Cinema Esperanto #1: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (FR/LUX/CA) 15+

Cinema Esperanto is a series exploring multilingualism, cultural diversity, and cinematic perspectives through film screenings presented at Control Club with support from cultural institutes.

The series opens with Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman / Saules aveugles, femme endormie, presented with support from the French Institute in Romania.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman / Saules aveugles, femme endormie

Director: Pierre Földes

Cast: Amaury de Crayencour, Mathilde Auneveux

Genre: Animation, Drama, Science Fiction

Countries: France, Luxembourg, Canada

Running time: 1h40

Language: French, with English subtitles

Age rating: 15+

Admission: Free entry with prior reservation through Eventbook.ro.

Adapted from several short stories by Haruki Murakami, the film blends realism and fantasy into a poetic meditation on loneliness, loss, and reconstruction.

Synopsis

Tokyo, a few days after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Through memories, dreams, and fantasies, Kyoko, Komura, and Katagiri attempt to rediscover their identities and sense of purpose in a world marked by trauma and uncertainty.

Kyoko abruptly leaves her husband after spending five consecutive days watching television coverage of the disaster. Komura, her bewildered husband, takes a week off work and travels north to deliver a mysterious box to two women, without knowing what it contains.

Meanwhile, Katagiri, a lonely debt collector, returns home one evening to find a two-meter-tall frog asking for his help in saving Tokyo from another devastating earthquake.

Awards

Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022 — Jury Award

About Cinema Esperanto

Each screening is an invitation to briefly inhabit other realities — to step into different ways of feeling, thinking, and making sense of the world.

Developed in collaboration with cultural institutes, Cinema Esperanto unfolds as a shared experience situated somewhere between screening, gathering, and encounter.