
        04/10/22, 22:00, TRIANON

        BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE / AVEC AMOUR ET ACHARNEMENT

        BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE / AVEC AMOUR ET ACHARNEMENT

        01/10/22, 19:30, ASTOR

        KARAOKE

        KARAOKE

        01/10/22, 20:00, DANAOS 1
        05/10/22, 21:45, TRIANON

        MASTER GARDENER

        MASTER GARDENER

        01/10/22, 22:15, DANAOS 1

        A PLACE CALLED DIGNITY / UN LUGAR LLAMADO DIGNIDAD

        A PLACE CALLED DIGNITY / UN LUGAR LLAMADO DIGNIDAD

        02/10/22, 19:30, TRIANON
        08/10/22, 22:00, ASTOR

        ARMAGEDDON TIME

        ARMAGEDDON TIME

        02/10/22, 22:15, IDEAL

        UNTIL TOMORROW / TA FARDA

        UNTIL TOMORROW / TA FARDA

        03/10/22, 18:00, ΙDEAL
        08/10/22, 19:30, TRIANON

        STORY OF MY WIFE / A FELESÉGEM TÖRTÉNETE

        STORY OF MY WIFE / A FELESÉGEM TÖRTÉNETE

        03/10/22, 20:00, IDEAL

        L’IMMENSITA

        L’IMMENSITA

        03/10/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1

        MORE THAN EVER / PLUS QUE JAMAIS

        MORE THAN EVER / PLUS QUE JAMAIS

        04/10/22, 19:30, IDEAL

        THE LOST KING

        THE LOST KING

        04/10/22, 19:30, DANAOS 1

        FUCKING BORNHOLM

        FUCKING BORNHOLM

        04/10/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1
        08/10/22, 21:30, TRIANON

        EMILY

        EMILY

        05/10, 19.00, IDEAL

        THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

        THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

        05/10/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1
        09/10/22, 19:30, DANAOS 1

        SCARLET / L’ENVOL

        SCARLET / L’ENVOL

        06/10/22, 19:30, DANAOS 1

        EO

        EO

        06/10/22, 20:00, IDEAL

        THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH / LA NUIT DU 12

        THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH / LA NUIT DU 12

        06/10/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1

        ΤENZIN

        ΤENZIN

        07/10/22, 17:30, ASTOR

        HUDA’S SALON

        HUDA’S SALON

        07/10/22, 19:30, DANAOS 1

        Secret Screening

        Secret Screening

        07/10/22, 22:00, DANAOS 1

        HOLY SPIDER

        HOLY SPIDER

        07/10/22, 22:15, IDEAL

        MEDUSA DELUXE

        MEDUSA DELUXE

        08/10/22, 20:15, DANAOS 1

        99 MOONS

        99 MOONS

        08/10/22, 22:30, DANAOS 1

        BROS

        BROS

        09/10/22, 21:45, IDEAL