JIŘÍ TRNKA: FIVE ANIMATED SHORTS

Five essential animated shorts spanning Trnka’s 20-year film career illustrate his versatility and political courage. Program includes: Springman and the SS (Pérák a SS, 1946, co-directed by Jiří Brdečka, no dialogue, 35mm), a biting anti-Nazi satire; the whimsical cutout animation Merry Circus (Veselý circus, 1951, no dialogue, 35mm); the dystopian Space Age satire Cybernetic Grandma (Kybernetická babička, 1962, subtitles, DCP); the bawdy Boccaccio adaptation Archangel Gabriel and Mistress Goose (Archandĕl Gabriel a paní Husa, 1964, no dialogue, DCP); and Trnka’s final masterpiece The Hand (Ruka, 1965, no dialogue, 35mm), a powerful allegory on artistic expression and totalitarianism. Total running time 100 min.