Co-created by designer Olympia Le-Tan and film maker Spike Jonze, Mourir Auprès de Toi is a tragicomic stop motion made from 3000 pieces of hand cut felt brimming with humour and tragic romance. The perfect blend of exquisite writing, animation and music from this short transports you to Paris and back in under ten minutes, whilst singer Soko‘s closing track will make you grin to no end.

It stars two miniature lovers unbound from the covers of McBeth and Dracula, who spring to life as the lights go out in Parisian bookshop Shakespeare & Co. Free to roam the shevels, packed with Le-Tan’s beautifully embroided reproductions of famous first editions, our clumsy hero soon loses his head and has to be rescued by his resourceful admirer.

Two years ago I was sat on the first floor of Shakespeare & Co flicking through the books in their library, looking out of the window onto cherry blossoms and a sunbathed Notre Dame in a state of dumbstruck awe. It was, and still is, one of the most enticing places I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

For this film to encapsulate the quiet charm of that place whilst spinning a tale of such wit and bookish whimsy is a triumph which Le-Tan, Jonze and co-director Simon Cahn must feel giddily proud of. It makes you smile, it makes you want to run away and fall in love.

“Created from 3,000 hand-cut pieces of felt, Jonze’s tragicomic stop-motion animation takes place in an old, Parisian bookshop where at night the covers come to life. It’s the story of a felt skeleton who falls in love with a beautiful and sassy vixen. Co-directed by filmmaker Simon Cahn with designs by Olympia Le-Tan, this Cannes selected short is sweet, sad, spooky and a bit whimsical. Jonze said, “A short is like a sketch. You can have an idea or a feeling and just go and do it.” - Future Shorts