Playthings

An experimental stop-motion animation made with a piece of yarn.

An old beekeeper and a little boy look into a hive. A brown-yellow shape and a black ball of a motile swarm begin to move on the surface of the screen. Physical reality turns into abstract forms.

In the last days of World War 2, people of various ethnic background meet in a Polish military hospital in a small German town, whereas a Nazi SS division hides in the local forests and tries to move westwards.

A beautifully animation in loose matter (colored salts) directly under the camera inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns' piece, 'Danse Macabre', animated by Aleksandra Korejwo and directed by Kazimierz Urbański.

Polish avant-garde animation in which a periodic series of aggressive starbursts interrupt the melodic dancing of fluid shapes, one raid even freezing the image for a moment.

The film presents a juxtaposition of the author's photographs of Memling's triptych "The Last Judgment." It poses the problem of choosing good and evil. Images of atomic explosions, the rubble of a burned-out city and the mocking laughter of the devil.

A swarm of locusts teases a herd of horses. A four-wheeled vehicle drives into the herd. It pulls behind its riders, the horses, and the insects. The gallop is more and more dynamic, gravediggers prepare coffins for crazy drivers.

Colorful spheres irregularly interpenetrating each other, creating new forms.

Combined animation. Mozart's music illustrates the memories of a man looking at a reproduction of Bernini's sculpture "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" hanging on the wall.

The film is narrative-free. Both the sound effects and the images, accompanied by multilingual subtitles and changing like a kaleidoscope, evoke in the viewer's imagination a shooting range where the targets resemble human silhouettes. Lively folk melodies juxtaposed with the sounds of gunshots create a contrast and become a means of expression. The shooters' skills lead to the elimination of their opponents. The funfair comes to an end, traces are covered up, and the ground is leveled. From under layers of accumulated earth (history), the previously seen targets emerge to the surface. They take on the shape of human silhouettes and come to life with color. This image is accompanied by a musical memento—a wail full of regret. Both the image and the music that accompanies the film contain many symbols, so any attempt at an unambiguous interpretation would be a simplification of its reception.

An experimental animation by Kazimierz Urbański about transportation. Combines various techniques: traditional cartoon film, cut-out, documentary photos, animation of objects, and effects caused directly on the tape.

An animation with social commentary. Kazimierz Urbański uses symbolism and abbreviations to depict emerging conflicts between social classes. The whole work is realized in a form characteristic of the author, created through appropriate production processes directly on film stock.

Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, better known as Witkacy, enivsages the future horrors of the Polish nation, as embodied by Stalin and Hitler, and the world collapsing into chaos.

A film miniature inspired by Fryderyk Chopin's "Nocturne in C minor." The images, rendered using a combination technique, depict a night sky dominated by an unreal, mysterious moon.