Movie Description
POGOGO | IN DEVELOPMENT
| SYNOPSIS
Live Sonda carries humanity’s folk music across the stars, where her songs unlock friendship, conquer hardship, and ignite a shared passion, leading her and newfound friends on a joyous journey back to Earth.
Inspired by NASA’s Voyager mission in 1977. Humanity launched a probe with a music of many genres that was meant to speak across worlds. The probe fell into the trap of the villain Strakor from the planet Pogogo. But thanks to music, the Probe connected with other travelers, and they drove Strakor away, demonstrating the unifying and magical power of music.
| TEASER
| CREDITS
Script and director – Jana Švermová, Markéta Fulínová
Art design – Jana Švermová
Producers – Alena Vandasová, Martin Vandas, Maurfilm (CZ)
Genre – animated sci-fi short film for children
Estimated length – 10 min.
Financially supported by Czech Film Fund
| GALLERY
| Director’s statement
25 billion kilometers away, Voyager is the first interstellar object sent by humans. It carries a small golden vinyl – a message to other civilizations, potentially the only proof of our existence in the universe if we all someday perish.
What would happen if someone or something encountered it? How would it intrigue or even influence them? What if the ability to transform vibrations into melodic expressions is something truly unique to humans? Let’s focus on the beautiful things humanity can do—our creativity and ability to love.
Our story will be told through the personalization and animation of the probe itself, giving it a voice and personality so it can genuinely share its story and connect with others across the universe.
Since it’s aimed at the youngest children, we designed the Sonda as a cute puppet in the tradition of dimensional stop-motion animation. Filmed on a greenscreen, this technique allows us to play with the spaces and layers of the universe, creating a rich and imaginative environment.
| BIOGRAPHY
Jana Švermová
Jana Švermová graduated from the Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín, majoring in animated film. As an animator, she worked on the evening children’s show Bob and Bobek. She is the artist of the winning film at Anifest 2011 – “Chronicle of Oldřich S.” (director: Rudolf Šmíd). She is the director and artist of the clip “In ordinary days”, 2020. Since 2006, she has also been a visual effects specialist at the UPP and RUR studios. She has participated in films and series (e.g. The Nutcracker (2010), Grandhotel (2007), Miasto 44 (2014) , Kuky Returns (2007), Hiding in the Zoo (2017), Pillars of the Earth (2010) Genius (2017). She also illustrates books for children (e.g. How Klára turned everything upside down, by J. Nvota; Zajda and Majda and Pajda in Italy by J. Švermová)
Markéta Fulínová
While studying International Relations at Prague University of Economics and Business, she managed the university cinema (FK VŠE). However, after further studying Political Science at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University and after maternity leave, she started working as a VFX specialist for various studios in Prague (UPP, RUR, Eallin) both in dramas (e.g. Burning Bush (2013), Marie Terezie (2020), Best Friend (2017), Snowpiercer (2013), Wiplala (2014), Preise der Freiheit (2019), as well as in animated films (Hurvínek and the Magic Museum (2017) and documentaries (Francesco 2020). She also participated in the digital restoration of Černý Petr (2017).
In recent years, she has been collaborating as author and director with TPS Development of children’s programs for Czech Television Déčko. The series Frnk z hnízda and Ptačí rodinky were presented by CT as part of the EBU Erfurt preschool item exchange (2019, 2020).
