Laterna Magica

A lonely man rolls a big blue ball. People encountered on the way do not help him. Night does not bring rest either, he has to chase away the birds. The man finally reaches the end of the road and pushes the ball into the sea. An animated parable created by Miroslaw Kijowicz, a director, scriptwriter of animated films, set designer and educator. An ordinary man was usually the protagonist of Kijowicz's philosophical short films. The situations presented in the films were rather general, they were supposed to provide food for thought.

A lonely, middle-aged man enjoys the “Życie Warszawy” newspaper with a cup of coffee. His thoughts fly out of the room, move over the tenement house like a balloon. The world is full of grey, middle-aged men like him.

A chained man is freed by an accidental witness of the events.

Grimes, an amoral chimney sweep, occasionally likes to steal valuables from his clients. One day, on the verge of being caught, he frames his young apprentice, Tom, for the crime. Tom runs away and jumps into a river where, instead of drowning, he finds himself transformed into a mystical aquatic creature. Swimming and breathing effortlessly, he discovers a colorful underwater world replete with creatures both cruel and kind.

An allegory of the hopeless relationship between a prisoner and his jailer, representing the dependence of mankind upon authoritarianism.

An animated short film in which many men work many years on a machine which is revealed to be something very common.

It is a philosophical parable about a man at the crossroads. He divides himself in two, as he cannot decide on the one way only. Each half follows its own path. When they meet again, they do not fit each other any longer. The journey changed them irreversibly.

A group of mourners provide different portraits of a deceased man at a funeral.

City traffic is really smooth as long as everyone follows the rules. The protagonist crosses the road not on a zebra crossing, causing an accident. Such walks end in a prison cell.

Conquerors land on a newly discovered planet and try to colonize and explore a new discovered planet.

A cruel human cabaret begins with a pushpin that pierces someone's tires, a hole in the fence through which a voyeur controls others, and a cannonball that leads to the end of the world.

A sly critique of the communist regime in Poland, one of the carefree participants disrupts a patriotic march by retrieving a collection of unnecessary "bourgeois" items from inside his head. It introduces the disunity in their ranks as everyone starts playing with objects brought by him.

Allegorical animated short about the power of creation and destruction. An unknown man carries a wicker basket filled with elements resembling human figures. After their combination the small creatures are come to life. The creator tries to force them to listen. As a result of refusal, a conflict arises.

Krakow was plagued by a terrible dragon. Many tried to chase him away to no avail; finally a clever shoemaker appeared.

A man builds himself a small wooden house amongst the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

A male figure on the screen is lost in thought. He hides his head in large hands clasped in the foreground. Suddenly, one hand moves towards the viewer and grabs a small figure from the other side of the screen.