A renowned novelist is stuck in a rut when he runs into an old flame at a bookstore. “The Flavor of Cassava Leaf Over Rice,” directed by Tracey Todd, is an animated drama about a rainy weekend in L.A. where a trio of characters reflect on their lives as they begin to move into middle age. Married to a successful TV producer and living in a luxury home in the Hollywood Hills, Michael Allegheny is in the middle of a crisis. He feels isolated and unable to write; he’s haunted by a presence he can’t always see or define. While his wife is out of town for work, he sinks into a medley of Chinese takeout, wine and cigarettes, and hot tub dips. Trying to snap out of it, he heads to a local bookstore where he runs into an old partner, Fatima, in town for a conference. They reconnect and catch up on each other’s lives, reckoning with their current dissatisfactions and potentially beginning to rekindle old feelings. It’s a beautifully textured portrait that weaves together a vivid sense of melancholy with a spark of potential romance; a sweet and sensual tone poem. -KA. Director: Tracey Todd. Cast: Armie Hicks Jr., Memu Conteh. Composer: Will August Park. Vocalist: Candace Leone. Saxophonist: Joe Sartee. Original Song: Twin Shadow. Producers: Tracey Todd, Will August Park.