The Quay Brothers: In the Labyrinth of Imagination
Americans who fell in love with Central and Eastern European culture over half a century ago – and never looked back. When they began their studies at the Philadelphia College of Art in the 1960s, they stumbled upon an exhibition of Polish posters.
They had no idea who the artists were, but the striking graphics drew them into a new, unfamiliar world. Brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay first visited Poland in the mid-1970s at the invitation of painter and graphic artist Andrzej Klimowski. By then, they had already moved to London to create their first experimental animation, supported by a British Film Institute grant.
Their admiration for Polish culture runs deep, shaping much of their work. The Quays adapted The Mask by Stanisław Lem, incorporated music by Zygmunt Konieczny, Witold Lutosławski, and Krzysztof Penderecki, and collaborated with Poznań-based composer Lech Jankowski, who scored both their short films – including the acclaimed Street of Crocodiles, inspired by Bruno Schulz – and their feature debut, Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life. In 2010, they created The Quay Brothers for Has, an installation that placed the legendary Polish filmmaker Wojciech Jerzy Has at its center, surrounded by symbolic elements from his films.
Their latest work, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, is based on Bruno Schulz’s short story collection of the same title – a work previously adapted for the big screen by Wojciech Jerzy Has in 1973. The screening at Timeless Film Festival Warsaw will mark the film’s Polish premiere. The Quay Brothers‘ retrospective at the festival will feature Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life and two curated sets of their short films.
In The Thirteenth Month: The Cinema of the Quay Brothers, film scholar Laura U. Marks observes that their films “stimulate not just sight and sound but also the senses of touch and smell.” A perfect invitation to these extraordinary screenings at the festival.
The Quay Brothers will be guests of the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw.
The section is curated by Adriana Prodeus.
The retrospective is supported by the British Council as part of UK/Poland Season 2025, with Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Gutek Film, the Polish distributor of Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, as partners.