Tops and Roots

Šváb

Animation without dialogue, set with excerpts from Lithuanian folk songs, which tells a traditional Lithuanian tale in black and white images. After bathing with her two sisters, Egle goes to get dressed and discovers a snake in her clothes. Not caring about her promise, she agrees to marry the snake in exchange for the return of the clothes.

Beowulf is a wanderer who learns about a man-eating creature called Grendel, which comes in the night to devour warriors trapped at the Outpost. The Outpost is ruled by Hrothgar. He has a daughter, whose husband may have been murdered by the Outpost's master of arms.

The blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior's battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Heads will roll. Out of allegiance to the King Hrothgar, the much respected Lord of the Danes, Beowulf leads a troop of warriors across the sea to rid a village of the marauding monster.

A young hero defeats a dragon to find acceptance to the court of burgundy.

Mavka, a Soul of the Forest, faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as Guardian of the Heart of the Forest when she falls for a human, a talented young musician named Lukas.

Water Lily, an invented japanese tale about the birth of the lotus flower, made in Supinfocom Valenciennes (2015) !

O zlém havranovi

After many years, with help of Thetis and negotiations between Zeus and Hades, an aged Achilles is released from the Underworld into a modern world.

A lonely fisherman drifts into haunted waters in search of food and finds much more than he bargained for. Based on an Inuit folktale.

XIX century peasants' revolt and the life story of bandit Arsena Odzelashvili.

God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist.

Pocahontas, daughter of a Native American tribe chief, falls in love with an English soldier as colonists invade 17th century Virginia.

To win the right to marry his love, the beautiful princess Andromeda, and fulfil his destiny, half-God-half-mortal Perseus must complete various tasks including taming Pegasus, capturing Medusa's head and battling the feared Kraken.

The story of Coyote, Iktome, and the Rock is about generosity. The film takes us into the spectacular and magical universe of Native American folklore following the adventures of the two famous mischief-makers of the Great Plains getting into trouble as they bid defiance to Iya, the sleeping magic rock.

'All Small Bodies' is a feminist, sci-fi take on the Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel. It occurs in the distant future among the ruins of a planetary catastrophe, revealing the abuses of history and technology. In the wake of the chaotic aftermath, there are several resilient survivors including two young girls named Z and Bub. The film follows these curious adolescents who have long been lost and alone in the haunted, other-worldly woods, as they awaken their extrasensory abilities and reclaim their autonomy from a menacing dark presence.

This lively piece uses the traditional Belarusian vycinanka (papercut) style to illustrate eight well-known proverbs through humorous visual vignettes. To complement the folklore-based storytelling, it features music by ethno‑trio Troitsa.

O ametystovom kvete

Three suitors, three princes, vie for the hand of Princess Lejada. But she rejects them all. The offended suitors decide to punish the proud princess and offer her an unknown young man as a suitor of noble birth. But he is a poor shepherd who falls in love with the princess, and she with him. However, he must not reveal his true identity. He promises to remain silent and do as he is told. In the end, however, he confesses to the princess who he really is. This enrages the princes and suitors... The theme of the fairy tale is loosely based on a Hindu myth belonging to the field of Indian religious literature and dealing with the fates of gods and earthly heroes. The main character is the Hindu goddess Kali, a symbol of maternal instincts and cults. The second hero is her son, a young shepherd who, at the end of the fairy tale, takes his mother's name in her divine honor. The story takes place in India in the 6th century BC.

Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, travels to Worms, capital of the Burgundian kingdom, to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Kriemhild.