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For its smallest visitors, Anifilm prepared two programmes composed of selected episodes of animated series and songs. While the tales for children were made in Britain, the songs were created by Czech Television. In the first of these showcases, we will see how David Súkup used his specific cutout animation technique to animate Czech folksongs Jede, jede poštovský panáček, Já mám koně and Já do lesa nepojedu. Children can also look forward to unexpected adventures of the peculiar creatures called Clangers, who live on a nice little planet in space. New episodes of Clangers are a sequel to the original series from the 1960s and 1970s animated by stop-motion animation and comprehensible for children. Another star of this showcase is a dog named Dugee, who earns a badge for his efforts in every episode.Sing with Us – Jede, jede poštovský panáček

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

Sing with Us – Já mám koně

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

Clangers – Round and Round                                                       

Director: Joe Chalkey, Chris Tichborne, United Kingdom, 11 min

Clangers – The Sound Snatcher

Director: Joe Chalkey, Chris Tichborne, United Kingdom, 11 min

Clangers – Wooly Welcome

Director: Matt Baker, United Kingdom, 11 min

Hey Dugee – The Story Badge

Director: Grant Orchard, United Kingdom, 7 min

Hey Dugee – The Teddy Bear Badge

Director: Grant Orchard, United Kingdom, 7 min

Sing with Us – Já do lesa nepojedu

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

Nowhere in the world are bright green meadows and golden dandelions as beautiful as in Lusatia. This land where the soil smells of freshly baked bread and the promise of a bright future is a haven for young Krabat, an orphan who struggles to find his place in the world and depends on the good will of others. But as soon as the winter comes, even the hospitable land of Lusatia shows him how harsh it can be. After a sinister rook lures him to the Sorcerer’s Mill, Krabat becomes an apprentice to the mill’s master and joins eleven other apprentices only to find out later that each winter, one of the apprentices has to leave the Sorcerer’s Mill (and the world as well). The school of wizardry in the Sorcerer’s Mill has very strict rules and it is not advisable to break them. But living in thrall of a tyrannical master-sorcerer and waiting for death is something that Krabat cannot easily accept. Even more so when one night he meets a beautiful girl from a nearby village and falls in love. The legend of the sorcerer’s apprentice that has many variations in many countries was adapted into a book by Otfried Preussler from Liberec almost fifty years ago. The legendary Czech animator Karel Zeman later used cutout animation to adapt the book into an iconic film of Czech cinema with a unique atmosphere and an unforgettable artistic style. 

Nine Fairy Tales by Karel and Josef Čapek was published in 1932 and it has been immensely popular among children and parents ever since. The same applies for animated adaptations of individual fairy tales from the book made by Eduard Hofman. Beginning in 1959, he adapted six of them. We will screen the first four adaptations. The director closely adhered to the original artistic style of the illustrations by Josef Čapek and cast one of our best actors and voice talents Karel Höger. He performed Čapek’s text with an incredible brilliance and in the proper humorous manner. As this year’s festival focuses on music and sound in animation, we also need to praise the art of voice actors. This year also marks the 130th anniversary of Karel Čapek’s birth.

The Dog’s Tale, 1959, 14 min

The Postman’s Tale, 1961, 21 min

The Great Doctor Tale, 1963, 16 min

The First Bandits’ Tale, 1964, 15 min

Director: Eduard Hofman, Czechoslovakia

Katarína Minichová (2 October 1949 – 12 August 2019) was a director and screenwriter of films for children and young adults. She was also a film critic and theorist. She worked at Slovak Television, lectured on screenwriting and dramaturgy of animated film at the Film and TV Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and, in 2006, she became the programme director of the Biennial of Animation Bratislava. She was a regular visitor of both AniFest and Anifilm and a warm-hearted colleague to us all. This programme prepared in collaboration with the Biennial of Animation Bratislava and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava includes a selection from the bedtime stories and films created under her tutelage. Fairy-Tales from all over the World – A Shepherd and the Wind

Director: Monika Trajterová, Tomáš Čepek, Czechoslovakia, 1992, 8 min

Dada and Dodo – Dada, Dodo and the Eggs

Director: Rudolf Urc, Czechoslovakia, 1986, 7 min

The Smallest Heroes – Vegetable Soup

Director: František Jurišič, Czechoslovakia, 1985, 9 min

Clay Tales – A Fashion Show

Director: František Jurišič, Slovakia, 1994, 9 min

Fairy-Tales about King Fiškus – How Fiškus Came into the Tale

Director: Vladimír Malík, Slovakia, 1995, 8 min

Fairy-Tales from all over the World – Krištof in the Land of Goblins

Director: Monika Trajterová, Tomáš Čepek, Czechoslovakia, 1992, 9 min

Know

Director: Ivana Zajacová, Slovakia, 2000, 4 min

Invention in A Minor for Two Voices

Director: Vlado Král, Slovakia, 1998, 2 min

The biggest expert on music for animated films among Czechoslovak composers, Jiří Kolafa (1930–2001), was yet another classically educated composer with a master’s degree (Prague Conservatory, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague). He wrote many compositions, four oratorios, chamber music, five song cycles, and over 300 productions for theatre, film and television. Apart from recording music, conducting orchestras and writing musical theory papers, he also lectured at the Theatre Faculty and the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague from the 1960s. He worked on at least 80 short authorial films and composed music for nearly 150 episodes of various series. He worked with directors such as Václav Mergl and Břetislav Pojar – he composed the music for almost all their films from the 1970s onwards. He also worked on 10 films with Garik Seko. His music can be heard in all the iconic films by Vladimír Jiránek. His passion for animation (and music) was manifested among other things in the selfless help he gave the students of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. Jiří Kolafa’s filmography includes basically just music for animated films, in which he truly achieved mastery. His clear focus thus makes Kolafa unique in our cinema. The number of soundtracks also makes him the most prolific composer of music for Czechoslovak animated film.

Fairy Amálka – How She Met Curly the Ram

Director: Václav Bedřich, Czechoslovakia, 1975, 8 min

There Was Once a Miller on the River

Director: Jiří Brdečka, Czechoslovakia, 1971, 10 min

Why People Fear Hares

Director: Jiří Tyller, Czechoslovakia, 1980, 5 min

Shooting Range

Director: Miroslav Štěpánek, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 5 min

Laokoon

Director: Václav Mergl, Czechoslovakia, 1970, 11 min

The Face

Director: Jiří Brdečka, Czechoslovakia, 1973, 3 min

The Hen

Director: Lucie Dvořáková, Czechoslovakia, 1984, 4 min

The Volcano

Director: Garik Seko, Czechoslovakia, 1978, 7 min

Visit Prague

Director: Pavel Koutský, Czechoslovakia, 1983, 8 min

Life of Pianos

Director: Jan Mimra, Czechoslovakia, 1981, 9 min

Beer across the Street

Director: Václav Bedřich, Czechoslovakia, 1974, 4 min

The Apple Tree Maiden

The protagonists of the selected fairy-tales included in our showcase all share a passion for exploring distant countries, the sea and the submarine world and they also like to meet new creatures and learn about their customs. Bear Mouk and his best friend, a cat called Chavapa, are two globetrotters travelling around the world, whether on their bikes or in a hot-air balloon or aboard the Trans Siberian Express. Cute puffins travel only on their island near the coast of Ireland, but their adventures are no less fascinating. The romantic island offers an abundance of unexplored nooks and crannies. The showcase is concluded by an even more poetic story of a dog named Polo. Every day, he embarks on a different adventure with his extraordinary friends from Earth and outer space. This time, he sets out to the sea and becomes a pirate.

Mouk – Papyrus

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Mouk –The Red Crabs

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Mouk – Trans Siberian Express

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Mouk – The Sky Travellers

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Puffin Rock – Turtle Taxi                                                           

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

Puffin Rock – Cave Camping

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

Polo – The Day When Polo Became a Brave Pirate

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award laureate Ivo Špalj worked on many Czech (and Czechoslovak) Bedtime Stories. In this programme, we focus on his work on hand-drawn animated Bedtime Stories from the 1960s until the mid-1990s. Our showcase includes work from renowned directors and visual artists.

The oldest screened Bedtime Story narrated by the brilliant František Filipovský is The Boy from the Poster directed by Josef Kábrt. In the 1980s, Ivo Špalj worked continuously on various animated series. From that period come acoustically and graphically original fairy-tales Lardocks and Crunch, The Earthling, Bobby and Bob Bobkins and Radovan Has Some Fun from the late 1980s. The programme is concluded by Špalj’s work from the 1990s, popular series From the Diary of a Third-Grade Pupil, or Edudant and Francimore and Babbie and Bertie.

The Boy from the Poster – Have You Seen a Lion Around Here?

Director: Josef Kábrt, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 7 min

Lardocks and Crunch – In an Eagle’s Nest

Director: Václav Mergl, Czechoslovakia, 1983, 8 min

The Earthling – Collecting Blueberries

Director: Josef Lamka, Czechoslovakia, 1985, 8 min

Bobby and Bob Bobkins – Around the World with Barbucha

Director: Zdeněk Smetana, Czechoslovakia, 1986, 8 min

Radovan Has Some Fun – Crazy Wind

Director: Zdena Bártová, Czechoslovakia, 1988, 7 min

From the Diary of a Third-Grade Pupil, or Edudant and Francimore – At Home

Director: Jaroslava Havettová, Czech Republic, 1993, 8 min                                                     

Babbie and Bertie – The Button

Director: Václav Mergl, Czech Republic, 1994, 8 min

The Little Witch is a classic of Czech Bedtime Stories. But not everyone knows that in parallel with this iconic series, a feature film was being produced. Both the series and the film are based on the popular book by German writer Otfried Preußler, who was born in Liberec. The film (and the series as well) was created by prominent personalities of Czech animation: director Zdeněk Smetana, who imbued the tale with pleasant humour and a remarkable artistic style along with a little mystery, composer Petr Skoumal, who took care of the unforgettable soundtrack, and the unmistakeable talent of Jiřina Bohdalová, who voiced the likeable witch. Together with similar Tales from Moss and Fern and Reedy, The Little Witch ranks among Zdeněk Smetana’s best works for children. The original fairy-tale, which many parents will undoubtedly nostalgically remember, follows a rather clumsy and naïve novice witch. But unlike the rooted notion has it, she is not evil and doesn’t wish to complicate lives. On the contrary, the Little Witch is nice and kind-hearted. And also somewhat confused. And so there is little wonder that she has a hard time preparing for big witch exams.

As is customary for the world-renowned surrealist filmmaker, Švankmajer’s tribute to the boundless imagination of Lewis Carroll doesn’t directly adapt Carroll’s book but draws inspiration from it. Much like Švankmajer’s Faust from 1993 draws inspiration from Goethe and Marlowe. For Švankmajer, Alice in Wonderland merely serves as a basis for his fantastic vision in which he lets his imagination run wild and puts selected motifs from the book into a new context and tone. What is crucial is the ambiguity of the boundaries between dreams and reality in which the girl’s adventure gets at times slight and at times intensive horror overtones. This combined and artistically unique film with inventive animated sequences starring Kristýna Kohoutová will draw the viewers into disturbing and even terrifying memories of Švankmajer’s childhood. Alice was co-produced with Western countries right before the revolution and ranks among the most iconic films of world cinema.

The French comics scene of the early 1970s witnessed the birth of the essential comics magazine Métal Hurlant. The combination of sci-fi, fantasy and horror, always spiced-up with sex and scantily clad women, soon caught on to such a degree that it gave birth to the English version called Heavy Metal, which has inspired an anthology feature film adapting several stories. True to its name, the film is accompanied by music by Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick and Nazareth. Heavy guitar riffs alternate with an orchestral soundtrack by one of the best known film music composers, Elmer Bernstein. Shortly after its premiere, the film attracted a cult following among comic book lovers and thanks to its blatant campness, it’s also popular among viewers who frequent midnight screenings. Many sequences of the film are made using rotoscoping, which ensures that the movements of characters in scenes with elaborate artistic style are incredibly fluid. The film – like Disney’s Fantasia (1940), which we are also screening in line with the festival’s theme Hear Animation – got a sequel in the magical year of 2000, unsurprisingly named Heavy Metal 2000.

Mr. Link is a funny and cute character in a family adventure film from the acclaimed Laika Studios. Sir Lionel Frost is a doughty and spirited adventurer who considers himself to be the foremost expert on myths and monsters. But no one else believes his discoveries. To defend his opinion, he travels to the American Northwest to find the Sasquatch, a missing evolutionary link between apes and humans. Mr. Link – a somewhat barmy, surprisingly bright and sensitive creature – is the last of his kind. He is lonely and believes that Sir Lionel is the only one who can help him. Together with independent and resourceful Adelina Fortnight, they embark on a daring adventure leading to one goal – to find the fabled Shangri-La.

The second programme for small children, which includes episodes of extraordinary and artistically cultivated British series along with animated songs by Czech Television. This time, the children will see and hear popular folk songs Měsíček svítí, Šel zahradník do zahrady and the much loved Pásla ovečky. The Clangers, a cute family living with their similarly cute friends on a distant planet, will deal with Snow Business and the Mother of Invention. Originally, the Clangers are one of the unique creations of British animator and screenwriter Oliver Postgate, who – along with his colleague, graphic artist Peter Firmin – was a part of the creative duo of the Smallfilms production company. Their Clangers rank among milestones of television animation and programmes for children. Similarly captivating, although with a different artistic and animation style, are the adventures of dog Dugee, who earns badges for his “acts of heroism”.

Sing with Us – Měsíček svítí

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

Sing with Us – Šel zahradník do zahrady

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

Clangers – Snow Business

Director: Daniel Postgate, United Kingdom, 11 min

Clangers – Mother of Invention

Director: Daniel Postgate, United Kingdom, 11 min

Clangers – Puffball

Director: Daniel Postgate, United Kingdom, 11 min

Hey Dugee – The Fashion Badge

Director: Grant Orchard, United Kingdom, 7 min

Hey Dugee – The Sailing Badge

Director: Grant Orchard, United Kingdom, 7 min

Sing with Us – Pásla ovečky

Director: David Súkup, Czech Republic, 3 min

There is a place that humans don’t usually visit, and yet every night, there are bizarre visitors coming out of this place to the human world, sowing terror and reaping children’s screams. This place is the world of monsters with its energy company Monsters, Inc., which processes children’s screams into energy for countless monster households. The company employs the kind-hearted purple-and-blue furry ogre James P. Sullivan and one-eyed Mike Wazowski, who’s got a remarkably glib tongue. Just like their colleagues, this odd duo does their best every night to frighten as much energy as possible out of children and win the recognition of their co-workers and the company management. But due to a small mistake, the situation turns around one day – a little human girl called Boo enters the monster world and the company suddenly turns topsy-turvy. After all, everyone knows that human children are deadly poisonous! But it seems that little Boo is unaware of that and so James and Mike have their hands full with attempts to get her back to her room. And what’s more, Boo’s presence in the company unexpectedly reveals a much more terrifying thing than those that may be hiding in our closets. This incredibly imaginative and humorous family film has been entertaining viewers of all ages for almost twenty years.

Fifty years after the death of Jiří Trnka, French director Joël Farges explores his life and work. Farges first met Trnka – albeit indirectly – as a little boy when he saw his film Prince Bayaya. Charmed by Trnka’s work to this day, documentary filmmaker Farges sets out to “find his friend” in Prague. To depict his journey, he chose an unusual format of live-action documentary in which he himself is played by actor Réginald Huguenin, who is guided by knowledgeable Tereza Brdečková, daughter of Trnka’s long-time friend and collaborator Jiří Brdečka. One of the film’s story lines depicts the search for a copy of the film Bayaya but more important are the historical facts from Trnka’s life. We learn them thanks to the film’s narrator and the memories of Trnka’s colleagues and his family. The authors also dug out some previously unknown archive footage and photographs. So apart from exploring Trnka’s incredible work, the film puts together a picture of an artist who produced art against the backdrop of intricate and dark events of the 20^th century. The film acts as an important means of “establishing contact” with one of the most distinctive and notable Czech artists who, as the film’s authors suggest, is being left out of the general European cultural awareness. It is also an informative excursion through Czech history.

Ivo Špalj’s sound artistry can be found in Czech puppet animation as well. Apart from other films, he worked on many puppet series, some of which are included in this programme mainly for pre-school children. Some of the screened Bedtime Stories that have attained cult status will surely be nostalgically remembered by parents, some will charm the audiences with playful stories and some with their precise stop-motion animation, skilfully made puppets and impressive decorations. Individual fairy-tales bear the signature of phenomenal Czech directors – in this programme, we will see work by Břetislav Pojar, Lubomír Beneš and Vlasta Pospíšilová. Our showcase covers several decades as it includes the poetic Fireflies, comical Pat and Mat and recent The Cottage on the Hilltop.

Tumbling Teddy – Wandering Through Town

Director: Libuše Koutná, Czechoslovakia, 1973, 7 min

Yaya and Paya – Fulfilling Spring Wishes

Director: Břetislav Pojar, Lubomír Beneš, Czechoslovakia, 1986, 8 min

Fireflies – Winter

Director: Vlasta Pospíšilová, Czech Republic, 1995, 8 min

Pat and Mat – Eaves

Director: Marek Beneš, Czechoslovakia, 1992, 8 min

The Cottage on the Hilltop – Annie Fears Death

Director: Šárka Váchová, Czech Republic, 2008, 8 min

The Adventures of the Bee Teddies – Honey

Director: Libuše Koutná, Ivo Houf, Czechoslovakia, 1984, 9 min

For many people, Czech animation is connected to the Bedtime Stories series. When talking about music in this context, most viewers instantly remember the melodies from Fairy Tales from Moss and Fern and Poppy-seed Girl and Butterfly Emanuel. These melodies immortalised composer Jaroslav Celba (1924–2013). He studied at the Czech Technical University and the Charles University in Prague. From 1953 to 1957, he attended evening courses of composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory. He was tutored by Emil Hradecký. Celba was a person whose musical talent was practically developed, as he himself was an active jazz bass guitar player. Viewers know him thanks to his work on many animated films and in particular his collaboration with directors Zdeněk Smetana and Václav Bedřich. He is the record holder in terms of the number of animated series he worked on (the total number amounts to at least 34!). His compositions are inspired by folk and popular music and modern jazz. They are “simple” in the best sense of the word, well arranged and very accessible for children as well as grown-ups. In the field of artificial music, he composed chamber, scenic, vocal and orchestral compositions.

Tales from Moss and Fern – How They Took the Egg Sledding

Director: Zdeněk Smetana, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 8 min

Story of the Tabby Cat

Director: Jaroslav Boček, Czechoslovakia, 1977, 9 min

Juliet and Romeo

Director: Zdeněk Smetana, Czechoslovakia, 1971, 5 min

Poppy-seed Girl and Butterfly Emanuel – Poppy-seed Girl and Sputter the Cannoneer

Director: Václav Bedřich, Czechoslovakia, 1978, 8 min

Romanetto

Director: Zdeněk Smetana, Czechoslovakia, 1963, 7 min

The Postman who Wouldn’t Walk

Director: Jan Ungrád, Czechoslovakia, 1976, 7 min

Shepherds Grazed Sheep – Kubko and Maťko Making Friends with a Bear

Director: Ladislav Čapek, Czechoslovakia, 1972, 6 min

Oh, Shetlands

Director: Jaroslav Boček, Czechoslovakia, 1978, 10 min

Hilda is a cheerful, quirky and at times even eccentric woman. She loves plants and devotes all her time to growing them. She has a huge greenhouse full of precious and unique plants. But the scientists in a nearby biochemical lab make a breakthrough discovery. They have genetically engineered a plant called Attilem that has many uses in various aspects of human life, but no one seems to notice the dangers that it brings. As Attilem gradually occupies the surface of the Earth, Hilda’s greenhouse becomes the only remaining oasis. Hilda soon sees the danger the world is in but she must defend her beliefs and eventually fight to save the day in a thrilling battle that will fundamentally change her life. César-nominated director Jacques-Rémy Girerd, who has worked on films such as Mia and the Migoo (2008), which we are also screening this year, presents an adventurous family film with an ecological message and critique of capitalism (ruthless greed). Aunt Hilda! has a bold narrative, fresh visual style and very lively animation. It will surely find its audience among children and adults alike.

This programme includes fairy-tales swarming with fish, dolphins, salmon and giant whales. Traveller Mouk and his friend Chavapa, curious puffins and brave dog Polo all run into fish (mostly sea fish) and other animals. Who will save a baby whale stranded on a shore during migration? And who will involuntarily become an observer and keeper of records of the migration only to subsequently embark on an adventure both on the sea and under it? And finally, those who want to see something as unique as salmon leaping must sacrifice their sleep.

Mouk – Pink Dolphin

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Mouk – Whale Watchers

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

Polo – The Day When the King of Fishes Almost Lacked Water

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Polo – The Day When Polo Saved the Whale

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Polo – The Day When the Oldest Fish Tried to Fly

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Puffin Rock – The Sad Whale

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

Puffin Rock – Oona’s Fishing Trip

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

Puffin Rock – The Salmon Leap

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

In the case of this animated film from the life of one of the best known Spanish directors, one can assume that the titular labyrinth of the turtles refers to the surrealist nature of his work, but even though this film is accompanied by Buñuel’s dreams and visions, the origin of the labyrinth of turtles is far more prosaic. At the beginning of the 1930s, after a storm of outrage broke out mainly in the ranks of rightist organisations following the ban of Buñuel’s latest film The Golden Age (1930), Buñuel set out to one of Spain’s most forgotten and impoverished regions to make something very atypical for him – a documentary. His crew included his close friend, sculptor Ramón Acín, whose idea of how to use the money he invested into this project gradually grew apart from Buñuel’s extreme reality-adapting techniques and his eccentricity. In the labyrinth of turtles, Buñuel faces his own deep and personal problems and unexpectedly also Ramón’s opinions, his relationship with his own father, with Salvador Dalí and even himself. The film uses original footage from Land Without Bread (1933), which was eventually made as proof of Buñuel’s vehemence (among other things). In 2019, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature and also the Jury Distinction and the award for Best Original Music at the Annecy Film Festival.

The mysterious and infinite place with many hidden corners and secrets known as Space is a phenomenon that – at certain ages and to a certain extent – fascinates virtually all children. And many are fascinated by it for their entire lives. In our showcase Space Explorers, we present fairy-tales which portray space as a friendly place full of kind creatures. As their hands are not tied with concrete images, the filmmakers usually let their imagination run wild when creating the settings and characters of their space-related work. Some of the fairy-tales in our showcase are set directly in space (Clangers), others take place somewhere between the Earth and sky (Polo) and in some, the curious heroes observe space from the safety of our planet (Puffin Rock, Mouk).

Clangers – Space Tangle

Director: Mole Hill, Chris Tichborne, United Kingdom, 11 min

Clangers – Rainbow Star

Director: Mole Hill, Chris Tichborne, United Kingdom, 11 min

Puffin Rock – The Meteor Shower

Director: Maurice Joyce, Ireland, 7 min

Polo – The Day When Polo Opened a Magical Advent Calendar

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Polo – The Day When a Star Fell from the Sky

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Polo – The Day the Moonman Disappeared

Director: Caroline Origer, France, Luxembourg, 8 min

Mouk – Meteorite Hunters

Director: François Narboux, France, 10 min

This adaptation of a poem by Karel Jaromír Erben was made in the Studio of Jiří Trnka. Director and graphic artist Josef Kábrt stuck to the original and created a dismal and truly horror-like atmosphere. A crucial role is played by Fišer’s gloomy soundtrack and the film’s artistic style is reminiscent of Topor’s Fantastic Planet. For this and many more reasons, the film’s animation is rather minimalist but all the more captivating.

A morality tale on the theme of a healthy lifestyle is made with utterly wild total animation that, in the scruffiness of the line, refers to Ševčík’s amateur beginnings. Transformations in the picture are often non-figurative and connected with irrational associations. The figures, partly outlined in colour, move as if in a vacuum against an empty white background.

The King basks in his wealth and doesn’t let anyone else touch it. That applies for nature in the form of flowers, birds or spiders. A wizard prepares a magical potion that turns everything to gold. But it also turns everyone to gold. This harsh fairy-tale warning against indifference towards nature is an excellent example of masterful puppet animation.

Špalj created sound for the film The Players in which we follow two tennis players whose match turns into a nuclear catastrophe. He had to create many specific shots, explosions and other sounds for the match. Among other things, the film is unique in that, at the time of its creation, it was an unusual co-production with British studio Halas & Batchelor.

Another film from the long list of Špalj’s collaborations with the icons of Czech animation is this Academy Award nominated film by Michaela Pavlátová. The artistic stylisation of this non-verbal film about the forms of interpersonal communication enabled him to develop a palette of realistic as well as unrealistic sounds enhancing the visually portrayed attempts to communicate.

This simple moralistic story is special thanks to its excellent stop-motion animation (it was animated by Vlasta Pospíšilová and Jan Klos) and incredible sound. The film follows a game of bowling in which the pins punish the player for being stubborn and conceited. Thanks to the sound, we can clearly hear the wooden material and the power in individual throws.

From the end of the 1960s, Václav Bedřich worked on Bedtime Stories as well as series for grown-ups. Not known by many, this film is a parody of comic series from the 1930s. Wicked doctor Goad and his henchmen keep setting up unsuccessful traps for a couple of lovers. The film functionally uses the stiffness of cutout animation and naïve artistic style.

It was a challenge for Ivo Špalj to create a contact sound for the documentary film recording the creation process of acoustic drawings by renowned graphic artist Milan Grygar. Apart from various objects, Milan Grygar also used mechanical toys. When drawing, sound represented a way of stepping out of the surface into space for him.

An adventurous story about how easy it is to lose freedom and how hard it is to get it back. A group of street artists arrives on an island lost in the ocean which is ruled by the all-powerful Commander. A botched cannon shot during their performance at a fair triggers a series of dramatic events. Young man Drin, girl Tuvi and seagull Natan are suddenly outnumbered by the Police.

An exclusive premier of the latest feature puppet film by the renowned Czech director and graphic artist Jan Balej, whose trademark style occupies an important position in Czech animation after the Velvet Revolution.

In the early 1980s, world-renowned filmmaker and classic of Hungarian animation Marcell Jankovics, the author of such films as Sisyphus (1975) and the three-hour-long opus The Tragedy of Man (2011), made the fascinating feature film Son of the White Mare. The film has recently been deservedly digitally restored. As is his custom, Jankovics attacks the senses of the viewers. He fiercely uses his incredibly sweeping style of vivid animation lavish with numerous metamorphoses and his film is anything but static and minimalist. Almost forty years after its premiere, Son of the White Mare is still a breath-taking colourful spectacle. Its fairy-tale fantastic story is based on old legends of nomadic tribes. A mare gives birth to a human boy with supernatural powers. His task is to set out on a journey full of dangers and enemies and save three princesses. The child will fight giants, monsters and prehistoric creatures. As for the film’s artistic style, Jankovics used deep colours and strikingly stylised drawing influenced by Hungarian ornamentalism. The visual aspect therefore pulsates and transforms itself into various patterns. Together, the Hungarian National Film Archive and the Los Angeles distribution company Arbelos Films have breathed new life into the film which we can now enjoy in 4K definition.

Presented in association with Center for Visual Music
Oskar Fischinger (1900–1967) was a pioneer of abstract animation and visual music. Working in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Los Angeles, he is known as the Father of Visual Music and the Grandfather of Motion Graphics. Fischinger made some of the first music videos in the early 1930s, and influenced John Cage’s theories of percussion and the style of Disney’s Fantasia (1940). He has influenced generations of animators and filmmakers and continues to do so today. This is the new HD digital version of CVM’s Retrospective programme featuring his classic visual music films, many from restored 35mm prints.

The films include some of his ground-breaking 1930s Studies series synchronizing animation and music, which screened in first-run theatres worldwide. Fischinger made commercials in his Berlin animation studio, and the Muratti cigarette commercial made him famous worldwide. Paramount Studios brought him to Los Angeles in 1936, where he had several unsuccessful encounters with Hollywood studios. In his later years he could not find support for his films and focused on painting, drawing and a light-play instrument.

Cindy Keefer, Curator, CVM
Photo (c) Center for Visual Music

Spirals/Spiralen, Germany, ca 1926, restored by CVM

Wax Experiments / Wachs Experimente, Germany, 1921–1926, 4 min, restored by CVM

Spiritual Constructions / Seelische Konstruktionen, Germany, ca 1927, 6 min 16 sec

Walking from Munich to Berlin / München-Berlin Wanderung, Germany, 1927, 3 min

Study No. 5 / Studie Nr. 5, Germany, 1930, 3 min 15 sec, restored by CVM

Study No. 6 / Studie Nr. 6, Germany, 1930, 2 min 30 sec

Study No. 7 / Studie Nr. 7, Germany, 1931, 2 min 30 sec, restored by CVM

Study No. 8 / Studie Nr. 8, Germany, 1931, 5 min

Coloratura, Germany, 1932, 1 min 30 sec

Kreise (Ad Version), Germany, 1933–1934, 2 min

Muratti greift ein!, Germany, 1934, 2 min 45 sec

Composition in Blue / Komposition in Blau, Germany, 1935, 4 min

Allegretto (Late Version), USA, 1936–1943, 2 min 30 sec

Radio Dynamics, USA, 1942, 4 min 30 sec, restored by CVM

An American March, USA, 1941, 3 min 45 sec

Motion Painting No. 1, USA, 1947, 11 min

CVM thanks Barbara Fischinger and Cinemaculture. Wax Experiments was restored with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Study No. 5 was restored by CVM with funding from EYE Filmmuseum. Study No. 6, Spiritual Constructions and An American March were restored by Academy Film Archive.

The Isle of Berk is a dragon paradise inhabited by Vikings or a Viking paradise inhabited by dragons, depending on how you look at it. Former enemies now live in harmony on the island under the rule of chief Hiccup, who loves to fly with his winged buddy Toothless. And he also loves his friend Astrid, only he didn’t get to tell her yet. It is paradoxically love that causes clouds to gather over Berk. But it’s not Hiccup’s doing, the blame lies with a cute white dragoness called Light Fury who literally stuns Toothless as he turns from the dreaded Night Fury into an insecure teenager under her influence. And that is perhaps the reason why he doesn’t sense a danger to all dragons. In an effort to find a new home for the Berkian dragons, Hiccup and Astrid set out to search for the mythical Hidden World where all dragons can hide from the danger. Will they find it in time?

A little girl finds acceptance in embracing her own difference. This lyrical animated film has the timeless charm of an old fable – one whose subject is difference and self-affirmation. For her second film from the trilogy about childhood, the most prominent personality of Portuguese animation chose the technique of photocopies with images scratched into India ink on glossy paper.

This animated short about men and hair tells the story of little bald Léon and of his grandfather, an old man with a bushy black beard. A thing of legend, the grandfather’s beard seems endowed with magic powers. In this remarkable film for younger as well as older audiences, the authors used likeably stylised puppets.

A former pilot looks back on his life. The Earth, the sky, his wife – everything played an important role on his journey from the runway to an abandoned boat house. Apart from its artistic style, this atmospheric and characteristically nostalgic film by Vladimir Leschiov is interesting thanks to the detachment with which it tells the pilot’s story completely without words.

The Blue Marble is a fictional story based on the reality of child soldiers. A young girl and the other students of her village school are brutally kidnapped by rebels and sent to training camps where they are trained to become ruthless killing machines as child soldiers. A story of oppression and hope.

China, 746 AD, ruled by the Tang dynasty. During the period of the greatest prosperity in the history of China, the emperor keeps a considerable number of concubines. He prepares a big feast for Yang, his most beloved concubine. But the celebration doesn’t go as planned… This artistically refined tragicomic film with fluid animation tastefully uses Chinese ornamentalism.

This suggestive film filled with strong emotions and subtle toned-down colours tells the story of a young woman who decides not to answer a phone call from her grandfather, unaware that it will be his last. When he dies, she is overwhelmed with guilt and regret and can’t sleep. But then she remembers a promise made long ago: to illustrate his wartime adventures.

This animated short about social conformity tells the story of Edmond – a very "different" sort of guy. When his co-workers jokingly crown him with a pair of donkey ears, Edmond suddenly discovers his true identity. And while he enjoys his newfound self, the ears create an ever-widening gap between himself and others.

In the vestibule of a hospital room, a young boy waits to see his dying mother. The clamour and spiralling movements of bodies around him intensify, forming a grotesque circus – a cacophonous circle that pushes the child back, depriving him of one final touch of his mother’s hand. The author made this deeply personal film using an unusual combination of techniques – rotoscoping, object animation and 3D computer animation.

Can time be made to stand still? Can it be reversed? Koji Yamamura’s Muybridge’s Strings is a meditation on this theme, contrasting the worlds of the photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who in 1878 successfully photographed consecutive phases in the movement of a galloping horse. This captivating film is enriched by Koji Yamamura’s refined artistry.

This peculiarly drawn film imbued with a dose of originality tells the unusual story of a couple. He’s a magician, she’s a firefighter. Isolating themselves from the chaos of a world in turmoil, the two lovers live in a crane basket high in the sky, where they go about their daily business. But when reality calls...

Even though Zdeněk Liška’s (1922–1983) focus was a bit wider than just music for animated films (unlike e.g. Jiří Kolafa), he is undoubtedly an unparalleled expert in film music. Liška exhibited his talent from early childhood and later studied composition at the Prague Conservatory. Juraj Herz said that as a composer, Liška simply “did what he wanted” which only testifies to the level of respect that Liška achieved. Herz thus got entirely different music than what he wanted, but he usually humbly accepted it. In the beginning, Liška’s work for animation was rather traditional (the orchestra had a supporting role and not a characteristic meaning-bearing relation to the plot). But Liška gradually developed his own unmistakeable style of “film music sui generis” characterised among other things by distinct usage of electroacoustic music. In the 1950s, Liška became established as a leading film music composer. From the very beginning of his career, he was tied to the Zlín school (he lived in Zlín in an architectonically interesting villa). In 1946, he worked on the first of several episodes of Mr. Prokouk by Karel Zeman, on whose “partially animated” films Liška worked as well. Zdeněk Liška was also the preferred music composer of Hermína Týrlová and later also significantly participated in films by Jiří Švankmajer (for instance the mannerism-inspired Historia Naturae or the Castle of Otranto).

Inspiration

Director: Karel Zeman, Czechoslovakia, 1949, 11 min

Et Cetera

Director: Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1966, 8 min

Lullaby

Director: Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1947, 7 min

Alarm

Director: Antonín Horák, Czechoslovakia, 1962, 10 min

Historia Naturae

Director: Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 9 min

The Knot in the Handkerchief

Director: Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakia, 1958, 14 min

The Flat

Director: Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 13 min

From the Diary of Tomcat Blu-Eyes – Me and My Biped

Apart from the famous Creation of the World by Eduard Hofman, Jan Rychlík (1916–1964) composed music for more than 60 films. Among the most popular ones are Lemonade Joe or Horse Opera, Music from Mars and many others. Between 1940 and 1945, Rychlík studied composition at the Prague Conservatory under the tutelage of Jaroslav Řídký and in 1946, he graduated from the so-called master school of the Prague Conservatory. As for classical music, he first began composing in a neo-classicist style and in the 1960s, he started inclining towards New Music (following the Second Viennese School etc.). To this day, he is acclaimed among professionals as a significant composer played and recorded all over the world. Rychlík was also an active drummer in the Karel Vlach Orchestra and an outstanding piano player. His most famous work for an animated film is the mentioned soundtrack of Eduard Hofman’s animated feature. Rychlík’s jazz and “rock’n’roll” music gave the Creation of the World a very dynamic feeling. It was actually a “suburban folklore” melody. As a whole, the film gives the impression of a musically-dramatic revue sequenced into individual acts. The jazz music was recorded by the big band of the Karel Vlach Orchestra.

The Creation of the World

Director: Eduard Hofman, Czechoslovakia, 1957, 80 min

Wiliam Bukový (1932–1968) was born into a family of Slovak Jews that had to go into hiding in 1942 and all its members changed their surnames from Brühl to Bukový after the war. In the 1960s, Wiliam Bukový focused on concert music and mainly ballet in which he demonstrated his interest in experiments with electronic music. His innovative electronic ballet Faust composed to his own libretto premiered in 1966 in New York. Bukový experimented with elements of musique concrète (concrete music), which he would use in composing film music. In his short life, he managed to cement his place in Czech cinema by composing varied and modern scores for approximately seventy films which often gained international renown. He was a popular choice among directors of live action and documentary films, and he collaborated with many artists outside of Czechoslovakia. Many viewers probably know him thanks to his work on the legendary series Hey Mister, Let’s Play. He developed a fondness for animation thanks to his collaboration with Břetislav Pojar, with whom he worked on seven films and the aforementioned series. Their collaboration started with the Lion and the Song, a classic film of world animation. Work on this film won Bukový an award at Annecy. He also collaborated with Josef Klug and Zdeněk Miler – he composed the music for the acoustically and musically remarkable film Little Mole and his Little Car. His film music is characterised by originality, lightness and strong melodiousness. Wiliam Bukový also utilised his melodic inventiveness in compositions for popular singers.

Hey Mister, Let’s Play – You Don’t Sniff Princesses

Director: Břetislav Pojar, Miroslav Štěpánek, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 14 min

The Nightingale and the Rose

Director: Josef Kábrt, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 10 min

The Magician

Director: Ivan Renč, Pavel Hobl, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 11 min

Billiard

Director: Břetislav Pojar, Czechoslovakia, 1962, 9 min

Spiteful Frolics of Life

Director: Josef Kluge, Czechoslovakia, 1964, 12 min

The Lion and the Song

Director: Břetislav Pojar, Czechoslovakia, 1959, 14 min

This showcase presents traditional and modern fairy-tales in brand new versions. In recent years, authors from the upcoming generation of Czech animators decided to make films for children. Every author used an original and playful approach to adapt and expand classic as well as new fairy-tale themes. Some fairy-tales are considerably modernised (what would, for instance, happen to the wolf if all Red Riding Hoods knew Judo, and how will a snotty princess end up after visiting a make-up artist?), others are more traditional but no less captivating. Often humorous and surprising twists in the stories of young animators inevitably lead to a universal fairy-tale message in which boasting and greediness don’t pay off, but with a little bit of courage and luck, even the smallest of heroes can find their way out of trouble. Whether the way takes them through a dark forest, swamp or snow.

Little Red Riding Hood

Director: Martina Holcová, Czech Republic, 2017, 5 min

Through the Marsh

Director: Kryštof Ulbert, Czech Republic, 2017, 6 min

Awaker

Director: Filip Diviak, Czech Republic, 2017, 10 min

Cloudy

Director: Filip Diviak, Kateřina Čupová, Czech Republic, 2018, 5 min

Kovlad

Director: Kateřina Čupová, Czech Republic, 2017, 8 min

Insatiable

Director: Linda Retterová, Czech Republic, 2017, 5 min

The Witch

Director: Anna Němečková, Czech Republic, 2018, 4 min

First Snow

Director: Lenka Ivančíková, Czech Republic, 2015, 14 min

Screening of selected episodes and Q&A with authors

Hook’s High Jinks produced by Czech Television will be presented at Anifilm by its director, Maria Procházková, along with other creators. Between screenings of selected episodes, they will talk about how the series was made and there will naturally be time for some questions. Maria Procházková has years of experience with production for children, and she has for quite some time now been specialising in educational programmes. Hook’s High Jinks uses a playful way to explain fine art to younger as well as older viewers. It is set in a gallery and its protagonists are Hook, who cares about what picture is hung on her, and Nail – a sharp boy who won’t put up with just about anything. But these two luckily aren’t the ones who are interpreting the artworks. They discuss them with Mr. Lightbulb, who sheds some light on various things, and a naïve Fly, who thinks it understands everything. Hook’s High Jinks playfully and humorously introduces various artistic styles, specific works and artists.

A Square Sailor

From Hrusice Straight to the Gallery

Blue is Good

Painting as a Photograph

Town at Dusk

Director: Maria Procházková, Czech Republic, 2019, 5 x 4 min

Thanks to his very popular compositions, internationally acclaimed author of classical music Luboš Fišer (1935–1999) has cemented his place in the history of Czech cinema. He worked on more than 300 films and he was as prolific as Zdeněk Liška. He shaped the form of many iconic live action films (Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet) and series (Arabela). The mark he left on animated film is equally as substantial and connected mainly to directors Ivan Renč and Václav Bedřich. He supplied the required monumentality and exaggeration to their films. The diversity of his focus is expressed in his collaborations with Miroslav Macourek, Adolf Born and Jaroslav Doubrava – Fišer wrote the title song for their series Mach and Šebestová. He also worked with Zdeněk Miler creating an extraordinary score for an episode of the Little Mole and providing his Helgoland Romance with a sensitive soundtrack. Fišer also worked on the co-produced puppet series about Krakonoš. As an example of his mastery, we can name his composition for the film Maryška and the Wolf’s Castle. Finally, let us also mention a parody on pulp literature that our festival is also screening – Deadly Perfume by Václav Bedřich, in which rhythmic ostinatos of a cembalo and percussions support “terrifying” melodies of brass instruments.

Fire in Noodledom

Director: Václav Bedřich, Czechoslovakia, 1973, 10 min

Mole and the Transistor Set

Director: Zdeněk Miler, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 8 min

The Lighthouse Keeper

Director: Ivan Renč, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 11 min

The Deadly Perfume

Director: Václav Bedřich, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 9 min

Hugo and Bobo

Director: Adolf Born, Jaroslav Doubrava, Miloš Macourek, Czechoslovakia, 1975, 12 min

Albrecht Dürrer’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Director: Josef Kábrt, Czechoslovakia, 1976, 4 min

Mach and Šebestová – About a Torn Off Reciever

Director: Adolf Born, Jaroslav Doubrava, Miloš Macourek, Czechoslovakia, 1976, 8 min

Maryška and the Wolf’s Castle

Director: Vlasta Pospíšilová, Edgar Dutka, 1979, Czechoslovakia, 15 min

Václav Trojan (1907–1983) was undoubtedly one of the most important composers at the dawn of Czech animation. In 1945, he began to collaborate with the doyen of Czechoslovak animation Jiří Trnka and composed the music for most of his classical works such as Trnka’s iconic feature films: The Czech Year – a cycle of film sequences depicting traditional customs and tales, Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Andersen’s Emperor’s Nightingale and the immensely funny The Good Soldier Schweik. Trojan was tremendously talented and a virtuoso composer. He finished his university studies under the tutelage of the famous Vítězslav Novák. As the son of a photographer, Trojan had a keen eye for connecting music to a specific environment and, in his later career, he focused on scenic music. He used classical orchestra, but we can find some electronic sounds in his work. From a historical point of view, we see a unique symbiosis of filmmaker and composer. And also unprecedented “loyalty” – Trojan composed music almost exclusively for Jiří Trnka.

My Grandfather Planted a Beet

Director: Jiří Trnka, Czechoslovakia, 1945, 10 min

Legend About St. Prokop (from the Czech Year)

Director: Jiří Trnka, 1947, Czechoslovakia, 15 min

The Hand

Director: Jiří Trnka, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 18 min

The Devil’s Mill

Director: Jiří Trnka, Czechoslovakia, 1949, 21 min

The Nightingale’s Aria (from the Emperor’s Nightingale)

Director: Jiří Trnka, Czechoslovakia, 1948, 4 min

The Lutschan War (from Old Czech Legends)

Director: Jiří Trnka, Czechoslovakia, 1952, 15 min

Or when the journey is far more entertaining than the destination. And even more so in the case of this programme, whether the journey is a race, a fight, a chase, a flight or a search for a loved one. The important thing is to move, and in this showcase, our heroes will demonstrate running, jumping, flying, riding and other dynamic methods of relocation. You just sit back and get ready, set and… GO!

This selection of short films prepared by dramaturges from Anifilm Distribution presents films by Czech and foreign animators. The protagonists of all the rushing, running and jumping are not only race cars, but also animals. We will see them riding a bike in a forest in autumn, look at them skiing, meet a graffitiger exploring the walls of a city, watch a shadow following its master, witness even immovable objects like a country house move and observe unexpectedly agile Christmas decorations.

Kampa – Petřín Rallye
Director: Kreus, Czech Republic, 2012, 8 min

The Last Day of Autumn
Director: Marjolaine Perreten, France, Switzerland, 2019, 7 min

Hopus
Director: Lucie Kokoliová, Czech Republic, 2019, 4 min

Graffitiger
Director: Libor Pixa, Czech Republic, 2010, 10 min  

Modulatorie
Director: Alžběta Burešová, Czech Republic, 2016, 4 min

The Concrete Jungle
Director: Marie Urbánková, Czech Republic, 2019, 7 min

The House
Director: Veronika Zacharová, Czech Republic, 2016, 6 min

Vivat Musqueteers!
Director: Anton Diyakov, Russia, 2017 / 5 min

Charlie the Snowman’s Christmas Wedding
Director: Petr Vodička, Czech Republic, 2017, 12 min

Over many decades, dozens of animators and filmmakers have acknowledged Fischinger’s influence on their work. Jordan Belson even called him “one of my heroes”. Our programme presents work by filmmakers impacted by Fischinger’s explorations into the relationship between animation and music.

With hand-drawn animation on paper, direct painting on film, digital visualisations and algorithms, these filmmakers employ a range of styles. Some borrow techniques used by Fischinger, others invented their own. All acknowledge the visual music tradition with their music/image relationships. Some, like Gagné, created direct music visualisations, while others play more loosely with the correspondences. Scher drew in black charcoal on white paper, then photographed in negative, just as Fischinger did for his 1930s Studies series. Woloshen animated his film in his car in a specially constructed box, over four years of driving.

CVM

Curated by Cindy Keefer of Center for Visual Music
www.centerforvisualmusic.org
Photo (c) Center for Visual Music

Boogie-Doodle
Director: Norman McLaren, Canada, 1941, 3 min 15 sec

Color Rhapsodie
Director: Mary Ellen Bute, USA, 1948, 6 min, originally 35mm

Mandala
Director: Jordan Belson, USA, 1953, 3 min, originally 16mm. Restored by CVM with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Play-Pen
Director: Jules Engel, USA , 1986, 5 min, originally 16mm. Restored by CVM with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Pencil Dance
Director: Chris Casady, USA, 1988, 3 min, originally 35mm

Algorithms / Algorithmen
Director: Bärbel Neubauer, Germany, 1994, 3 min 30 sec, originally 35mm

Fly by Night
Director: Jeff Scher, USA, 2008, 1 min 30 sec

The Boyg / Bøygen
Director: Kristian Pedersen, Norway, 2016, 5 min 50 sec

Shimmer Box Drive
Director: Steven Woloshen, Canada, 2007, 3 min 45 sec

Firebird
Director: Scott Draves, USA, 2007, 4 min 15 sec

Sensology
Director: Michel Gagné, Canada, USA, 2010, 6 min

Jazzimation 2
Director: Oerd van Cuijlenborg, France, 2017, 5 min

A Very Large Increase in the Size, Amount or Importance of Something Over a Very Short Period of Time
Director: Max Hattler, Russia, UK, Germany, 2013, 2 min 15 sec

Clonal Colonies I: Fresh Runners
Director: Bret Battey, UK, 2011, 7 min

vitreous
Director: Robert Seidel, Germany, 2015, 3 min 30 sec

Cucamelon – Messages from Plants
Director: Paul Fletcher, Australia, 2020, 4 min 40 sec. European premiere.

Jan Werich’s Fimfárum is an anthology film composed of five not-so-fairy-tales but rather moralities on human vices. Directed by Vlasta Pospíšilová and Aurel Klimt, these five stories connected by Werich’s voice create a compact film. It has been nearly twenty years since the premiere of this film. It has slowly left its place in modern Czech cinema, acquired a status of Czech classic and has now been restored and digitalised. The process started with rewriting the original intermediate negative which formed the original video master. The colour corrections were overseen by Aurel Klimt and in the most important phases also by cinematographer Zdeněk Pospíšil. Some matters were also discussed remotely with cinematographer Vladimír Malík. The most demanding and time-consuming process was removing imperfections and restoring the damaged film stock. The authors took into consideration the viewers and in spite of the opinion of film historians, they removed various technical mistakes as well (animation lines, hair in the frames, light differences in individual shots, forgotten objects in scenes). “From my point of view, the result has the best possible quality which could be achieved by using modern technical equipment, and I would like to wish you a very pleasant experience when watching our film in the cinemas eighteen years after it was first screened,” says Aurel Klimt to the festivalgoers.

Thanks to his nonconforming attitude towards the communist regime, Jan Klusák (1934) was considered an “enfant terrible” of Czech music, and to this day, he unequivocally remains one of the most important contemporary Czech composers. At the beginning of his career, he was inspired mainly by neoclassicism, but later he became one of the pioneers of avantgarde music of the Second Viennese School, i.e. New Music, dodecaphony, serialism etc. This kind of music was not played in Czechoslovakia back then and the critics tore it apart. Since the start of his composing career, Klusák has focused on scenic and film music. His collaboration with Otomar Krejča at the National Theatre (e.g. staging of Romeo and Juliet) was of great importance. He started composing film music in the 1960s (The Beggar’s Opera by Jiří Menzel and other films). New Wave filmmakers soon discovered Klusák also as an actor. His most famous film music melodies remain those he composed for the series Hospital at the End of the City. But Klusák also composed many other melodies (chiefly for short animated films) in collaboration with directors Jiří Brdečka, Jan Švankmajer and in particular Jaroslav Boček.

The Voyages of Beddy-Byes the Elf – How Cosmic Winds Blew Them to the Planet of Cucumbers and Pumpkins

Director: Jaroslav Boček, Czechoslovakia, 1978, 8 min

What I Haven’t Told the Prince
Director: Jiří Brdečka, Czechoslovakia, 1975, 9 min

Revenge 
Director: Jiří Brdečka, Czechoslovakia, 1968, 14 min

Prince Mědenec’s Secret Chamber 
Director: Jiří Brdečka, Czechoslovakia, 1980, 10 min

Love’s Whims
Director: Josef Kábrt, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 12 min

The Sculptress of Polička
Director: Jaroslav Boček, Czechoslovakia, 1970, 13 min

Fall of the House of Usher
Director: Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1980, 15 min

Ivo Špalj is a living legend of Czech sound design. His career, active to this day, in the film and TV industry spans nearly 60 years. Besides his work on countless features and shorts, he is known as the court sound designer of director Jan Švankmajer. In this rare interview led by the American film-maker, sound designer and teacher Larry Sider, Ivo Špalj discusses his work methods, way of thinking and approach to art, speaks about what sound design means for the moving picture and the specifics of working on animated films, focusing especially on his collaboration with Jan Švankmajer.

A short love story of two slices of meat. After some initial hints, the passion quickly catches fire but soon ends up on a sizzling hot frying pan. Even though it’s short, this film has everything a proper love story ought to have. Everything is performed by brilliantly animated raw meat and the film has a very naturalistic sound.

It seems that to use dirt to create an anatomically perfect being is no problem at all. The problem is, however, that the gradual “construction” of the dirt man takes place in a small room. Despite that, the process is finished, but something must have gone wrong. This excellently animated film was made at the turn of two historic decades and was premiered after the Velvet Revolution.

For this film, Jan Švankmajer allegedly found inspiration in his childhood, which was affected by a food phobia. While he portrayed breakfast as a very bizarre vending machine, lunch gets out of control of the diners and the restaurant itself and the dinner is disturbingly autocannibalistic. This pixilated film also masterfully uses claymation.

Scenes from the household of a football fan start completely realistically. The man turns on the TV and opens a beer. The game is about to start. Our fan doesn’t seem to be disconcerted by what is happening on the screen. The players eliminate each other in very original ways. The borders between broadcast and experience get blurry and football suddenly comes out of the screen into the man’s home.

A short allegorical spectacle starring a Arcimboldoesque character tied to a bed. The patient is obviously sick and the vegetables and fruits that he is made of slowly decompose. A seemingly detached sound combining industrial noises, a siren and creaking sounds turns this piece almost into a horror.

In this film, Švankmajer was inspired by Czech folk puppet theatre from the 19th century – with its ruthlessness, rawness and narrative shortcut. Švankmajer created his version of Don Juan according to different variants of Don Juan texts, but his story extends far beyond the stage – it reveals the backstage mechanism and expands outside of the theatre.

When Mickey Mouse’s popularity started fading in the 1930s, Walt Disney decided to turn the tide and featured Mickey in the short cartoon film The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. To differentiate it from other animated films, the film was matched with a classical score conducted by Leopold Stokowski, the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The idea of matching animation to popular classical music eventually led to the creation of a unique film in which the famous Mickey Mouse is just one of the characters and his adventures with a magical broomstick are accompanied by seven other stories, each featuring a different style of music, theme and narrative method. While Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor accompanies abstract images, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring takes us through a visual history of the Earth’s beginnings. The tale about Mickey’s attempts to master magic is more traditional and is accompanied by music by Paul Dukas, and the interpretation of the famous ballet from the opera La Gioconda is distinctly comical (after all, it is full of more or less graceful performances by hippos, ostriches, elephants and crocodiles). Disney’s intention to create a new kind of entertainment called a concert feature is underlined by the combination of animated sequences with live orchestra and the presence of music critic Deems Taylor, who introduces each animated segment.

In this musical spectacle entertaining all generations, a town is given a magic bell from Tibet as a gift. With its harmony, the bell inspires kindness in the townsfolk. But a director of a circus passing through the valley has his eyes set on acquiring the bell… The author animated half-relief puppets designed by Martin Velíšek.

This utterly atypical and gloomily absurd puppet musical was made by a Swedish director who has managed to excellently connect smooth animation with original stories already in her previous films. Her latest film is a sequence of scenes from various commercial places where the inhabitants, here (once again) portrayed as animals, go through various forms of existential anxiety and boredom.

Nostalgic musical Miss Todd takes place in 1909 in the era of the famous and infamous beginnings of aviation. The story of a proud and brave girl in this predominantly male world is based on real events. The ambitions of the heroine were matched by the director who used the unusual technique of cutout stop-motion animation in real space.

An excellent parody of musical numbers from Walt Disney films. A mass choreography of dozens of not particularly cute bunnies and other often unidentifiable animals turns into a show that is definitely not suitable for children. A fresh and rhythmic film full of various ideas.

This riveting atmospheric musical with elaborate choreographies is set in an atypical setting of a quarry. This gloomy place, where ten men work in a stultifying routine, is unexpectedly visited by the wife of one of them. Will she brighten the depressing place and bring a little humanity to it? The men seem to be as hard and unyielding as the rocks they move in a mechanical rhythm.

A tribute to two videos made by the Vasulkas in 1974. In these works, video footage was transformed using a Rutt/Etra scan processor. The author built a modern equivalent of the processor and also started capturing the electromagnetic fluctuations omnipresent in an urban environment. The result is similar to operating within an alien mode of perception.

#3 is a film with pure light, in which the images were created by recording the movements of a tiny light source with extremely long exposures, so that it draws traces on the emulsion. The light was fastened to a double pendulum, a system known from chaos theory that shows unpredictable behaviour in a certain range of speeds.

#5 explores the relation between image and time on the film strip and modulates continuously between animations with long exposures on the one hand, and snapshots that are enlarged across many film frames on the other hand. Images were made using very nonvirtual, simple reflecting materials and can be regarded as a kind of action painting with light.

It is a film about the discontinuity that lies at the heart of the film medium. All images were generated by intermittently recording the movement of a line, revisiting the chronophotographic techniques of Étienne-Jules Marey. It was the first Dutch film ever to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

Images in the film are generated by systems in which the pixels are agents that are comparable to cells in an organism. Systems are bumped into motion by disruptions that cause a difference between some pixels and their neighbours. Film is part of a long-running exploration… Since 2017 it is also available in a horizontal version, under the title 43.6.

Troll girl Poppy, who was a princess in the first film, is now a queen, but luckily it hasn’t changed her in any way. She rules her land with dancing and singing and does so very effortlessly, because where there is no trouble, being a queen is easy. Her world would continue to rotate to a pop rhythm, if it hadn’t been for a shocking discovery – the Pop Trolls are not the only ones living on their planet. There are other Troll tribes with different taste in music. There are for example Techno Trolls, Country Trolls and Rock Trolls. Queen of the Rock Trolls Barb not only prefers heavy music but is under the impression that rock is the only proper music. This might be a problem that would require Poppy to do a bit more than just give a warm hug and a song. And that’s why she joins her new friend Branch on a musical quest to unexplored lands to find a way to stop her rock counterpart before the world is taken over by guitar riffs.

One of the “delicacies” of our midnight screenings is the feature debut of American director Jason Axinn, author of many short films and commissions. He enters the field of feature films with a film that skilfully balances between sci-fi, gangster film, horror movie and computer game while still managing to parody them all. Troubled but earnest Miriam DeKalb runs a non-profit which promotes global peace initiatives. This is in reaction to her estranged father – billionaire sociopath war profiteer and all-around sick bastard Cyrus DeKalb. When he learns he is dying, Cyrus calls Miriam and her three siblings together, ostensibly to discuss his will. However, what he actually has planned is to pronounce judgment on them all. They are, in his view, traitors, and he has elaborate death traps planned for each of them. Miriam barely survives. Her brothers and sister are not so lucky. Unbeknownst to them, a race of intergalactic gamblers, who wager on human conflicts as bloody sport, have chosen Miriam as the subject for their next game. Will the heroine live to see the closing credits? The author uses graphical screen division and exaggerated caricature to stylise his characters.

The film is screened with supporting film…

Or six short more or less serious films about death by Czech and Slovak animators! How should one portray the difficult theme of death in a film? Is it possible to use a film to come to terms with the loss of a loved one and at the same time appeal to child audiences? Animated film is a suitable medium for discussing the end of life sensitively but also humorously. Simply in a way that is easily acceptable for children. The authors of the following six films approach the theme very loosely and variedly. The majority of the films lighten the delicate subject and work with popular characters such as skeletons, ghosts and zombies. Other films choose a serious approach emphasizing feelings. But all of the films face the often-tabooed theme without fear and perceive a loss as the beginning of something new. After all, hope never dies.

A Tear Is Needed

Director: Kristina Dufková, Czech Republic, 2008, 17 min

Do Not Touch!

Director: Pavel Endrle, Czech Republic, 2017, 1 min

30 Amper

Director: Michal Kubíček, Czech Republic, 2018, 14 min

The Tree

Director: Lucie Sunková, Czech Republic, 2015, 15 min

Ghostory

Director: Alžběta Göbelová, Czech Republic, 2017, 10 min

The Kite

Director: Martin Smatana, Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2019, 13 min

Duo Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli situated their thrilling spectacle for young as well as grown-up audiences in the French capital, in particular on its many roofs. We follow three characters – a likeable burglar named Nico who, with an acrobatic lightness, operates in apartments, houses and museums all over Paris and is definitely not scared of heights; a small girl named Zoé, daughter of a police superintendent; and finally Zoé’s cat Dino, who links the world of the two lonely heroes. Dino leads a double life. During the day, he is an inconspicuous house cat, but during the night, he turns into a crafty thief. When Dino introduces Zoé to Nico, an entirely new world opens up to the girl. The constantly busy superintendent has no idea about her daughter’s nocturnal exploits. And so begins a fantastic adventure that symbiotically mixes elements of a crime film, thriller, gangster film and film noir. The authors “embellished” their film with stunning views of Paris and many comic situations, and A Cat in Paris earned an Oscar nomination.

Perhaps the stories of Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood were different. Perhaps there was more than one wolf. And perhaps they all kind of knew each other. In the case of Revolting Rhymes, this is true. In this film, we find both our heroines in a big city. Given the fact that the film is based on the work of popular British writer of books for children Roald Dahl, we can be sure that these tales will include a lesson, peculiar humour and a certain dose of horribleness just like the originals. The modern adaptation deepens the relations between the characters and rhymed narration helps to keep the playfulness and winsomeness not only in the story of friendship of two popular fairy-tale heroines – in the second part, they are joined by Jack and the Beanstalk and his neighbour Cinderella. Red Riding Hood’s sly children hear the stories from none other than the wolf himself, disguised as a babysitter. How will their stories end? And will the children survive the wolf’s bedtime story? Both parts of Revolting Rhymes earned Magic Light Pictures an Oscar nomination and a number of prestigious awards.

Director: Jacob Schuh, Jan Lachauer, Bin-Han To, United Kingdom, 2016, 58 min

The Simpsons appeared on American television screens more than 30 years ago. Since the very beginning of this iconic series satirising American society and current issues, The Simpsons has enjoyed phenomenal success. The likeable anti-heroes first saw the light of day in The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 and in 1989, the series debuted in a primetime slot. David Silverman has been on board the show since the start. First he worked as an animator and subsequently as a director and producer. And when The Simpsons Movie came out in 2007, it was he who directed it. If we were to screen all the episodes David Silverman worked on, it would take up the entire festival, so David picked his seven favourites, including Treehouse of Horror!

Treehouse of Horror IV

Director: David Silverman, USA, 1993, 30 min

Homer’s Triple Bypass

Director: David Silverman, USA, 1992, 30 min

Homie the Clown

Director: David Silverman, USA, 1995, 30 min

Marge vs. the Monorail

Director: Rich Moore, USA, 1993, 30 min

22 Short Films about Springfield

Director: Jim Reardon, USA, 1996, 22 min

You Only Move Twice

Director: Mike B. Anderson, USA, 1996, 23 min

The Book Job

Director: Bob Anderson, Mike B. Anderson, USA, 2011, 30 min

Barry Purves, one of the most popular authors of contemporary puppet animation, likes to adapt the classics of world literature and music. In the 1990s, he came up with a precisely animated and emotionally impressive version of Verdi’s Rigoletto. Rigoletto, the pimp for the Duke of Milan, tries in vain to keep his daughter from the debauchery of the corrupt court.

In this recent film by the French animation group Illogic uniting six young filmmakers focusing on CGI animation, nature conducts an extraordinary symphony during the night – a symphony of many animals that came to perform. A realistic rendition adds another dimension to this incredible spectacle.

For many years, French filmmaker Hélène Ducrocq has been specialising in films combining music, poeticness and wildlife. Her latest film, captivating for both children and grown-ups, is no different. An enthusiastic team of colourful earthworms, worms and other earth insects build their subterranean labyrinths to the sound of rhythmic singing.

This witty puppet slapstick with an unexpected ending takes place in the noble setting of an opera which is putting on a very moving performance. The story seems so touching that the audience may flood the theatre with their tears. Apart from its theme, the film stands out with excellent timing and a sense for the absurdity of the situation.

Willy is looking for his grandmother, who has mysteriously disappeared. He finds out that the fairy-tale town of Nix has turned into a scary place dominated by an omnivorous monster. The boy sets out on a journey to save his grandma, the town and all fairy tales. This musical, inspired by Tim Burton’s films, offers quality 3D animation. Two of the characters were voiced by director Terry Gilliam and singer Tom Waits.

Composer Zdeněk Liška worked on dozens of Czechoslovak titles. His unique style was praised by many directors who respected him as a full co-author of their films. While composing music for symphonic orchestras, concert bands, strings and piano, he used various combinations of not only instruments, but also electronics and sounds. His compositions can be heard in films and series such as Markéta Lazarová (1967), Valley of Bees (1968), The Sinful People of Prague (1968–1969), The Cremator (1968), The Fabulous Baron Munchhausen (1961) and many more. This documentary by renowned music journalist Pavel Klusák shows Liška as a brilliantly diverse composer and reacts to the current increase in interest in him. Liška is known mainly for his work for live action films, but, as Jan Švankmajer or the famous Quay Brothers point out in the documentary, it is only the tip of the iceberg. His work for animated films is no less important and varied. After all, Anifilm visitors can appreciate it themselves in a special programme showing short films with “Music by Zdeněk Liška”.

Thanks to his book about an alternative economic model (Economy for the Common Good) Austrian political activist and also dancer Christian Felber attracted the attention of media and similarly thinking people. In a unique project called Happiness Machine, ten female directors and ten female composers decided to visualise his ideas by means of a varied palette of genres and types of animated film accompanied by music performed by the Viennese chamber orchestra Klangforum. By animating painting, Elizabeth Hobbs depicts the Grimm story about the greedy fisherman and the effects of his avarice on his surroundings, while Vessela Dantcheva chose the form of abstract film. Joanna Kozuch presents the metaphor of acrobats in a music box, Ena Bradner’s film combines pixilation with live action, and Samantha Moore, known for her documentaries, chose the same approach in her film Bloomers, which she drew on textile and which includes authentic testimonies of entrepreneurs from the textile industry. In Andrea Schneider’s film Generator/Operator, we will see stop-motion animation of various products of nature and Ana Nedeljković’s titular film The Happiness Machine exploring corporate practices stars clay puppets stylised as computer game characters. Using 3D animation and other techniques, Rebecca Blöcher portrays natural and artificial environments, while Measuring the Distance by Susi Jirkuff focuses on marginalised social groups and the peripheries they live in. The closing experiment by Michelle Kranot uses archive footage to turn to the past but talks about a current issue. The common feature of this unique showcase is a distinct musical element. In some cases, the films are accompanied by a melodic score with steady rhythm, in other cases by wilder and almost shredded sound compositions.

In Memoriam Gene Deitch: Immortal Tom and Jerry and their Friends

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 American director and screenwriter Gene Deitch spent over half of his life in Prague, which means – and there may be some who don’t know this – that some episodes of iconic American cartoons directed by him were produced in socialist Czechoslovakia. And that’s not all – apart from many episodes of popular series, Gene made also short films, usually in collaboration with a Czechoslovak crew but in an American production. His films, which Anifilm repeatedly screened, were often made for child audiences.

Let’s come together and remember this remarkable person who, despite being American, has cemented his place in the history of Czech animation. For this programme, we picked well-known as well as less-known episodes of various series and short films. Apart from the beloved immortal heroes Tom and Jerry, we will see for instance an episode of a series starring a grotesque character named Nudnik who fails at everything no matter how hard he tries. Gene’s short films are represented in this programme by the humorous Pig’s Wedding and an adaptation of African fable A Story, a Story with music played on ancient African instruments borrowed from the Náprstek Museum.

Gene Deitch: 1924–2020

Tom & Jerry – Mouse into Space, USA, 1961, 7 min

Nudnik – Here’s Nudnik, USA, 1960, 7 min  

The Foolish Frog, USA, Czechoslovakia, 1971, 7 min          

Tom & Jerry – Carmen Get it!, USA, 1962, 7 min

The Pigs’ Wedding, USA, Czechoslovakia, 1989, 7 min

Nudnik – Nudnik on the Roof, USA, 1966, 7 min      

A Story, a Story, USA, Czechoslovakia, 1974, 9 min

Tom & Jerry – Buddies Thicker than Water, USA, 1962, 7 min

One of the first commissions of Ové Pictures was a poetic music video for an American filmmaker and musician. The authors chose cutout animation subtly supplemented by 2D animation. A girl wakes up and sets out for a place where dreams go during the day as it is the only place where she can truly be herself. This music video is the most popular video on Rose’s YouTube channel.

Since the studio’s beginnings, experiments with cutout animation have been typical for Ové Pictures. Viliam is the graduation film of the second half of the duo, director Veronika Obertová. The film tells the story of a boy who lives his animated life outside of the real world. The film has won many awards at various festivals for its original artistic style and animation.

To make this music video for the song Idaho by an American prog-rock band, the authors from Ové Pictures used their favourite cutout animation. The main hero of the music video is a bus driver who sees a bison in a forest. And weird things start happening. At the end of the music video, we will see the band members themselves portrayed by cutout animation.

This metaphoric story about a couple who just moved in together is told from the perspective of the woman who soon finds out what her boyfriend hides in his mysterious bag. The man “must” work, but what role will she have? This artistically simple but interesting symbolic film was one of the films that drew attention to young Slovak animation. It was also the director's graduation film at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.

This simple story about two people from different environments who live next to each other but never communicate directly is inspired by the city of San Francisco and its inhabitants, dust and glitter. Magda, a young, naive girl, is astonished by the glitter of the city and Trevor, an older homeless man who has spent many years on the street and must fight to defend his territory now.

Music video for Jana Kirschner’s song from her successful album Krajina Rovina released ten years ago. Slovakian duo Ové Pictures visualised a strange story of a man and woman whose lives by the seashore are complicated by an underwater crayfish-like creature.

Nina is a story of a timid boy and a little woodland nymph who are connected and yet divided by fear. They form a strong bond but as the friendship turns into love, the fear grows. This very original film, both graphic and animation wise, deals with the way the characters overcome their fears.

The first, and so far also the last Simpsons feature film, premiered in 2007, almost 20 years after the series debuted on television. The film itself was very eagerly anticipated as the iconic series is characterised by rather quickly culminating situation comedy spiced up by black and absurd humour with elements of parody and caricature, something which is not easily spread out through the running length of a feature film. The film required a more complex plot and a slightly less frantic narration tempo – the authors however managed to preserve the overall nature of the series and fill the film with many unforgettable gags and comic situations. The filmmakers wanted to attract viewers who hadn’t been very familiar with the Simpsons phenomenon until then and at the same time satisfy their loyal fans. That’s why the film stars most of the beloved characters from the series, but you don’t need to know the original series to enjoy the feature film. The plot revolves around a global issue, topical to this very day, and deals not only with pollution but also with American politics of that time. At the beginning of the film, Homer does the worst thing in his life and it’s up to the people of Springfield to find a way out of the ensuing precarious situation in which they find themselves literally trapped. The Czech version of the film was voiced by the same voice talents as the series so Czech audiences can enjoy excellent dubbing performances.

Tight bonds between jazz and animated films have been established ever since the 1930s, from the time when jazz used to be the American pop music. Spanning several decades from the works of the classic animators Dave Fleischer, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery and George Pal, to innovators like John Hubley and Norman McLaren. And at the turn of the 21st century, there are authors who also have great expectations from this music. In Story Ville jazz trumpeter Arty suffers when his instrument “dies” in his arms, and tries to win back his adored trumpet from the realm of the dead. St. James Infirmary is a dedication to the “cradle of jazz” New Orleans and its well-known sites (Preservation Hall, Jackson Square, theme park at the Pontchartrain Beach), and the atmosphere of the film breathes with the style of Fleischer’s classics from the Betty Boop series. Giant Steps visualises complex harmonic structures of celebrated saxophonist John Coltrane as a challenge of its kind, guided by Goethe’s idea of architecture being a form of “crystallised music”. Judging by the films in this selection one can say that jazz, surprisingly vibrant and vivid, keeps taking us on an exciting voyage.

 
Programme curated by Milen Alempijević

Jazz That Nobody Asked For
Director: Rune Fisker, Esben Fisker, Denmark, 2013, 4 min

1000 Plateaus (2004–2014)
Director: Steven Woloshen, Canada, 2014, 3 min

Wackatdooo
Director: Benjamin Arcand, France, 2014, 6 min

Frog’s Song
Director: Violaine Pasquet, France, 2016, 11 min

Swing of Change
Director: Harmony Bouchard, Andy Le Cocq, Joakim Riedinger, Raphael Cenzi, France, 2011, 7 min

Fallin’ Floyd
Director: Paco Vinc, Albert 't Hooft, Netherlands, 2012, 9 min

Leitmotif
Director: Mette Ilene Holmriis, Marie Jørgensen, Jeanette Nørgaard, Marie Thorhauge, Denmark, 2009, 7 min

Jazz Song
Director: Jorge Gonzalez, Spain, 2007, 8 min

Tim Tom
Director: Romain Segaud, Christel Pougeoise, France, 2002, 4 min

Jazzed
Director: Anton Setola, France, 2008, 7 min

A Man with the Chicken’s Head
Director: Sylvain Georget, Axel Morales, Mathias Rodriguez, France, 2007, 6 min

Giant Steps
Director: Michal Levy, Israel, 2001, 2 min

Story Ville
Director: Marion Nove-Josserand, Patrick Kraft, Florian Mounié, France, 2005, 6 min

Preservation Hall Hot 4: St. James Infirmary (King Britt Remix)
Director: James Tancill, USA, 2009, 4 min

Experience close encounters of the third kind with the most popular flock of sheep in the latest film adventure of Shaun the Sheep. As Shaun is so busy teasing the farmer and his dog Bitzer, he doesn’t even notice strange lights announcing a mysterious visitor from another galaxy… An alien rascal called Lu-Lou crashes near the farm. Her supernatural powers and mischief of galactic proportions are water to rascal Shaun’s mill. He quickly seizes this new opportunity and sets out on an intergalactic mission to save the little visitor from a devilish organisation trying to catch Lu-Lou and use her for their crooked intentions. Will Shaun and his flock succeed in averting Farmaggedon? Hold on to your hats, this is going to be an exciting sci-fi deep space ride. Oh, and the route leads through a car wash!

It seems that the world won’t ever be what it used to be – a showcase of consumerist egoists blinded by the teachings of the capitalist gods of the free market, stock exchange and shopping as the only appropriate way of spending free time. All virtual money has mysteriously disappeared (that is, it was stolen) and the society built on inequality, materialism and the accumulation of capital is threatened. The question is not what the averagely rich people in big cities will do, but rather how will Raúl, the hero of this hard-boiled satirical film, and his crew of “homeless by conviction” face this new world (dis)order. Until now, they lived on a rubbish dump as outcasts spat out by the system. But without a superficial society oriented on exhilarating experiences, they can hardly be different, unusual and proudly homeless! Their mission is clear – the system needs to be put back in place. By God’s providence, they will not have to take on this task alone. A dirty river washes up a helper in the form of a millionaire’s son whose biggest dream is to renounce his wealth and live like Raúl. Will they succeed in reinstating the coveted rule of money and corporations? And who is actually responsible for the disappearance of all the financial resources? Pray, for the end is nigher than nigh. 

In this feature film, the writing-directing duo of Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol explore a thrilling crime story while remaining faithful to their distinct and pleasantly stylised artistic style. The story is set in an alternate version of New York and the film’s main hero is 11-year-old bedridden Léo whose serious illness has put him in hospital for a long time. He meets an unsuccessful police officer named Alex who is confined to a wheelchair after his injury at the hands of an evil mob kingpin. Léo reveals to him that his illness gave him the power to leave his body and fly around the city, passing through walls just like a phantom. And as the boy longs to become a policeman himself, they team up and decide to solve the case “remotely” with the help of Alex’s girlfriend. The story is full of suspenseful and almost horror-like scenes, but also humour and irony used to portray the unlucky policeman and the “dangerous” mobster. Much of the appeal of the captivatingly depicted story can be attributed to the music by Serge Besset.

The titular song of Chomet’s iconic film will undoubtedly carry away every viewer. The tones of the catchy jazz melody bring us the peculiar story of a Tour de France champion and old Madame Souza, who has been taking care of him ever since he was a child. As soon as she discovers his passion for cycling, she decides that he has to be the next Tour de France winner. But what she cannot know is that the French mafia is preparing to execute its plan to kidnap star athletes and use them in the gambling underworld of an overseas city! Madam Souza (and her fat dog Bruno) has no choice but to save her champion. Luckily, she runs into three kind souls that she knows from the screen of her obsolete television. Sylvain Chomet created a caricatural world where the madness around Tour de France corresponds to the size of the cyclists’ calves and where the rotten city offers lots of humorous genre allusions, gags and simple peculiarities for lovers of film, animation and music. The Triplets of Belleville artfully works with rhythm and the meaning of sound not only in its musical scenes, but in the narration itself, which helps to fully paint the unforgettable characters and the mesmerising setting of this film with almost no dialogue.

Once again teaming up with her classmate Eirik Grønmo Bjørnsen, Anna Mantzaris again chose to use the technique of stop-motion for this commission by Gilde. In it, we watch various scenes from Norwegian Christmas. Everywhere are piles of snow that need to be cleared, a cat has gone up a tree and a family is serving dinner… Christmas rush is everywhere, but the author used the chosen technique to freeze it.

Anna Mantzaris drew the biggest attention to herself thanks to her short film about losing one’s self-control. Short but telling scenes when it is simply enough, became a worldwide online and festival hit (winning, among other festivals, also Anifilm 2018). And the animation of felt puppets became Anna Mantzaris’ trademark.

One year after Enough, Anna Mantzaris repeated her success by once again winning the Best Student Film Award at Anifilm. Good Intentions is again teeming with her quirky humour and fondness for escalated situations. After she causes a serious accident, the main heroine of the film tries to make up for her fatal mistake and subsequent imprudent decisions.

Anna Mantzaris’ puppets are co-starring in a music video composed of various contributions by 13 animators and graphic artists from all over the world. Apart from Anna, this disco ride by American musician John Grant was visualised by, among others, the Taiwanese artist Cheng-Hsu Chung, who is also known to our festival viewers.

In another commission, Anna Mantzaris once again explores the Christmas atmosphere. This time she joined forces with Greenpeace and this cute video emphasises that everyone has a right to breathe clean air. A home-made face mask is not very effective protection in this case either.

In this elaborate puppet commercial for Honest Tea, we can see a much richer colour palette and a different character stylisation than is typical for Anna Mantzaris. This video explains how Honest Tea make their teas, what is in them and to what we contribute by buying them.

In her latest video, Anna Mantzaris again used her unique style. The purpose of this video is to inform about a rather unknown lung disease called nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). By getting examined early, you decrease your chance of being forced to live as the heroine of this video. Symbolically encumbered by weights and under constant heat caused by her burden.

The first feature film about the Slovak national hero Milan Rastislav Štefánik was intended to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independent Czechoslovakia. This special effects film balancing between the genres of historical drama, romantic film and adventure thriller (with elements of slapstick comedy) was made by Slovak animator and director Noro Držiak, graduate of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, as his directorial feature debut. For the chosen genre mix, Štefánik is a more than fitting hero – he was the first Slovak to undertake a voyage around the world, he climbed Mont Blanc several times, was shot down in a plane, conquered many hearts, took an interest in astronomy and on top of all that helped to establish independent Czechoslovakia in 1918. The film inspired by real events follows the life of this steadfast adventurer and intellectual across several continents. At the end of his voyage, the hero meets the love of his life. Sequences with live actors alternate with animated passages and artistically remarkable sets meticulously created during postproduction.

An old dairy farmer was betrayed by his cow. She allegedly didn’t want to get milked and so it was no wonder she burst. But is the poor creature really to be blamed? Isn’t the dairy farmer the one who is a bit off? Our “old man” is his successor and we get to know him when he greets his grandchildren who have been sent to the farm for the summer. Manure, a cow and milking are sacred things for the grandpa who supplies the villagers with white gold. But city kids do not understand it at all and the cow runs away because of them, triggering a bizarre sequence of events (including, among other things, an immobile “liquid” milkman, hippies in the forest, a tree god, a bear and some robots) inadvertently leading to a lactocalypse. This puppet parody on horror films offers everything except an idyllic holiday at grandpa’s in the Estonian countryside. The extent of disgustingness and absurdity gradually increases with the amount of the milked cow milk splattering all over the place. Luckily (in grandpa’s case, hopefully not the viewers’), it is neutralised by a considerable amount of vodka. With their agro-dirty opus, the authors follow up on their previous short online sketches starring the film’s protagonist. Apart from a great many humorous situations, the film boasts a technical brilliance with which the author created the setting and also the stop-motion animation.