Amélie, the daughter of a Belgian couple living in Japan, is born in the 1960s, believing she’s a god until she reaches the age of two and an earthquake and a piece of white chocolate break her free.

Based on personal experiences, Belgian author Amélie Nothomb’s story captures what it’s like for a child to grow up in a foreign country and immediately feel very connected to it, even when rejected by people who resent what they were subjected to in a war decades ago.

Its charm and sense of wonder is a perfect fit for a sweet, intelligent animated film aimed at both adults and kids, the style inspired by Ghibli.

2025-France-Belgium. Animated. 78 min. Color. Directed by Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han. Screenplay: Maïlys Vallade, Aude Py, Liane-Cho Han, Eddine Noël. Novel: Amélie Nothomb (”The Character of Rain”). Music: Mari Fukuhara. Voices of Loïse Charpentier (Amélie), Victoria Grosbois (Nishio-san), Yumi Fujimori (Kashima-san), Cathy Cerdá, Marc Arnaud, Laetitia Coryn. 

Trivia: Original title: Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes. 

Last word: “We have made a lot of sacrifices from the book. But overall, we wanted to be sure that the movie tells this transition, this evolution from when she believes she’s in the center of the universe until she realizes that she’s actually part of it. This dissolution, this grief, has to build this arc of her emotional state to really make sure that she goes through that transition. Through the importance of the relationship she has with Nishio-san and through Japan post-World War II.” (Han, Hammer to Nail)