The fabulous animation. An ultra rare opportunity to see the influential work of the late Czech animator Karel Zeman. The films of master Czech animator and director Karel Zeman (1910 - 1989) are a glittering jewelbox filled with wonders spun from ancient myth and modern science.
The fabulous animation.
An ultra
rare opportunity to see the influential work of the late Czech animator
Karel Zeman. The films of master Czech animator and director Karel Zeman
(1910 - 1989) are a glittering jewelbox filled with wonders spun from
ancient myth and modern science: moon men and underwater pirates,
pedal-powered airships and diabolical engines of destruction. In films like
THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE and BARON MUNCHAUSEN, Zeman combined
cartoon and stop-motion animation, puppetry, matte paintings and live
action, creating a fantastic mechanical clockwork that anticipated the work
of later animator/directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. All films
in Czech with English subtitles, except for BARON MUNCHAUSEN, OFF ON A
COMET, 1001 NIGHTS, KRABAT - THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE and THE TALE OF JOHN
& MARY, shown in English-dubbed versions. Zeman's grandaughter Linda Spaleny
will appear for discussion. All guests subject to their availability. All
screenings are at the newly renovated Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the
historic Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas)
in Hollywood.
Born in 1910 in Ostromer, Czechoslovakia, Zeman began his career as a window
dresser and poster artist, graduating to filmmaking in the mid-1940's with a
series of shorts featuring his animated alter-ego, Mr. Prokouk. Inspired by
the pioneering films of magician/director Georges Méliès and the fiction of
Jules Verne, Zeman began animating, art directing and often writing his own
features in the early 1950's, overcoming miniscule budgets and rudimentary
equipment to create his elaborate adventures. The joy of Zeman's work is
often in the details: stop-motion owls against a crescent moon sky, a gold
pocketwatch trapped in a bottle, a crew of sailors who literally paint their
ship into existence.
American Cinematheque, 1800 North Highland Avenue, Suite 717, Hollywood, CA
90028
(tel) 323.466-FILM - (fax) 323.461.9737