WHO WE ARE
The company MAUR film was created in 2003
Since the beginning we have specialized in animated films and we are one of the biggest and most important animated film producers in the Czech Republic.
In 2012 MAUR film was a founding member of the Association of Czech Animation Film (ASAF) and since 2007 is a member of the Audiovisual Producers‘ Association. Producer Martin Vandas is a member of The European Film Academy, an expert for the Czech Film Fund,
The Slovak Audiovisual Fund and a lecturer at FAMU in Prague. He also takes part in the activities of the international platform CEE Animation to support the animated film industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
Download the MAUR film presentation PDF
Follow us on social media
IN DEVELOPMENT / IN PRODUCTION
We have currently several short films in development or production
Poetry in Animation
A unique series introducing contemporary Czech animation scene in poems of Czech authors
We are also working hard on the following animated feature films
The Eleven
David Súkup
Realizations
2024–2023
Hello Summer
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!
Joko
Joko is a young man, supporting his entire family from his tanker job. On the second anniversary of his employment, Joko and his fellow workers are surprised by a meeting with unspecified foreign delegates who order… him to carry himself on his back. Joko is a grotesque vision of eternal exploitation and domination of man over man, full of absurd humor and macabre..
Hurikan
Hurikán rushes to save his favourite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he crushes on. In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst. Despite getting the keg, he succumbs to temptation.
I Died in Irpin
On 24th of February, in the morning my boyfriend and I decided to go from Kyiv to Irpin to his parents. It is hard for me to recall the chronology of those days, my mind blocks and undervalues all the memories, erases them, but the only thing I know for sure is that every day everything rapidly became worse. We were there for 10 days, sleeping in the basement, hiding from bombings, totally isolated.
I wanted to get out, my boyfriend’s parents insisted on staying. In the end, we managed to escape with the last green corridor hours before Russian troops finally entered the city. Time passed, but the feeling that I died in Irpin never left me since then. The film reconstructs this true story of survival through a personal and subjective lens.
Everything We Missed
She is too busy while he needs more of her attention. She is a young woman, he is a dog. When the pandemic traps them in a small flat, they only have each other. And they must find each other again.
Realizations
2023–2021
Electra
Electra rethinks her 10th birthday, mixing memories with imagination and hidden dreams. Isolated in her fantasy world full of made-up busty dolls, plastic men’s body parts, juicy strawberries and dentist tools, she builds up her own relationships with her body and sexuality. Diving deeper and deeper into her childhood memories, she experiences again rebellion against her mother and mixed feelings for her father. Electra has to go through the most painful memories to let her suppressed feelings come out. In the end, she is
ready to reveal what has really happened during her 10th birthday.
About a Cow
An imaginative and playful collage of images from the life of cows. A mosaic of small stories from all over the world, in which cows experience positive and negative moments, depicts the life of an animal in a global world and its relationship with humans. The visually colourful images portray the cow as a sensitive creature worthy of admiration. With its stylized poetry, playfulness and humor, the film gives hope for a better world.
Don’t Blow It Up
Two little girls are playing with a ball. But after a petty quarrel, they get angry with each other and take offense. Their umbrage makes them inflate like balloons, they fly all the way up to the clouds. Girls get stuck up there, with no idea how to get down and save their kitten stuck in the tree.
Weeds
Far, far away, there are endless fields overgrown with weeds. Amidst these fields, there is a hidden garden full of beautiful cultivated flowers. One day a mighty storm will come. The wind picks up the seeds of the weeds and carries them towards the garden. The gardener rips out an unknown intruder: however, the thistle weed starts growing all over the garden and the gardener is losing patience. In a frenzy, she not only cuts down all the weeds around her, but also all her flowers.
Meanwhile, underground the roots of the cut plants begin to connect with the roots of the flowers. A completely new plant grows out of the ground, combinig the features of both the weeds and the flowers. New shoots spread to the fields behind the garden fence and the entire surrounding landscape begins to gradually change its previous appearance.
Whatman
The film tells the story of a very important social problem: civic engagement. It is not tied to any particular political system or period. There is a stylized, anonymous, universal character living in an unspecified space. Everything is made of paper using the origami technique. The character does not want to solve the problems of the world around him, he thinks that he would lose his peace. But as a result, with this hidden from the news of the world, he gradually begins to sacrifice not only his property, his space, but also his freedom.
Four Voices
The collection of short animated films FOUR VOICES follows the two-year-old project THREE VOICES, and once again connects students across film universities in the Czech Republic. The screening and distribution of films will be accompanied by an exhibition.
Criss Cross
We briefly experience with the animal protagnists their story, freely inspired by folk culture, in which good values conquer evil. The film works with a simple well known saying „A friend in need is a friend indeed“, making it accessible to viewers of any age or nationality. This short animated fable „Criss-Cross“ is both a children’s film with a moral, and an attractive film for an adult viewer thanks to its artistic style, combining animation with a cross stitch embroidery.
Mom is always right
What would happen if mum was always right? Do mums always tell their children the truth? If I squint, will I stay cross-eyed forever? And what about beer, can it be safely tasted? Or will it make me the shortest granddad in the old folk’s home? Will I really have muscles like Popeye if I eat spinach?
UNDistorted science I – VIII
A unique popularization and educational series of the Czech Academy of Sciences, accompanied by an unmistakable commentary by Pavel Liška, Bára Hrzánová and Radek Holub and illustrations by Tomáš Zach and Markéta Smolíková Kubátová. Short animated videos thematically focused on science and knowledge in an educational and entertaining way bring interesting phenomena from the field of science (not only) to students and teachers of primary and secondary schools.
The first ten-part series UNDistorted Science, was created in 2014. Numerous positive responses from educators, secondary school students and the general public have motivated the creation of further series.
Paolo’s Happiness
Paolo Piangino is a quiet adult man who lives alone with his cat and loves to cry, because his tears are his happiness. When he feels sad, tears comfort him, when he is happy, his tears give him even more joy. One day people in his town are amazed to find that flowers grow out of Paolo’s tears and thanks to his tears Paolo becomes famous. All his compatriots from the town are excited, they all invite him to visit, hoping for some lucky tears from him.
Mimi and Lisa – Garden
Blind Mimi and Lisa are best friends. They learn from each other generosity, tolerance, and openness in their approach to the whole world and its diversity. In a new story titled The Garden, a yellow container is installed in the yard of their house which the neighbours soon start filling with old and broken things. Lisa is curious about what Mimi would throw out, and is surprised that she throws away nothing. At the end of the story Mimi and Lisa find out that even material things have to be approached with love and respect and that every object has its purpose.
→ Film page – Maur film / Mimi & Lisa – The Garden
→ www.mimializa.cz
Suzie in the garden
Suzie is a little girl who goes with her mother and dad to an allotment outside the city. One day she meets a black dog and discovers a mysterious garden. Who is it that lives there? Suzie is a little afraid. But what to do when you are afraid of someone, but you find their key on the path?
Realizations
2021–2017
The Thrown away book
A small antique shop in the old town. An older lady, the owner of this shop full of historical artifacts, has just opened, when the bell rings on the door. A man, Levi, with his little son Toni come in. They came to sell a few old things: a pocket watch, a knife, a game cabinet, and more. The lady shop owner looks through every object with an expert eye, while the boy curiously admires all the fantastic objects displaced on the shelves of this peculiar shop. The lady then gives Levi a coin from the cashier. Now on the street, Levi and Toni go from one dumbbell to another and dig out boxes full of things that people throw away.
Preparations for film T.
The categorical, intransigent end of the world pronouncements of Petr Kral impress me as much as his composure. There is really no place for lament, at least as long as there can be certain moments stolen from the world, be they at first impression meaningless or ridiculous. This is the task of the movie (no greater is necessary). For a while now I have been systematically collecting moments, completely without any system. This is the first small stock-taking, everything is only beginning (well, this world excepting).
The Crossing
An animated feature film worth mentioning is The Crossing (d. Florence Miailhe, p. Les films de l’Arlequin (FR), Balance Film (DE), MAUR film (CZ) and ARTE France). The film follows the dramatic journey of siblings Kyona and her brother Adriel who are running from persecution in an unknown Eastern European country. The project was supported by Eurimages (2016) and work on the film started in June 2017. MAUR film joined the project in the manufacturing phase and provided 50 minutes of animation using the demanding technique of painting on glass. International distribution is provided by the company Indie Sales.
Wild Beasts
In 2020 we plan the premiere of the short film Wild Beasts (d. Marta Prokopová, p. Superfilm (SK) and MAUR film (CZ)) which sheds memories of childhood and adolescence into narcotic images and suggestive sounds.
The Pit
Another short film for children and adults is The Pit (d. Markéta Smolíková-Kubátová, p. Superfilm (SK) and MAUR film (CZ)). Space Odyssey-style animated slapstick animation about a mix-up of proportions that can lead to a fatal mistake in viewer sympathies.
Fritzi – A Revolutionary tale
In November 2019 the feature film coproduction Fritzi – A Revolutionary Tale (d.Ralf Kukula, Matthias Bruhn, p.Balance Film (DE), TrickStudio Lutterbeck (DE), DogHouse Films (LU), Artemis Productions (BE), Digital Graphics (BE) and MAUR film (CZ)) entered cinemas. The film follows the events of the autumn of 1989 in Leipzig through the eyes of ten-year-old protagonist Fritzi. International distribution is provided by the company Global Screen.
Three Voices
In 2019 we completed the project Three Voices. It consists of three student short films which were made simultaneously at three diferent Czech art universities – Daughter (d. Daria Kashcheeva, FAMU), The Concrete Jungle (d. Marie Urbánková, UMPRUM) and Noctuelle (d. Martin Pertlíček, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň). Joining these three films together opens up many options for their distribution.
Daughter
The film Daughter had its world premiere at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It was chosen from among over 3000 applicants and won the Cristal for the best Student film, and the Young Jury Award in Student film category. Throughout the year the film travelled the world and collected many more awards from other prestigious film festivals (Sundance, Palm Springs, Tokio, Stuttgart etc.). Winning the student Oscar and being nominated in the top five animated movies by the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brought great joy to the whole team. The director also brought home the Czech Lion award for the best student film last year.
The Concrete Jungle
Marie Urbánková’s film The Concrete Jungle was presented to viewers at the Zlín Film Festival in 2019 and had its world premiere at the International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand.
Noctuelle
The short film Noctuelle (d. Martin Pertlíček, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň). A horror nighmare about a maker of butterflies which bring people their dreams.
The Falling Star
As coproducers we also took part in the making of the short film The Falling Star (2019) directed by French director Loic Malo
(p. Lardux Films (FR), MAUR film (CZ)).
Mimi & Lisa
Tackling Christmas in fairytale form while avoiding all the worn clichés can pose a difficult challenge. Three female authors (Katarína Kerekešová, Iva Šebestová and Katarína Moláková) decided to approach the topic of Christmas without the spirit of materialism which unfortunately increasingly pervades this holiday. This more than hour long collection of six short stories called Mimi and Lisa (p. Fool Moon (SK), Rozhlas a televízia Slovenka (SK), MAUR film (CZ)) entered cinemas in 2018.
Days Off
Days Off (d. Filip Blažek, p. Karolína Pojarová, MAUR film, FAMU, 2018) is a student film which recently won the award for best student film at the Slovakian Anča International Animation Festival. It is a result of coproduction with FAMU.
Somewhere / Ceva
Somewhere is a very successful short animated film by Romanian director Paul Muresan (p. Puls Digital Production (RO), MAUR film (CZ), 2018). The film won (among other awards) the award for Best short film at the International Animated Film Festival Anifilm in 2019 in the category Czech horizon.
Superbia
Hungarian director Luca Tóth‘s short animated film Superbia (p. MAUR film (CZ), Fakt Visual Lab (HU), Artichoke (SK)) was finished in 2017 and was chosen to compete in the Cannes Semaine de la Critique’s Short film Competition. Czech viewers could see it as a prefilm before Jitka Němcová’s documentary Nechte zpívat Mišíka (2017).
Realizations
2016–2013
Time Rodent
Another purely experimental short film Time Rodent (d. Ondřej Švadlena, p. MAUR film (CZ), Autour de Minuit (FR)) was finished in 2016. It’s a surreal farce with strong visual and colour stylization. Using distinctive computer animation it depicts the world five, ten and even a hundred thousand years in the future in an abstract parable, a kind of anti-fairytale about the gradual decline of our civilization and world and possible evolutionary pathways for its inhabitants.
UnDistorted science
So far five seasons have been made thanks to the extraordinarily positive feedback. The total viewcount for all episodes combined is currently more than 5 million! That’s not a bad number for science-popularization videos and it’s also a reason for making a sixth season (currently in production).
→ All episodes can be viewed on the YouTube channel “Otevřená věda”
The Tree
In 2015 we finished making the short animated film The Tree (d. Lucie Sunková, p. MAUR film (CZ), Les Films de l’Arlequin (FR)). It was made using the technique of painting on glass. It’s a methaphorical story of two worlds, the world of the trees and the world of people. Their fates run parallel to each other, are similar to each other and finally intersect. The film took part in numerous international festivals and won several awards. It entered wide cinema distribution as a prefilm to the film Zloději zelených koní (Green Horse Rustlers, d. Dan Wlodarczyk) and was later followed by other short films also distributed in this format. The unique painting from the movie had their own exhibition in the Prague Chodovská tvrz. A book and DVD were published thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign.
A Very Unsettled Summer
Although MAUR film focuses mainly on animated films, our company took part in international projects which aren’t directly connected to animation. Romanian director Ancy Damian’s feature film A Very Unsettled Summer (p. ap arte (RO), MAUR film (CZ), Faction North (UK), Bokomotiv Filmproduction (SE), 2013) won among other awards The Romanian Film Promotion Association’s best director award.
The Return of Agnieszka H.
For producer Martin Vandas the feature-length documentary project The Return of Agnieszka H. (d. Krystyna Krauze, Jacek Petryck, p. MAUR film (CZ), Česká televize (CZ), Centrala Film (PL)) was also somewhat of a return to his professional roots, when he was a producer for documentaries – e.g. Zmizení bankéře Preisse about Jaroslav Preiss, a documentary about Karol Sidon Nic není Absurdní by Krystyna Krauze and student documentaries like Odvalte ten Kámen and Ptačí Políbení.
New Goodness
In 2013 MAUR film produced its first short animated film New Goodness (d. Lucie Sunková, p. MAUR film (CZ), La Maison Garage (FR)) which was made as part of a larger collection for the 100 year anniversary of the French poet Aimé Césair (1913 – 2008). The film based on the poem New Goodness (Nouvelle Bonté) was a part of a collection of minute long films inspired by the French poets work. Jacques Martial recited the original poem and François Causse composed the music. The poem was translated into Czech by French poet and translator Bertrand Schmitt and was recorded for cinemas by Victor Preiss. The film was distributed in the Czech Republic as a prefilm for Jitka Rudolfová’s film Rozkoš.
Realizations
2012–2006
One Night in a City
In 2007 MAUR film brought to cinemas Jan Balej’s feature film One Night in a City. This film took part in numerous film festivals all around the world and won several international awards, e.g. awards at festivals in Lisbon, Tehran, Bilbao and Tiburon.
Fimfarum 2
MAUR film was the main producer of the animated feature film Fimfarum 2 (d. Jan Balej, Vlasta Pospíšilová, Aurel Klimt, Břetislav Pojar, 2006). The film won the Czech Lion award in 2006 for Best Design. The final part of the trilogy Fimfarum: The Third Time Lucky (2011) got into wide distribution in French in 2013 and took part in almost 50 festivals all around the world.
→ Film page – Fimfarum 2
→ Film page – Fimfarum: The Third Time Lucky
All above projects recieved financial support from the Czech Film Fund.
Detailed information about the films can be found in the MOVIES section,
more about films currently in production can be found in the IN PRODUCTION section.
