Presentation

It is fascinating to see the ways in which man has raised himself above all other living beings on Earth, the way he decides over their life and death, and his godlike attitude to them, especially in the name of science. Many people know Laiku, but few know that the famous dog’s final hour of life began the moment her rocket took off. Nothing other than Sputnik had been developed at the time, and satellites don’t usually return to Earth. I decided to mix all this together into a crazy, fantastical story full of funny and almost absurd situations, because it is the only way of telling such a story with a sense of lightness and objectivity. 

Mona Peek is jarred by a delayed grief for her dead father when she finds out her childhood home has been sold. Her emotional plight becomes the subject of an esoteric card game played in another dimension by four animated dogs. When she returns to her back yard to disinter her father’s relic, a piece of bone she’d buried there, the game begins. Over the course of a problematic but magical weekend, the dogs’ mischief – stealing objects, whistling, impersonating humans – helps Mona to reconcile her loss and reconnect with her world. 

As part of the Visegrad Animation Forum, Switzerland’s Nadasdy Film will present a selection of its films.
Nadasdy Film is a limited liability company founded in 2001 by director and producer Zoltán Horváth and producer Nicolas Burlet, who is also the company’s director. The company’s films are shown in Switzerland and abroad, and the studio has gradually built up a network of contacts in the areas of production, directing and distribution. 

A promenade by the seashore: an old man is reading his newspaper with his white dog nearby, when a beautiful woman distracts him from his reading. He runs after her and dives into an animated comic strip which recounts his trials and tribulations on screen... A tribute to Jean-Paul Belmondo. 

What should have been a simple pick-up on the beach at night whirlpools into an incredible world of black-ink tattoos, red fantasies, sex and mythology. A fable of desire, orgasm and abandon. 

The wax museum closes and tranquillity descends upon the hall with the Hollywood stars. It is a stark contrast to the previous pandemonium caused by the display of Marlon Brando’s motorcycles crashing to the floor. But this is, in fact, the calm before the storm. An homage to the rebellious, excessive actor. 

In a medieval monastery, Brother Benoît – a rotund, congenial, but blundering monk – has just received orders from his superiors to clean the immense organ in the church. Accompanied by Françoise, his chicken, he tries his best. Despite his good intentions, however, he triggers one catastrophe after another. And the more he attempts to repair the organ, the worse the situation becomes – until everything winds up in a sea of foam. 

This animated documentary takes a satirical look at how the bearded vulture became extinct in the Swiss Alps because it was erroneously considered to be dangerous. Above all, however, the film teaches us a great deal about the distinct image of foreigners as portrayed in Swiss politics. 

At the dawn of science, when it was still difficult to differentiate it from magic or astrology, Copernicus proposed placing the sun – and not the Earth – at the centre of the solar system. The film retells the story of the first subversive philosopher to consider the theories of Giordano Bruno de Nola. The Earth stopped being the centre of the universe! 

China in the year 746. The Tang dynasty, the most prosperous period in the country’s history. The Emperor Li beholds a court of concubines, the most precious being Yang. The emperor is preparing a grand banquet in her honour. 

Thirty-five years after Bruce Lee’s death, his soul is reincarnated in a toy action figure. With self-confidence, the rubber toy sets off to discover the oversized world all around it. 

A look at life on the southern margins of Europe, where tourists go to relax while “illegal” immigrants try to find a better life. Two children from a Swiss family leave the strictly-defined visitors’ area and soon learn that local reality is far removed from the luxury camp. In the end, a storm comes that quickly blows away the differences between rich and poor. 

The amusing, yet tragic story of a mosquito falling in love with Nosferatu, the prince of vampires. 

Fennec is a desert fox with very large ears, which allow him to keep his body temperature down, but also to listen closely to the mysterious sounds of the Sahara. Life was peaceful in the sands, until thieves stole the Desert Book of Life. Every creature in the desert cherished it as the source of knowledge about their world. The animals feared that the thieves would use the book to destroy their peaceful world. It's up to Fennec, the licensed desert detective, to save the day! The future film is a free adaptation of a funny and full-of- action book titled “Joakim Räv, diplomerad detektiv” by a Swedish author, Ingemar Fjell.

Work in progress, intended for children aged 5–13 and parents.

This animated film workshop for children has been operating since 1986 at the Entropia Gallery in Wroclaw. It is an original artistic and educational project created by Alicja and Mariusz Jodko – the founders and supervisors of the Children’s Film Factory. In specially designed group workshops, CFF teaches children how to create animated films using the classic frame-by-frame technique. The workshop familiarizes children with the history of animated film through screenings of original animated films and through meetings with outstanding filmmakers such as Piotr Dumała, Witold Giersz, Jerzy Kucia and Daniel Szczechura. CFF’s films have received numerous awards at festivals in Poland and abroad. 

Alicja Jodko

ANOMALIA is an animation school created with the aim of improving Central European animators’ skills through the involvement of leading experts from the United States and Europe.
We systematically develop teaching methodologies, and work with animators to promote their lifelong careers. Last year, ANOMALIA presented its new LABS concept, which combines practical learning and studio work while working on actual films. 

A presentation of selected short films created using the glass painting technique. The screening includes a debate between Michal Procházka and the directors whose films will be shown. 

Michaela Müller

Following some harmless children‘s game, Agnieszka experiences a family breakup which causes her to withdraw into herself. The events she goes through in her loneliness allow her to finally reconnect with her mother and to come out of seclusion. Festival National du Film d’Animation de Bruz: Grand Prix du Film Professionnel et Prix de la Jeunesse. 

In 632 AD, the Chinese monk Xuanzang discovers the prodigious statues representing Buddha in the valley of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. In 2008 the children living in the valley tell us the myths and legends about the tragic destiny of these statues, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Prix Scam de l’œuvre numérique 2009. 

On the evening of the summer dance, everyone in the village is present. From dusk till dawn there is music: rock, tango, slow dances and waltzes. Night reveals the various couples, the young and old, the new lovebirds, the shy, the drinkers, the troublemakers, and the cries of children. Best animation film at the 2001 Clermont- Ferrand festival and the 2002 César Award winner for best short film. 

Two young girls going to the hamam for the first time lead us through a labyrinth of steam baths, showers and fountains. César Award nominee in 1992. 

In a bustling urban setting, seven characters are swept up in a dizzying chain of events. At the crossroads of reality and fantasy – a colourful adventure in a dehumanizing yet magical city. 

A look at life on the Mediterranean borders of Europe, where tourists try to relax at the same time as “illegal” immigrants struggle for a chance for a better life. 

In a bar called Pygmalion with a questionable reputation, a man and a woman fall in live. They decide to live together in a nursery outside of town, where they will grow geraniums. But they both make mistakes that bring their hope to an end. The only things that remain are memories and the geraniums by the window. 

Master and Margarita is a dark and surrealistic romance from the Moscow of the Thirties: an underground writer falls in love with a wife of a high general and ends up in the asylum – only to be liberated by devilish Doctor Woland and his burlesque gang.