Mourir Auprès de Toi

Cult Director Spike Jonze brings us this glorious short stop-motion film with co-director Simon Cahn, which is set (delightfully it must be said) across the shelves of the famous Shakespeare & Company Book store on Rue Bûcherie in Paris. Co-creator Olympia Le-Tan whose hand made clutch bags replicating covers of famous novels both inspired and star in the animation, sees her creations come to life in the guise of star-crossed lovers gazing from one shelf to another.

The project supposedly came about when Jonze upon meeting her in Paris, asked Le-Tan for a Catcher in the Rye embroidery to put up on his wall and Le-Tan’s cheeky retort was to ask for a film in return. Over the course of the next six months the script was written in-between Jonze’s base in L.A. and Le-Tan’s/co-director Cahn’s in Paris before the sizeable task of animating all three thousand pieces of  felt that Le-Tan had painstakingly hand-cut. If for no other reason than to watch Macbeth hook up with Mina Harker (albeit their felt re-creations), we think you should give this short film a go as Jonze’s sense of humour and quirky vision combines perfectly with Le-Tan’s elegantly re-imagined artwork to make for a magical few minutes (be sure to watch the credits for hilarity’s sake).

For more from the mercurial Olympia Le-Tan go here