T.V. Tango

A short russian animation subject.

Goopi and Bagha are two wise fools; one loves to sing and the other to play the drum. Despite their acute ineptness, their passion for music knows no bounds. When the villagers cannot bear to listen to them anymore, both are banished to the same forest. Here, Goopi and Bagha encounter each other and their fates become entwined for life. A strong and immediate bond is forged by these two hapless souls in search of connoisseurs of their musical craft.

A film about (local) patriotism, tourism and emigration. A girl lives in a gray, isolated country, enclosed by a huge wall. She has never travelled anywhere, but all her life she has dreamt of leaving forever for a perfect world called “Abroad”.

Spectacle is proud to present HEAD SPACE, a showcase of animated works exploring dimensions both interior and outlying. Featuring an extremely talented and creative group working in a diverse array of styles, the shorts wander through strange and sometimes sketchy landscapes, including alternate-universe appliance stores, the ramblings of Charles Manson, environmental catastrophes in the Dutch style of painting, and a houseplant’s musings. Some, like Sally Cruikshank’s Make Me Psychic, are established classics; others feature newer animators working in looping GIF format, presented away from the small screen’s momentary pleasures to fully appreciate the art that it is. Occasionally gross, often beautiful, and always interesting, HEAD SPACE is a sampler of the thoughts happening inside and out of each frame.

This short probes the taboos around a very particular second-hand trauma, leading us to a more universal understanding of human experience.

It's midnight in a graveyard. The principal characters are spooks, ghosts, bats, bells, and, at the end, the sun. As midnight strikes, 12 spooks appear, then two ghosts. They move to the music's rhythm. Against the black night, they are blue and yellow. Bats appear as does a xylophone of bones. Mist rises, spooks swirl. A bell tolls. The sky turns light blue, the ghosts' dance slows. Then black night returns bringing intimations of frenzy. Bones play snare drums; spooks peek out of square graves. Scary faces appear. Frenetic movement takes over. A rooster crows and all return to earth as the sun's light appears.

In WWII Czechoslovakia, an old toymaker incorporates secret messages in his models to fool the Germans. They find him out and he flees. As the Gestapo officer hunts around he is attacked by the toys, who send him packing. Live action and stop motion short by Hermína Týrlová.

The true story of John Romulus Brinkley, a small-town Kansas doctor who discovers in 1917 that he can cure impotence by transplanting goat testicles into men. And that’s just the tipping point in this stranger-than-fiction tale. With the balls of a P.T. Barnum, the gonads of goats, and the wishful dreams of flaccid men, Brinkley amassed a fortune, was almost elected Governor of Kansas, invented junk mail and the infomercial, and built the world’s most powerful radio station. By the time all of the twists and turns of Brinkley’s story are revealed, Nuts! certainly earns its title.

The Big Sister - a person of colossal size - is trapped in sand in a deserted landscape. With no way to take care of herself, this burden falls on her resentful little sister.

When Princess Morebucks finds out that she's been put on Santa's naughty list (in fact, she's the only one on it!), she does a quick re-write, resulting with Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup with nothing but coal for Christmas! On top of all that, Princess gets the one thing she wants for the holidays: super powers! Now, the girls have to stop Princess and make sure that Christmas is saved for children everywhere.

Palimpsest charts the changing lives of the interior of one house over a period of three centuries, a time-frame compressed into ten minutes - portrayed through a combination of time -lapse, real-time, and stop-frame photography. The camera is fixed as the 'space' inside the frame itself transforms, destructs and evolves over the years: historical eras are evoked through references to 17th, 18th and 19th century painting and early 20th century cinema and the human presence in the house is signalled through scenes of everyday labor and domestic duty.

Surrealistic short animation by Hermína Týrlová.

Apples and Oranges is designed to raise children's awareness of the harmful effects of homophobia and gender-related name calling, intolerance, stereotyping and bullying. In the course of a lively in-class discussion among elementary students and an equity educator, children's paintings magically dissolve into two short animated stories. In Anta's Revenge, Anta finds out that creativity--not revenge--is the best way to deal with a school bully who makes fun of her for having two moms. Defying Gravity tells the story of Habib and Jeroux, two skateboarding friends whose relationship comes to a screeching halt when one of them finds out the other is gay.

A love story in the world of revived paintings.

A stop motion film about an oddball felted character who slips through floors into the past and the deepest parts of his psyche in his pursuit of self-understanding.

Greta Garbo and Vladimir Lenin meet at PUB department store in Stockholm in 1917. They both have lost a dream, and they start a conversation that remains all day while they are walking through the city.

A girl in a brothel reminisces and questionins the advice her mother gave her as a child.

Three characters share a common traumatic experience when they were born.

Scooby-Doo and Shaggy travel to Arabia to become the Caliph's Royal Food Tasters. But they bite off more than they can chew and are forced to run for their lives! It's a wild magic carpet ride as Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and their genie (Yogi Bear) and a jolly sailor named Sinbad (Magilla Gorilla) take you on an adventure of mistaken identities, exotic locations and fun-filled action and surprises!

Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse and all his Disney pals star in an original movie about the importance of opening your heart to the true spirit of Christmas. Stubborn old Donald tries in vain to resist the joys of the season, and Mickey and Pluto learn a great lesson about the power of friendship.