The Magic Worlds of Czech Animation

10/3/04 to 10/7/04

Jirí Trnka at work.

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Past Films

Shorts by Jirí Trnka
Sunday, October 3 5:30pm
Introduced by Russell Merritt. From wartime slapstick to his last, allegorical masterpiece The Hand, see why Trnka is the idol of animators worldwide.
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The Pied Piper
Wednesday, October 6 7:30pm
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The Czech Year (Free Screening!)
Thursday, October 7 5:30pm
Free First Thursday Screening! Jirí Trnka's charming puppet film illustrating traditional Czech customs is perfect for all ages.
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The Magic Worlds of Czech Animation

10/3/04 to 10/7/04

Imaginative and inventive, poetic and incisive, Czech animation has captured an international audience since the late 1940s. In three delightful programs, we present a tribute to Czech pioneers in animation Jirí Trnka (1912–1965) and Jirí Bárta (born 1948). If Trnka's puppet-animated films developed from his career as a children's book illustrator (he is often dubbed the Walt Disney of Europe), in no way are these shorts just for kids: an early film offers a parody of the German occupation; his swan song is a nightmarish allegory on artistic freedom. “Anything can be made to move, anything can be played with” is the motto in Bárta's films. He animates virtually any material, from paper cutouts to firewood and walnuts. Don't miss The Pied Piper, an epic puppet animation in which Bárta retells the German legend with Gothic wit.

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This series was organized by the Czech Center, New York; we extend our thanks to Monika Koblerova, deputy director.

We also wish to thank Vladimir Opela, director and curator of the National Film Archive (Narodni Filmovy Archiv, Prague), and Kratky Films for providing prints.

The Magic Worlds of Czech Animation

10/3/04 to 10/7/04

Past Films

Shorts by Jirí Trnka

The Pied Piper

The Czech Year (Free Screening!)