The film is inspired by Kostis Kolotas’ text An Unfinished Novel. In the novel, Christian Orthodox tradition and the mysterious world of travelling theatre troupes, considered sinful by organised religion, fascinate the young protagonist equally. The film explores hidden and not-so-hidden paths that connect Christian tradition, pagan ritual and theatre.
First, growth seems unlimited, then a peak comes; we break and vanish and again and again, the game of life. Behind this circle, an everlasting nostalgia is present.
This graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, with a penchant for visual experiments made her latest music video in the Golly open-source program.
An ordinary clerk defies the system and with unexpected support from his colleague changes the course of his routine life. This pixilated love story set in a world where everything is controlled and timed by light, was a success at more than 300 festivals including Annecy (Audience Award). Luminaris has also won the prestigious Fipresci award.
Green, yellow and blue, striking graphic stylisation and five dwarfs; these are the building stones of this playful film. In absurd moments, a world defined by lines and geometric shapes transforms and disintegrates until someone who can restore its lost order comes along.
The experimental film Sacred Clockworks reflects religion through photographic animation of their impressive sacral architecture. Thereby the Domes of churches, mosques or synagogues are treated like clockworks – infinitely continuous, embodying thousands of years of history. The film examines the dome’s distinctive structure built from multiple layers of circular patterns. It pays homage to the beautiful art that emerged from religious institutions without overlooking the fact that these same institutions led to violence, suffering and death. The film reminds us of the commonalities of different religions by examining the similarities of their sacral architecture. A statement for more tolerance and against any fundamentalism.
An animated slapstick by a graduate of Moscow's SHAR studios, Leonid Shmelkov. Short, but full of great ideas, Very Lonely Cock is a series of absurd situations as experienced by a cock and its owner. A simple initial situation gets more and more complicated and the cock, not having a good day, only makes it worse by dealing with incoming problems.
This rather furious but all the more humorous collage-style music video was made by Václav Blín. Guests gather at a country wedding and, holding a beer in one hand and a blood sausage in the other, they dive right into a brass-band-rhythmised whirlwind of wild fun lasting until the morning dew.
Ada the Crow has a strange dream. She would like to have the same wedding as humans. Ada sets out to find information and equipment to make her dream come true. But mainly, Ada needs to find a future husband. A film by Ülo Pikkov, who used distinctive drawing style, is packed with absurd humour and unexpected points.
When a young boy hides into a wall clock during playtime, his life shrinks into a single game of hide and seek. He becomes an old man with lots of memories of his childhood that manifest themselves in surreal scenes and tell a story about something which concerns every single one of us. Hide N Seek is Bára Halířová’s graduation film from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
This short educational film portrays the youth of Czech gymnast František Pecháček and the events that shaped his personality. Towards the end, it takes us to the Strahov Stadium in Prague in 1938, where 30,000 members of the Sokol organisation performed his choreography Oath to the Republic.