The Quay Brothers: Second Set of Short Films
The Quay Brothers are masters of stop-motion animation, blending surrealism, literary inspirations, and an extraordinary visual sensitivity. Their films, filled with dark poetry, often draw from the rich heritage of Central European culture and art. This program features The Mask, inspired by Stanisław Lem’s short story, where the Quays use Krzysztof Penderecki’s music to give the tale of a female cyborg a haunting, hypnotic atmosphere. Alice in Not So Wonderland fuses impressionistic animation with Sergei Prokofiev’s music, creating a dreamlike take on the classic fairy tale. The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer is a tribute to the Czech surrealist master, packed with alchemical references and playful distortions of reality. De Artificiali Perspectiva or Anamorphosis explores the secrets of anamorphosis, while The Comb (From the Museums of Sleep) immerses us in Robert Walser’s world, where objects come to life. The program is completed by the experimental The Unnameable Little Broom, based on The Epic of Gilgamesh, where the Quays’ animation takes on an almost mythological dimension.
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 Švankmajer, 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 10, 2025
3:00 PM
Iluzjon Mała Czarna
Intro
DCP
Tytuł angielski: The Quay Brothers: Second Set of Short Films
Sekcja: Bracia Quay: w labiryncie wyobraźni
Czas trwania: 85 min
Właściciel praw: British Film Institute
Edycja: TFFW 2025
The Comb (From the Museums of Sleep)
An experimental adaptation of Robert Walser’s fairy-tale world, where characters – including a sleeping princess and an enigmatic guardian – form an unusual, dreamlike relationship. This film serves as a prelude to a larger project, blending live-action and puppet animation to bring objects to life with an almost animistic quality. The soundtrack, dominated by Lech Janowski’s music and whispered multilingual narration, deepens the film’s dreamlike atmosphere. It is a reflection on the boundary between reality and dreams, inspired by Walser’s literary sensibility.
Tytuł angielski: The Comb (From the Museums of Sleep)
Tytuł oryginalny: The Comb (From the Museums of Sleep)
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 18 min
Rok produkcji: 1990
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
De Artificiali Perspectiva or Anamorphosis
An animated lecture on the history and techniques of anamorphosis – an image distortion method that reveals its true proportions only from a specific angle. The film incorporates a rich array of cultural references, spanning from 16th- and 18th-century painting practices to reflections by surrealists and 20th-century theorists. Utilizing documentary animation, the Quay Brothers craft a work that merges historical analysis with experimental aesthetics. Collaboration with art historians and expert consultations position anamorphosis within a broad artistic context.
Tytuł angielski: De Artificiali Perspectiva or Anamorphosis
Tytuł oryginalny: De Artificiali Perspectiva or Anamorphosis
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 14 min
Rok produkcji: 1991
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
This Unnameable Little Broom (Epic of Gilgamesh)
Drawing from the Epic of Gilgamesh, this film presents a disguised narrative about the titular hero’s attempt to capture the wild Enkidu. The Quay Brothers weave together multiple inspirations – from art brut puppet designs to the avant-garde prose of Konrad Bayer – crafting a richly symbolic story. The film resembles both a surrealist fairy tale and an experimental artistic manifesto, infused with historical references.
Tytuł angielski: This Unnameable Little Broom (Epic of Gilgamesh)
Tytuł oryginalny: This Unnameable Little Broom (Epic of Gilgamesh)
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 11 min
Rok produkcji: 1985
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer, Prague’s Alchemist of Film
A series of animated sequences paying homage to Czech director Jan Švankmajer, a master of surrealist stop-motion animation. The film merges historical and contemporary elements – 16th-century inspirations with the aesthetics of the 1980s – resulting in an unexpected visual collage. The soundtrack features music by Zdeněk Liška, while the titular “cabinet” is reimagined as a puppet-driven interpretation of artistic masterpieces, such as Arcimboldo’s The Librarian. This work stands as a complex dialogue between tradition and modernity, embedded in Prague’s rich alchemical cinematic culture.
Tytuł angielski: The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer, Prague’s Alchemist of Film
Tytuł oryginalny: The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer, Prague’s Alchemist of Film
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 14 min
Rok produkcji: 1984
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
Alice in Not So Wonderland
This film proves that the Quay Brothers can transform any commission into an exceptionally surreal, visually unique experience. In Alice…, a catastrophe unfolds on the other side of the mirror – a heavy storm cloud gathers over the protagonist’s house, while Wonderland takes on entirely new and unexpected shapes. Propelled by Sergei Prokofiev’s music, the film constructs an enigmatic narrative where visual symbols intertwine with contemporary ecological concerns. The project was presented during the Live Earth SOS concert series.
Tytuł angielski: Alice in Not So Wonderland
Tytuł oryginalny: Alice in Not So Wonderland
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 3 min
Rok produkcji: 2007
Kraj produkcji: Wielka Brytania
The Mask
In response to an initiative by the Polish Cultural Institute in London, the Quay Brothers adapted one of Stanisław Lem’s robotic fables, focusing on the dark tale of Duenna – a female cyborg resembling an 18th-century automaton. The film intertwines themes of love, violence, and duality, highlighted by the English title of the literary source – Mortal Engines. Featuring music by Krzysztof Penderecki and elements of theatrical traditions associated with early puppet performances, this multi-layered adaptation showcases how the Quay Brothers transform literary inspirations into visually evocative, almost silent storytelling.
Tytuł angielski: The Mask
Tytuł oryginalny: Mask
Reżyseria: Quay Brothers
Czas trwania: 24 min
Rok produkcji: 2010
Kraj produkcji: Polska
