In the 1930s a trio of unlikely adventurers set off to find a heretofore uncharted land. It has existed in stories and myths for centuries and is believed to be somewhere around the North Pole. Hounded by an overambitious agent of the USSR, the explorers end up finding much more than they ever expected.
Set in a parallel universe entering a black hole, a woman reading the book of Revelation has visions of regeneration during Anthropocene.
Terra Incognita is a multi-plane cut out animation made from photocopies of 19th century illustrations made during the race to the poles and drawings by Eric Leiser. For the puppet performance it was flat-rod puppets on a proscenium stage with a screen behind them, onto which the animation Terra Incognita is projected. Many of the sea monster puppets and ships performed in sync with the animated ones, along with splashes of water and powdered chalk to mimic snowfall. These techniques came from my time studying puppet theater in Prague, in 2002, and learning from Svankmajer and Svankmajerova. It was a lot of fun to both animate and to perform live with Jeffrey's wonder score. At the same time the film comments on the colonial race to claim the Arctic by various countries—a race that, in a sense, is still going on today, but this time again for oil—and the murders of the Inuit people who had inhabited the land for millennia.
Once there lived a cheerful little goat. He loved to play and have fun and was especially delighted by a new air balloon, on which he drew a pretty face. But the ball flew out to the clearing and then caught on a branch and burst. The world suddenly darkened for our little hero. Will he cope with this disaster?
About a fastidious beauty who could not decide who can become her husband. Her younger sisters decided get married, and Marussia still can not be determined. And no one knows how much more time she would remain alone with such a personality if a young man didn’t decide to conquer the impregnable girl...
One day, a little boy looked through binoculars and saw that the residents of the garden were somewhat frightened and worried. He decided to help his little friends. This is a story about a child's boundless imagination, but the director adds elements of science fiction here - and adventures in the country turn into a titanic struggle with alien plants.
Animated poetic ode to the bright Soviet Future, based on the poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Once an old man and an old woman fashioned their daughter out of the snow, and Santa Claus revived her. The Snow Maiden was beautiful, kind, hardworking, and everyone loved her very much. Spring came. The Snow Maiden stopped playing and hid from the hot sun all the time. Somehow, the village children started jumping over a blazing fire. They persuaded the Snow Maiden to take part in the game...
Once upon a time there were two stepsisters. One girl dropped a bucket into a deep wonderful well, and she had to go down into the well for the bucket, to the kingdom of Santa Claus.
Children play in the park together. Only little girl Yula is bored. She starts to cry and threatens to flood all around.
A toy stuffed dog has just been sewn together when it hears a young child ask for an orange. The child's mother explains that they have no money, and so she cannot buy any oranges. The dog is then packed up along with a box full of other toys to be sold, but it soon winds up in the street. The dog picks up an orange from a curb side stand, and hopes to take it home to the child. But that night, before the dog can get back to the child's home, it must face a series of strange and frightening adventures.
Dr. Reineger, a famous neuro-psychologist, has become convinced that a twin girl named Anna has a rare form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome, rendering her unable to cope with reality. As for her blind sister, Sarah, the doctor cannot say for sure why her imaginary visions map so close to Anna's. At home, unable to face reality, their father leaves the family. To escape the pain, the girls sink deeper and deeper into their imagination. When a major earthquake takes their mother's life, Reineger gets more involved with helping the now-orphaned twins, while struggling with his realization that the girls seem to be capable of prophetic visions. The girls escape the doctor's institution and a subsequent search finds no trace of them. Have they transcended the physical realm? A mixture of live action, stop motion animation and other techniques makes this film a fantastic journey into the realm of imagination.
A documentary about an old animation technique and the film studio that tries to carry on the legacy. The worlds oldest animation studio still making film with stop motion technique is Nukufilm located in Tallinn, Estland. Here we can follow the work in the studio which was founded in the Soviet era and has survived heavy censorship and global competition.
The film is addressed to children. It touches the theme of good and reciprocity between animals in the winter.
Courageous Cucumber travels and helps animals and birds.
This animated puppet film based on Russian folk tales tells the story of the hero Svätohor and his battle with the dragon Goryn Gorynych.
On the eve of Christmas, the tears of the poor girl Marusia melted the cold and indifferent heart of the wealthy landlord. Based on the fairy tale “Tear” by the Ukrainian writer Marko Cheremshyna.
Mr. Bulge did not water the orchid from Mr. Belly. In order to escape responsibility, he spins a confusing web of lies and conspiracy theories, in which he eventually gets caught.
A young girl named Abby travels to visit her dear Aunt Binks but finds herself in a peculiar situation when Aunt Binks is nothing like she expected.
The story about one teacher of the Greek language in the gymnasium - Byelikov. He was so distrustful that he turned his whole life into a "case existence".