Focus on Czech Animation
Sledi uvodni nagovor / Úvodni slovo pronese / The Opening Speech Will Be Delivered By
A satire mocking vain orators who use any public event mostly to exhibit themselves delivering long speeches without saying anything.
Manjvrednostni kompleks / Mindrák / Inferiority Complex
A humorous criminal story about a dog that knew how to read, appreciated classical music and spoke a foreign language. His primitive master hates his dog’s superiority and tries to liquidate it physically. In the end he pays for it himself.
Jabolčna devica / Jabloňová panna / The Apple Maiden
A puppet picture based on a national fairy-tale. It is about an enchanted apple maiden who is set free from the spell of a bad witch by big and true love. The picture is particular for following the medieval style in its design.
Štirideset dedkov / Čtyřicet dědečků / Forty Grandfathers
An old humorous folk tale about a magic pot that was able to multiply without limits anything that was put into it and the trouble that resulted from grandfather's fall into the pot. The traditional motifs were substituted by modern ones and thus a new temperament of cartoon comedy was created.
Betlehemska zvezda / Hvězda betlémská / The Star Of Bethlehem
The biblical story about the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem acted out with puppets made of knitting wool and with pieces of tinfoil.
Dilema / Dilema / Dilemma
An artistically interesting anecdote about possible disastrous consequences of desperate irresoluteness. A man leads an exhausting fight with himself about which door will he use to leave a room while his house has been burning down.
Pivo za na pot / Pivo přes ulici / Beer to Go
A temperamental satiric story mocking the breakneck development of automobiles. A gentleman wants to get beer from a pub that stands just opposite his house, but is also across a highway.
Križanka / Křížovka / The Crosswords
A humorous film full of dynamic gags, tells us a story of a man who spends all his free time doing crosswords. In the end even love proposals from his wife do not lead him to a night full of love but to a solution of the last word missing in the crossword puzzle: LOVE.
Možnost za dialog / Možnosti dialogu / Dimensions of Dialogue
The film in three short stories about dialogue (perpetual, passionate and exhaustive) is a dizzy, passionate kaleidoscope of things and bones of contentions that make any dialogue and understanding impossible. It is a warning against ambivalence towards seeming values and securities. One of the most famous and successful Czech animated pictures and a masterpiece of both Czech and world animation.