Jiří Barta
Working primarily during the 1980s, Jiří Barta flourished during communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia, as funding was easily accessed through government grants, allowing students to develop at their own pace and direction. Initially dabbling with cutout shorts, Barta later experimented with stop-motion and puppetry, and within seven years of his first short completed The Pied Piper of Hamelin, still considered a masterpiece of Czech animation.
The Pied Piper (1986)
A darkly brilliant stop-motion adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin about a plague of rats that punish townsfolk corrupt with greed. One of Czechoslovakia's most ambitious animation projects of the 1980s, notable for its unusual dark art direction, innovative ... (more)
A darkly brilliant stop-motion adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin about a plague of rats that punish townsfolk corrupt with greed. One of Czechoslovakia's most ambitious animation projects of the 1980s, notable for its unusual dark art direction, innovative ... (more)
Animated Self-Portraits (1989)
An animated film compiled by David Ehrlich consisting of 27 animators from different countries all explaining themselves through their animation. (more)
An animated film compiled by David Ehrlich consisting of 27 animators from different countries all explaining themselves through their animation. (more)
Toys in the Attic (2009)
In an attic full of discarded junk, a pretty doll called Buttercup lives in an old trunk together with her friends, the marionette Prince Charming, lazy Teddy Bear and the plasticine creature Schubert. When Buttercup is snatched and taken off to the Land of Evil, ... (more)
In an attic full of discarded junk, a pretty doll called Buttercup lives in an old trunk together with her friends, the marionette Prince Charming, lazy Teddy Bear and the plasticine creature Schubert. When Buttercup is snatched and taken off to the Land of Evil, ... (more)
Cartoon Noir (1999)
Six animated shorts eschew traditional animation by featuring supernatural elements and darker themes, such as alien snatchings, life among mannequins and a spiritual rebirth. Among the films are "Ape," which features a couple fighting over a cooked monkey every ... (more)
Six animated shorts eschew traditional animation by featuring supernatural elements and darker themes, such as alien snatchings, life among mannequins and a spiritual rebirth. Among the films are "Ape," which features a couple fighting over a cooked monkey every ... (more)
Jiri Barta: Labyrinth of Darkness (2014)
Seven animated films and the 1987 live-action short "The Last Theft" comprise this collection spotlighting the prodigious talents and distinctive cinematic vision of Czech animator Jiri Barta. Slyly amusing and often featuring anti-consumerist motifs, his films ... (more)
Seven animated films and the 1987 live-action short "The Last Theft" comprise this collection spotlighting the prodigious talents and distinctive cinematic vision of Czech animator Jiri Barta. Slyly amusing and often featuring anti-consumerist motifs, his films ... (more)
The Design (1981)
Animators and urban planners both create worlds, but Czech stop motion specialist Jiří Barta's ingenious paper cut-out short punctures the stifling architecture of communist housing. Skilled hands blueprint an apartment tower standardized specifications. Envelopes ... (more)
Animators and urban planners both create worlds, but Czech stop motion specialist Jiří Barta's ingenious paper cut-out short punctures the stifling architecture of communist housing. Skilled hands blueprint an apartment tower standardized specifications. Envelopes ... (more)
The Vanished World of Gloves (1982)
Using an array of gloves in different styles and from different historical periods, the film is a short history of the cinema - from silent movies via pastiches of Buñuel and Fellini and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to a futurist junkyard where tin cans ... (more)
Using an array of gloves in different styles and from different historical periods, the film is a short history of the cinema - from silent movies via pastiches of Buñuel and Fellini and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to a futurist junkyard where tin cans ... (more)
A Ballad About Green Wood (1983)
Pieces of wood are captured by a crow and dance in celebration of spring in this animated short film. (more)
Pieces of wood are captured by a crow and dance in celebration of spring in this animated short film. (more)
Club of the Laid Off (1989)
Laid-off old mannequins spend their cracked and broken lives in an old, abandoned warehouse. New mannequins are brought to the warehouse. They are old as well, but from a younger generation. The two groups must live together, but it's not easy at all. (more)
Laid-off old mannequins spend their cracked and broken lives in an old, abandoned warehouse. New mannequins are brought to the warehouse. They are old as well, but from a younger generation. The two groups must live together, but it's not easy at all. (more)
Cook, Mug, Cook! (2007)
A portrait of the ordinary life, passing time, routine and the contacts between characters. (more)
A portrait of the ordinary life, passing time, routine and the contacts between characters. (more)
Riddles for a Candy (1978)
In Jiří Barta’s imaginative debut, a magic book poses three riddles to an anteater-like creature. His reward for answering, a wrapped piece of candy, proves elusive. Barta's animation revels in the possibilities of transformation and symbolic logic. (more)
In Jiří Barta’s imaginative debut, a magic book poses three riddles to an anteater-like creature. His reward for answering, a wrapped piece of candy, proves elusive. Barta's animation revels in the possibilities of transformation and symbolic logic. (more)
Disc Jockey (1980)
An alarm clock wakes a man who washes his face, has breakfast, drives his car to work, spins records, returns home, and takes his pills. It's a world of circles - often seen from above: an espresso cup, a stairwell, the pills, and the records spinning. At the dance ... (more)
An alarm clock wakes a man who washes his face, has breakfast, drives his car to work, spins records, returns home, and takes his pills. It's a world of circles - often seen from above: an espresso cup, a stairwell, the pills, and the records spinning. At the dance ... (more)
The Last Theft (1987)
A man breaks into a large, seemingly abandoned old house to plunder the gold received. But the house is really abandoned? (more)
A man breaks into a large, seemingly abandoned old house to plunder the gold received. But the house is really abandoned? (more)
Yuki Onna (2013)
Deep in the mountains a little Japanese boy called Minokitchi witnesses a tragic event. (more)
Deep in the mountains a little Japanese boy called Minokitchi witnesses a tragic event. (more)
Golem
The story is set in communist Prague of 1950s, a banal coincidence sends a math student Adam on a quest to find the famous Prague Golem and bring it back to life. In an old anatomy book, he finds an old photograph, which shows a group of people standing with a ... (more)
The story is set in communist Prague of 1950s, a banal coincidence sends a math student Adam on a quest to find the famous Prague Golem and bring it back to life. In an old anatomy book, he finds an old photograph, which shows a group of people standing with a ... (more)