‘Take a kilogram of ideas (if possible, not too confused), fifty kilograms of talent, and a few thousand drawings. Stir it well and then with a bit of luck you won’t get the right answer to your question.’ 
– Members of The Zagreb School of Animated Film

Klassiki brings the Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival 2024 to London with the second instalment of bizarre, eerie, and unique animated films from the late Eastern Bloc (1980-1997). A surgery is performed on a bust of Joseph Stalin, a yeti living in the mountains of Kazakhstan gets to listen to The B-52s, a school of vengeful fish attacks a seaside village, and a man pawns his face to buy a lottery ticket – this is a collection of some of the most dreamlike and thought-provoking shorts from a time and place where the animated image served as a stage for radically unprecedented artistic and political expression.

Preceded by a recorded introduction by Czech animator, filmmaker and teacher Michaela Pavlátová.

Programme

Wizards (Garabonciák), dir. Dóra Keresztes and István Orosz, Hungary 1985
A synaesthetic experience of a fantastical, psychedelic dreamscapes of an old shaman, where animals, humans, colours, and shapes blend and transform seamlessly into one another.

Fisheye (Riblje Oko), dir. Joško Marušić, Croatia, 1980
In a small, dreary fishing village, the men set off to find their catch of the day, whilst their families stay behind. But suddenly, the hunters become the prey… 

Some Exercises in Preparation of an Independent Life (Harjutusi Iseseisvaks Eluks), Priit Pärn, Estonia 1980
The free and ever-transmuting life of a child violently clashes with the rigid routine of an adult office clerk, until the child, too, begins to seek an ‘independent life’. 

The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia: A Work of Agitprop, dir. Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic 1991
Jan Švankmajer’s most openly political film depicts Czech history under the Soviet occupation all the way until the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1989, as portrayed in Švankmajer’s distinctively grotesque and violent stop-motion style.

Words, Words, Words… (Řeči, Řeči, Řeči…), dir. Michaela Pavlátová, Czech Republic 1991
In this sharp hand-drawn satire, we see a literalisation of the shapes and forms of human communication, and of how individuals relate to, or become trapped by, one another through language.

Nature’s Wreath (Венец природы), dir. Stepan Galstyan, Armenia 1982
A bureaucrat decides to flee the cacophonous hyperstimulation of modern city life to find peace in the countryside. Is the natural world, free of industrial machines and the relentless pace of urban life, as good as it seems to be?

Julia’s Birthday (День народження Юлії), dir. Natalia Marchenkova, Ukraine 1994
In this modern remake of Viy, a woman must save her soul after her motorcyclist ex-boyfriend’s ghost returns to the earthly plane to haunt her.

For a Penny, dir. Agnieszka Woznicka, Poland 1997
In this stop-motion made in the chiaroscuro style of German Expressionism, a poor man sells his face to a pawnshop for a penny, hoping to use it to buy a single lottery ticket.

Mind the Steps! (Vigyázat, lépcső!), dir. István Orosz, Hungary 1989
Sometime in the late 1980s – the last years of a dwindling regime – a typical apartment block in Budapest is seen from the tipsy-turvy perspective of a young boy. Möbius strip-like stairs and disorientating camera angles create a jarring and visually striking experience.

Our Holiday (Ünnepeink), dir. Katalin Macskássy, Hungary 1982
The history of state socialism is narrated through the animations and words of young children, whose perception of the Hungarian holidays playfully ironicises the grand narratives that nations construct for themselves.

Once Upon a Time… (Однажды), dir. G. Sadykova, Kazakhstan 1987
In the middle of snowy mountains, a yeti stumbles upon a television set and is shocked by his discovery of human entertainment.