Introducing KRUTART: Mercurial Animation Studio With an Innovative Bent
The rising producer-driven outfit and animation studio Krutart takes an agile approach to audiovisual storytelling. Focusing on adventurous edutainment with an eye to niche-to-global scaling, the studio has managed to transcend the conventional borders of audiovisual production. by Martin Kudláč for Czech Film Center, magazine CZECH FILM / Spring 2021 Changing industry norms and emerging standards are prompting producers to adopt more agile operational models to help them deliver diversified multiplatform content. Few European production companies have done so better than the young Czech studio Krutart. Remarkable flexibility has helped the company meet dynamic industry requirements and varied audience demands while propelling it into new markets. Krutart was born in 2014 and cut its teeth largely in the business of television commercials. In its early years, the company made three side projects that laid the foundations for its strategic shift from live-action production outfit to animation studio in 2017. Ever since that turning point, Krutart has been steadily building its reputation in the animation industry while embracing innovative working models. The early Krutart carried out three independent creative projects: Going Steady (2015), Škarohlídovi (2016), and The Russian Job (2017), a package that would foreshadow the company’s new vision and future […] ...
Czech Film Centre: Focus on Short Films
Domestic short films are bending the borders of form, genre, and the medium itself. Beyond the successful showing of mostly animated shorts on the international festival circuit recently, much more has been going on in what is currently the most vibrant and diverse sector of Czech AV production. by Martin Kudláč for Czech Film Center, magazine CZECH FILM / Spring 2021 From urgent topics in society to abstract experimental visual works, Czech short films encompass the full spectrum. With a multiplicity of forms, techniques, and approaches, short film is the most vibrant and vital feature on the audiovisual landscape. Genre-crossing, convention-bending, and boundary-blurring, the energy of artistic freedom is producing an intriguing variety of cinematic stories as well as conceptual works for big and small screens, sitespecific spaces, and art galleries. (…) The legacy of animation lives on Lately, the international spotlight has been pointed at Czech animation, which has an especially strong pedigree in Czech cinema, thanks to world-renowned masters of the craft like visual illusionist Karel Zeman (1910–89), prolific artist Jiří Trnka (1912–69), multitalented and pioneering animator Břetislav Pojar (1923–2012), and the surrealist maestro Jan Švankmajer. Czech animation, especially in the short format, continues to evolve and innovate. […] ...
Czech Lion Awards 2020: the very first ever Best Animated Film is A Colourful Dream.
On Saturday 6th March 2021, Czech Film and Television Academy announced winners of newly-formed category Best Animated Film. The award went to Jan Balej’s A Colourful Dream . A Colourful Dream / Barevný sen Czech Republic, 2020, 74 min A troupe of travelling performers lands on an island governed by a despotic ruler with strict police control. When, during their performance, a shot fired from circus cannon goes astray, it triggers a series of unexpected events. A young man and woman, Drin and Tuvi, and Nathan the seagull enter into an uneven struggle with totalitarian power. A struggle which eventually changes the fates of all the island inhabitants – both human and feathered. Cast / Vladimír Javorský, Matouš Ruml, Antonie Formanová, Karin Vápeníčková, Miroslav Táborský, Petr Forman Writer / Jan Balej, Michal Bureš Story / Jan Balej DoP / Martin Procházka Editor / Tomáš Doruška Sound / Jan Čeněk Music / Daniel Wunsch Costumes / Radka Balejová Animator / Jan Štencl, Jiří Krupička, Michael Carrington ...
For Animation, Cooperation Is the Only Way
The Czech animation scene spans everything from classic puppetry to the most modern 3D animation and everyone from colleagues of Jiří Trnka to the freshest film school graduates, covering all genres and offering full production servicing. Now more than ever, Czech animation is open to the world and ready to collaborate. This series of articles presents individual production studios and companies active in the Czech Republic, as well as their capacities and project portfolios. by Vojtěch Rynda for Czech Film Center, magazine CZECH FILM / Spring 2021 In addition to the Czech Film Center, the development of animation as an industry and its presentation abroad is the mission of the Association of Czech Animated Film (ASAF), founded in 2014. ASAF is committed to building support for the animation industry and helping to provide a stable environment in the short and long term alike, in cooperation with broadcasters as well as with the ministries of Finance and of Industry and Trade. Former ASAF President Martin Hovorka is also executive producer of the Eallin Creatives, founded in Prague in 2000 as an animation studio with its own post-production. “Eallin primarily specializes in short format and advertising, but we’ve also taken part in producing […] ...
Czech animation at CARTOON MOVIE will be represented by two projects: Golem and Heart Of A Tower
A total of 55 feature film projects from 16 European countries will be pitched at Cartoon Movie 2021, the European Union’s largest and most prestigious feature film market, which will take place online from 9 to 11 March. The event aims to give a boost to their production and distribution both within and outside European borders. Although a few years ago the project from the Czech Republic at Cartoon Forum was an absolute exception, this year the Czech animation boasts two projects. “This fact is a manifestation of the growing quality of domestic production in the area, which was a weakness of Czech production in feature films,” states Michal Podhradský from the Association of Czech Animation. Czech animation is represented by Jiří Barta with the 80-minute film Golem, aimed at young and adult viewers. The story takes place in communist Prague in the 1950s, where a young student tries to find the famous Golem and bring him back to life. The film is produced by Hausboot. The second film with Czech participation is the Slovak film Heart Of A Tower by director Peter Budinský. A fantasy story for children tells the adventures of 10-year-old Riki, who escapes from the house […] ...
How Czech Animation Managed the Pandemic Year 2020 And What Lies Ahead This Year
Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic hit all creative industries, and animation was no exception. Many domestic and foreign festivals, where premieres take place and distribution cooperation is negotiated, have been cancelled or moved to the online environment. How did Czech animation creators cope with the limitations and new challenges? As early as in March, the Association of Czech Animation Film responded to the crisis with a statement, proposing steps to strengthen the segment of domestic production of animated content, especially of series, so that the Czech Republic can disengage economically from the dominant focus on live action film, thus boosting a significant sector of creative industries which may largely exist and work online. “Production of animated films takes years, so animation is a good field for overcoming shorter periods of crisis. Even during a pandemic, most production can be organized remotely. In a way, the field brings some economic and social stability. The negative consequences of the current pandemic situation will probably show in the future from today’s impossibility to prepare new co-production projects, which are highly important for animation,” ASAF Deputy Chairman Michal Podhradský explains. Czech animation in cinemas Although last year did not bring any domestic animated feature, […] ...
Animation Espresso offers a new way to pitch projects
On Tuesday 6 October 2020, the first annual pitching of Czech animated films took place in Liberec, held by the Association of Czech Animation Film as part of the international industry event CEE Animation Forum. Viewers were presented with a total of 23 projects at various stages of development. The development of animated films is one of the most important phases in the creation of a project, as it has a fundamental impact on its future quality, financing, and realisation. Animation Espresso is the first step on the path to high quality development. During the short presentation, the jury had the opportunity to judge the potential of the projects, their strengths and weaknesses, and the best approach for their future presentation. This activity focused only on Czech projects. At Animation Espresso, the type of project and its current phase of development are immaterial. It is designed for short films, feature films, and series – from the initial idea and artistic concept through to projects that are about to be made. Animation Espresso was developed as a tool which can help define the parameters of a project and provide creators with experience in presenting projects, so films made by students were […] ...
Czech animation once again strongly represented at Annecy
This summer, for the first time, the most important animated film festival of the year, traditionally held in the French town of Annecy, will take place completely online. Originally scheduled for June 15–20, the festival has been extended to run an additional 10 days, through June 30. This year’s selection, followed by the global animation community, includes four works from the Czech Republic: a new episode of the TV series Hungry Bear Tales: Truffles!; the short works Carrousel, Way of Sylvie, and the video clip P/\ST: Distress. On the industry side, the Mifa market program will present two projects: I Want to Know! and Hello, Summer! Returning to Annecy is Even Mice Belong in Heaven. Article by Pavel Horáček for CZECH FILM magazine / Summer 2020 Hungry Bear Tales has already been broadcast by France Télévisions, and the latest episode, Truffles!, competing in the TV Films category, may have an advantage in the land of “le coq gaulois”. The series is the work of seasoned director duo Alexandra Májová and Kateřina Karhánková, the latter of whom competed in Annecy with both of her previous films, The New Species (2013) and Fruits of Clouds (2017). Hungry Bear Tales was created under the banner of Czech company Bionaut and producer Barbora Příkaská, who has long worked with both artists. She says […] ...
How Did Czech Animation Do in 2019 And What Does It Have in Store for the Audience This Year?
Last year was a breakthrough one, especially for the youngest generation of filmmakers – they were successful at the most important international festivals and at the American Film Academy, so one could say that a “new wave” of animators was born in the Czech Republic. Czech animation in Czech cinemas A total of five animated feature films were produced in 2019, four of which were screened in cinemas, the fifth one’s distribution premiere is planned for early 2020 (The Impossible Voyage). Several of these were sequels to popular films or television and comics series (The Great Adventure of the Lucky Four, Pat and Mat: Handymen’s Adventures, TvMiniUni: The Question Thief). Cinema releases also included the coproduction Fritzi – A Revolutionary Tale, which familiarizes children with the fall of the Iron Curtain. More and more often, short film reels for children and adults are shown in Czech cinemas. In 2019 Three Voices was presented to the audience, a set of three puppet student works created simultaneously at three Czech art schools – FAMU, UMPRUM and University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The organizers of Anifilm festival compiled two short film reels for cinemas: Ready, Get Set, Go! (Ke startu připravit) or […] ...
STUDENT FILM DAUGHTER TO COMPETE FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMY AWARD – THE OSCAR
On 13th January 2020, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominations in all 24 competition categories, from which the winners will be announced on 9th February at the awards ceremony in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The animated puppet drama Daughter by Daria Kashcheeva, student of the Department of Animated Film at FAMU, which was co-produced with MAUR film, was selected as one of the last five finalists in the Best Animated Short Film category! Daughter is thus the only Czech animated film that has in recent decades managed to compete for an Oscar. The director has already won many awards, the most prestigious being the Student Oscar for the best foreign animated film, which was awarded to her last September by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her film also won in the world-wide competition of 1615 best film-school movies. Its world premiere took place in the biggest festival of animated film in the world, in French Annecy, where it was awarded the highest award, Le Cristal d’Annecy, for best student film. Since its premiere Daughter has entered more than 80 festivals all over the world, including major festivals […] ...
