Jaromír Kallista

Jan Svankmajer, at 85 years of age, is one of the most prominent artists of European cinema. His work has inspired and guided generations of directors, and represents a sharp and merciless exploration of human nature which is entirely unique. When he decided to retire from filmmaking after "Insect" (2018), his producer suggested that the creative processes which ferment within their company Athanor should be preserved on film. Over three years, the directors of this documentary followed the life of Jan Svankmajer, elucidating his artistic principles, as well as his collaboration with old friend and producer Jaromír Kallista. The film is also haunted by the memory of Eva Svankmajerová, his wife and creative partner, muse and inseparable other half. Playful and poetic, candid and with a touch of Czech humour, it is an ode to creation and to companionship.

The Dung Beetle is late, the Parasite is asleep and Mrs Larva is more interested in her knitting than the director’s instructions. It’s clear: this amateur theatre company has a long way to go before they can perform their version of The Insect Play, a famous satirical work from 1922 by the brothers Karel and Josef Čapek which features insects with decidedly human traits: greed, egocentrism, jealousy.

Франция. Молодого человека Жана Берло преследуют кошмары, в которых его отправляют в сумасшедший дом. Возвращаясь с похорон матери, юноша знакомится с Маркизом, который приглашает его провести ночь в замке. Там Берло становится свидетелем богохульной оргии и «терапевтических» похорон. Он пытается бежать, но Маркиз настаивает на том, что хочет помочь гостю преодолеть страхи, и ведет его в сюрреалистический сумасшедший дом, где пациенты пользуются полной свободой, а медицинский персонал сидит за решеткой.

Бездетная пара берет к себе в дом полено, своей формой отдаленно напоминающее маленького человечка. Полено оживает и превращается в самого настоящего ребенка. Супруги не могут поверить своему счастью, однако вскоре маленькая девочка, пожирающая все, что попадается ей на глаза, приводит их в отчаяние.

Что происходит с людьми, когда их никто не видит? И зачем это с ними происходит? Охваченный страстью к электронике продавец порножурналов, следователь, увлеченно конструирующий орудия эротического труда, художник — изощренный таксидермист с очумелыми ручками, его соседка — маньячка, почтальонша, балдеющая от хлебных катышков… Всех этих чудоковатых героев кудесник Шванкмайер связал странными отношениями, которые воплотились в необычную сказку для взрослых.

BREAKFAST: After eating breakfast, a man is transformed into an elaborate dumb-waiter-style breakfast dispenser - and the same fate befalls the man who obtains breakfast from him. LUNCH: After failing to catch the waiter's eye, two would-be diners end up eating everything within reach. DINNER: Portraits of various meals made up of human organs.

A bust of Stalin is cut open on an operating table, leading to an elaborate animated depiction of Czech history from 1948 (the Communist takeover) to 1989 (the Velvet Revolution). Some knowledge of the subject is essential in order to understand the film, which is entirely visual.

Showing his own original footage of Prague Spring, director Evald Schorm describes the atmosphere these days in 1968.

Showing his own original footage of Prague Spring, director Evald Schorm describes the atmosphere these days in 1968.

The last moments of a creature made out of fruits and vegetables.

The story takes place entirely on a kitchen counter and sees two slices of raw meat as protagonists. The first slice is courted by the second and together they dance to the notes of a recording from the 1920s broadcast on the radio, after which the two slices find themselves playing and flirting on a plate full of flour, but the passion is abruptly interrupted by two skewers who fork the two slices and fry them in a pan.

Когда Алиса следует за Белым Кроликом в Страну чудес, начинаются её приключения в удивительном мире детских фантазий, она преодолевает многие опасности и спасает сказочную страну от злой Дамы Червей. Объединяя методы мультипликации и живого действия, чешский аниматор Ян Шванкмайер создал шедевр кино, поразительно интерпретировав первоначальную идею классического рассказа Льюиса Кэррола.

According to one Beskydy Mountains legend, if you do a good deed you will see silver trees. Little Ondra knows trees like that. In his family's cottage hangs a picture showing silver firs, a person falling from a height and a watch. In art lessons Ondra paints trees of the same kind. - One day Lojzek Hojgr, a man who climbs fir trees to gather the seeds, comes to see Ondra's parents. Long-ago Ondra's father has had such a job and Lojzek is his long-time friend. Hojgr moves into a half-ruined wood cabin. Ondra's father takes him on a visit to Lojzek and both demonstrate the beautiful but dangerous work of seed-gathering to the boy.

Comedy with fairy-tale touches, about Kate, who wants to marry, and Mr. Devil, who is not interested in the heart or soul of this passionate and aging lady, but is interested in her good cooking – for Mr. Devil is a glutton.

Prague - mystical city. It was here in the Middle Ages, alchemists and magicians gathered. Rumor has it that the house of Prague hide secret obtain the philosopher's stone, and complex multi-level labyrinth of underground tunnels and cellars keep many unsolved mysteries and untold treasures. Prague just full of ghosts and phantoms. Let us slightly lift the veil that hides the secrets and little to satisfy your curiosity, get acquainted with some legends of Prague.

A verger, who likes to dress as a priest, is invited, by one of the villagers, to be the pastor at a vacant church. The atheist teacher resents the pastor, and tries to embarrass him in various ways, including being caught with the local girl, Majka.

The Ronov castle has been changed into a hotel, offering stylish facilities to its guests: weddings in the torture chamber, a Black Lancer kidnapping brides, a night's lodging in a family tomb etc. The reformed petty swindler Felix Pacínek (Bohumil Smída) runs the hotel. The business is far from thriving; the place is half-empty, and the jazz band Skeleton, together with their singer Zuzanka (Jaroslava Obermaierová), decide to leave. Nobody in the hotel has any idea that the band is in fact a gang of thieves who have just robbed the Prague State Bank, taking two million crowns from its vaults.

A troupe of young women on post-apocalyptic earth are lead around by a mistress born before the war, eventually stumbling into the company of a lonely old man.

Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination of his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead. Beautifully shot and darkly ironic, Karel Kachyna’s forgotten masterpiece jumbles reality, memory and fantasy to capture the intensity and confusion of childhood in a war zone.

The young Marta has made a break in her medical education to fully invest in her career as a model. We follow her for a day in her life, almost completely without hearing her voice. It is seldom that Marta gets the space to speak, instead she is mostly subject to the voice of others.

A short documentary about the production of movie marquee art for cinemas in Prague.