Icons of Puppet Animation
Sat 6 September, 9pm

RENOIR CINEMA
The Brunswick, London, WC1N 1AW
Tube: Russell Square
Buses: 7, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188

Icons of Puppet Animation
Sun 7 September, 1-30pm

CURZON SOHO
99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DY
Tube: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus.
Buses: 14,19, 38.
Overground: Charing Cross.

Since the dawn of cinema, Puppet Animation has provided some of the most mesmerising films ever made and puppet animators have been among the most revered. This programme brings together an iconic collection of highlights from a century of puppet animation.

The Hand
Jiri Trnka
Czechoslovakia, 1965, 17’00
Regarded by many as the finest puppet film ever made by one of the great masters of the form. A film which brings home the subtle horrors of restrained creativity and freedom denied.

The Philips Broadcast Of 1938
George Pal
Holland, 1938, 9’30
Pal created the iconic Puppetoons series. His inclusion in this programme was a must but choosing just one film was a near impossible task. We selected this one because of its incredible integration of music and dance and for its sheer visual scale.

Pygmalion
Arnold Burovs
Latvia, 1967, 9’45
An absolute treat for the eyes – a modernist feast of colourful, moving characters and scenery.

Kataku (The House In Flames)
Kihachiro Kawamoto
Japan, 1979, 17’00
One of the true greats of Japanese puppet animation mixing Trnka’s style with Japanese Noh masks and Banraku puppets. A monument to understated grace, Kataku tells the story of young Japanese woman who chooses death over the attentions of two suitors.

Smoked Sprat Baking In The Sun
Mati Kutt
Estonia, 1992, 22’00
One of the great puppet animation studios, Nukufilm, is celebrating its 50th anniversary and we are pleased to include this film they themselves chose – they simply described it as “richful”.

Balance
Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein
Germany, 1989, 8’00
One of the best known and most loved puppet films of all time. ‘Balance’ opens with a collection of characters simply standing on a platform mysteriously hanging in mid-air. Any movement from one character immediately impacts on the precarious balance of the platform.

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