The Quay Brothers: First Set of Short Films
The Quay Brothers are masters of stop-motion animation, whose surreal, dark, and hypnotic films have forever transformed experimental cinema. Their fascination with Central and Eastern European culture – sparked by their discovery of the Polish School of Posters – found its reflection in works inspired by the literature of Schulz, Walser, and Lem, as well as the music of Penderecki and Stockhausen. This selection includes the legendary Street of Crocodiles – a tribute to Schulz’s prose, filled with dreamlike imagery and distorted figures on the threshold of sleep and reality. In Absentia is a haunting portrait of isolation and madness, where the visuals are intricately woven into the musical structure of Stockhausen. The Stille Nacht series presents enigmatic dramatic impressions, blending surreal symbolism with the eerie sounds of mysterious archival recordings.
Quay Brothers – twins, born in 1947. They studied in Philadelphia and continued their education at the Royal College of Art in London, where in the 1970s they directed their first short films. In the 1980s, they made commercials (for Honeywell, Walkers Crisps, and Dulux Wood Protection), music videos (the most famous one – for Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer), and animations which made them popular – The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer, Street of Crocodiles. In 1995, their first feature film premiered: Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream That One Calls Human Life, winner of the Bronze Horse in Stockholm and the jury’s award at the Fantasporto festival. Another full-length live acting film by the brothers is The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes. Their art is inspired by literature, especially by prose by Bruno Schulz and lately – Stanisław Lem.
Catalog MFF Nowe Horyzonty 10. edition
section partner
The retrospective is supported by the British Council under the UK/Poland Season 2025.
Event expired
April 9, 2025
3:45 PM
Iluzjon Mała Czarna
Intro
DCP
Tytuł angielski: The Quay Brothers: First Set of Short Films
Sekcja: Bracia Quay: w labiryncie wyobraźni
Czas trwania: 83 min
Język: angielski
Napisy: polskie
Właściciel praw: British Film Institute
Edycja: TFFW 2025
The Doll’s Breath
Horacio, a former window dresser, builds worlds in which life-size dolls take the place of women – and women, before they can resist, are turned into motionless figures. The Doll’s Breath is a film about a world governed by its own rhythm, even though it remains an illusion – fragile as the inhale and exhale of a being whose very existence depends solely on the gaze of another.
Mikołaj Mizak
Tytuł angielski: The Doll’s Breath
Tytuł oryginalny: The Doll’s Breath
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 21 min
Rok produkcji: 2019
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome’s Medical
A journey through the fascinating collection of Sir Henry Wellcome, who amassed thousands of artifacts related to medicine and the human body. The Quay Brothers guide viewers through a multi-level cabinet of curiosities, where black-and-white sequences blend with color, revealing intimate stories behind each exhibit. The unconventional soundtrack, composed by Gary Tarn, adds to the eerie atmosphere. This production delves into fundamental human anxieties – birth, sexuality, mutilation, and death. The Phantom Museum is a surreal meditation on the intersection of science, art, and the human condition, presented in an unorthodox, experimental form.
Tytuł angielski: The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome’s Medical
Tytuł oryginalny: The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome’s Medical
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 11 min
Rok produkcji: 2003
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
Stille Nacht I (Dramolet)
This film is dedicated to Robert Walser, a master of the short literary form. The Quay Brothers drew inspiration from the Swiss writer’s final years spent in psychiatric clinics. Dramolet echoes his obsessive miniaturized writing and melancholia, translated into a dreamlike, abstract cinematic language. Commissioned by MTV, the production incorporates found recordings from Radio Moscow, creating an eerie ambient soundtrack. The film crafts an intimate portrait of an inner world, blending literary biography with experimental editing.
Tytuł angielski: Stille Nacht I (Dramolet)
Tytuł oryginalny: Stille Nacht I (Dramolet)
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 2 min
Rok produkcji: 1988
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania, Kanada
Stille Nacht II (Are We Still Married?)
Inspired by the music of His Name Is Alive, this film presents a surreal world filled with enigmatic objects and astonishing visual juxtapositions. The central motif is a little girl whose presence, along with the ambiguous environment surrounding her, builds an atmosphere of mystery. This experimental film music video fits within the Stille Nacht cycle, continuing the “black stream” characteristic of the Quay Brothers’ work.
Tytuł angielski: Stille Nacht II (Are We Still Married?)
Tytuł oryginalny: Stille Nacht II (Are We Still Married?)
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 3 min
Rok produkcji: 1992
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
Stille Nacht III (Tales from the Vienna Woods)
The film presents surreal imagery centered on the theme of transformation. Objects undergoing metamorphosis – such as a table or a severed hand appearing as a recurring motif – align it with the Quay Brothers’ tradition of surrealist experimentation. The ambient soundtrack further enhances the mystical atmosphere of this poetic meditation on change and impermanence.
Tytuł angielski: Stille Nacht III (Tales from the Vienna Woods)
Tytuł oryginalny: Stille Nacht III (Tales from the Vienna Woods)
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 4 min
Rok produkcji: 1992
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
In Absentia
The central narrative revolves around the story of Emma Hauck, a psychiatric hospital patient whose obsessive letters serve as an inspiration for visualizing her mental state. Through overwhelming close-ups, dynamic lighting, and editing that closely follows the tempo changes of avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s music, the film succeeds in conveying the protagonist’s psychological depth. This is an intensely atmospheric fusion of a near-documentary approach with experimental visual techniques.
Tytuł angielski: In Absentia
Tytuł oryginalny: In Absentia
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 21 min
Rok produkcji: 2000
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
Street of Crocodiles
Perhaps the Quay Brothers’ most recognizable animation, Street of Crocodiles earned critical acclaim from filmmakers such as Terry Gilliam and Peter Greenaway. The film employs suggestive, repetitive visual motifs to create a cinematic equivalent of Bruno Schulz’s prose, complemented by Lech Jankowski’s rhythmic score. Drawing inspiration from Warsaw and Kraków landscapes, as well as Polish poster art, the filmmakers craft a unique urban backdrop. Street of Crocodiles is a powerful artistic expression where abstraction meets poetry, leaving the audience with an open-ended, multi-layered experience.
Tytuł angielski: Street of Crocodiles
Tytuł oryginalny: Street of Crocodiles
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 21 min
Rok produkcji: 1986
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
