Synopsis:
Summer is coming to the end, the fruit is growing ripe on the trees. Grandpa gives his grandson a kite. As the boy is tossed around in the air, Grandpa catches him. Then the leaves fall and Grandpa has grown weak. A strong autumn wind carries him off into the cloudy sky. Winter comes, then springtime. A warm breeze brings them together again. Told with enchanting, richly-textured images, this tale is about remembering those who are no longer with us.
- Director:
- Martin Smatana
- Year:
- 2019
- Country:
- Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland
- Running time:
- 13 min.
- Technique:
- Stop Motion Animation, Puppet Animation
- Original title:
- Šarkan
- Production type:
- Professional
- Producer:
- Peter Badač
- Script writer:
- Martin Smatana
- Music composer:
- Aliaksandr Yasinski
- Sound designer:
- Viera Marinová
- Editor:
- Lucie Navrátilová
- Production:
- BFILM
- Distribution:
- MAGNETFILM
- Audience:
- 13+
- Festival selections:
- Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Animafest Zagreb – World Festival of Animated Film
- Awards:
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival / 2019 / Young Audience Award
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Rosso Papavero
2014 10+ 6 min
by Martin Smatana
Once upon a starry night, a small boy with the head full of fantasies witnesses dreamlike circus performances. Dazed by endless chain of glittering attractions he realizes that the price for a ticket to the fantastic circus tent is too high and gate between reality and dream is closing.
- Fantasy
- Experimental
- Non-narrative
-
Untravel
2018 16+ 9 min
by Nikola Majdak Jr., Ana Nedeljković
A film about (local) patriotism, tourism and emigration. The 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”.
- Drama
- Experimental
- Tragicomedy
-
Hello Summer (trailer)
2024 7+ 11 min
by Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová
Sea, sun, beaches and family holidays. Just pick your dream destination from the catalogue, pack your bags and hit the road. But what if the hotel isn’t as stellar as promised, your room has a bit of a naughty view, the dinner is surprisingly exotic and your luggage travels independently. Family above all!
- Comedy
- Family
-
Festival Bab
2020 4+ 2 min
by Martin Smatana
The opening intro animated for Festival BAB – Biennial of Animation Bratislava which takes place biennially in October in Bratislava, Slovakia. The local music band PARA gave us their great song Celé tie roky which I used as a sountrack for animation. All the scenography is made out of used second-hand clothes and recycled textiles.
- Family
- Comedy
- Experimental
-
Usual Hero
2018 4+ 1 min
by Martin Smatana
A short paper cut-out stopmotion animation made for the nomination of Tomas Gabriel´s book „Obvykle hrdinstvi“ for Czech annual literary and book award Magnesia Litera.
- Family
- Adventure
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Practical AI Tools in Animation with Martin Smatana | Martin Smatana | CEEA Experience
2024 All audiences 75 min
by Martin Smatana
In this webinar, award-winning stop-motion director Martin Smatana (The Kite, Berlinale 2019) will take you on a deep dive into the creative applications of artificial intelligence in animation. He'll showcase tools such as Dall-E and Runway, offering practical insights into how these technologies can aid in generating ideas, optimizing workflows, and enhancing the creative process while maintaining artistic integrity. Martin Smatana Graduate of Animation at FAMU Prague (1991, Slovakia). His debut movie "Rosso Papavero" (2015) premiered at Berlinale 2015 and won 15 international awards. Known for textile and paper animation techniques. His short "The Kite" premiered at Berlinale 2019. Pioneering AI integration in animation workflows. More information and lectures at: https://www.ceeanimation.eu https://www.ceeanimation.eu/experience/cee-animation-experience/ https://www.facebook.com/ceeanimation/ CEE Animation Experience is a series of webinars organized in cooperation with selected partners in the CEE region. This activity targets animation industry professionals, who will gain new insights as shared by top regional and world experts and get a rewarding experience of film production directly.
- Documentary
- Making of
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Electra
2023 Adults 27 min
by Daria Kashcheeva
Electra rethinks her 10th birthday, mixing memories with dreams and hidden fantasies.
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Salvation Has No Name
2022 16+ 17 min
by Joseph Wallace
A troupe of clowns gather to perform a story about a Priest and a refugee but as their misguided tale unfolds, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to fray.
- Drama
- Fantasy
- Experimental
-
Love Is Just a Death Away
2020 16+ 12 min
by Bára Anna Stejskalová
A short film about a parasite, living in a dog’s corpse. In ugly world of landfill, he searches for a soulmate, but nobody can see through its shell. The desire for friendship brings him to the edge of death. Only love can give him wings.
- Drama
- Tragedy
- Sci-Fi
- Experimental
-
The Incredible Wardrobegadget of Dr. Stein
2020 10+ 15 min
by Gabriela Plačková, Gabriela Plačkova
When Doctor Stein’s best friend dies during his last experiment, the grieving scientist is ready to do everything it takes to get his dog back. Building a dead-reviving machine is not a rocket science for him but this time the experiment goes monstrously wrong. A short stop-motion film about a creator and its monster he despises.
- Fantasy
- Experimental
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A DATE
2019 16+ 1 min
by Michaela Mihalyi, Michaela Mihályi
A very short stop-motion film about a menstrual tampon preparing for a date.
- Comedy
- Romance
- Experimental
-
Daughter
2019 All audiences 15 min
by Daria Kashcheeva
A girl who was hurt as a child keeps the memory of it alive. Having lacked love and empathy from her father in the past, she is not able to share her feelings with him. She can’t get rid of the painful memories taking her back to the day when she brought home a dead little bird and her father gave…

