France · 2025 · PG · 78 min · French with English subtitles
In-person Intro + Q&A with Directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han
Precocious, open-hearted, and knowing everything and nothing all at once, nearly three-year-old Amélie recounts her beginnings in post-war Japan, seeing the world with wide, emerald-eyed wonder. Caught between cultures, she is devoted to her beloved housekeeper Nishio-san, while her Belgian family does their best to keep pace with her insatiable desire to understand everything around her. As she pieces together her strange little universe, Amélie begins to seek deeper truths about who she is and what it means to love, to lose, and to belong — big questions for someone so small.
Adapting Amélie Nothomb’s bestselling autobiographical novel, accomplished animators and first-time directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han invite us into Amélie’s dreamlike world, delicately balancing the spark of kid-curiosity with life’s greater complexities. Through shifting seasonal hues, their emotive, impressionistic artistry mirrors the uniqueness of Amélie’s inner life.
Charming audiences at Cannes, winner of the Audience Award at Annecy, and selected for San Sebastian, BFI London, and TIFF, this is a stirring and poignant portrayal of innocence and deep knowing. Exquisite in both form and feeling, Little Amélie invites us to rediscover the world — as if we, too, were nearly three years old.
Preceding LITTLE AMELIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN:
THE NIGHT BOOTS
France · 2024
12 min
Winner of both Jury and Audience Awards at Annecy, Pierre-Luc Granjon’s pinscreen animation, glowing like moonlight, transforms a midnight forest encounter into a moment of curious connection. When Elliot meets an inquisitive little creature in the woods, solitude gives way to both wander and wonder. Between shadows and light, the pair chart a quiet night of magical discovery.
