PRESS – WILD BEASTS
| SYNOPSIS
Will the father-son relationship make the trip into the wild more enjoyable? Are the children really cruel or just playing innocent games? What will the teacher do when everything is already synchronized? Three stories set on a mysterious island.
The animated film by Marta Prokopová and Michal Blaško sheds memories of childhood and adolescence into narcotic images and suggestive sounds.
| TRAILER
Trailer ON Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/364312577
| FILM CREDITS
Directors Marta Prokopová & Michal Blaško
Animator Marta Prokopová
Editor Alexander Kashcheev
Sound Jiří Klenka
Music Midi Lidi
Producers Simona Hrušovská, Veronika Kocourková, Super film (SK)
Coproducers Martin Vandas, Alena Vandasová, MAUR film (CZ)
Financially supported by Slovak Audiovisual Fund and Czech Film Fund.
Slovakia / 2019 / 9 min. / no dialogue
| DOWNLOADS
Poster
JPG 2,5MB
Film stills HD
Zip (jpg 9MB)
| GALLERY
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
What’s the story behind the individual tales of the movie Wild Beasts? Did you put something of yourselves into these tales and, conversely, were you affected by the tales, up to point?
Marta: When Michal and I were working on these tales, it didn’t even cross my mind that one day the characters and situations would seem so familiar. This film got under my skin, I still haven’t got used to it. Especially during the production, I had the chance to understand different aspects of each character. From a certain perspective, I was living their stories with them.
Michal: While we were making it, the most important thing was for the characters to create the atmosphere of the film, and in a way describe the absurdity of their world. There are no autobiographical aspects, but that I think enabled the looser construction of the movie.
Why did you pick the topic of childhood and adolescence?
Marta: This part of life absolutely fascinates me. Children are authentic, honest, full of ideals. I like to work with a child character. In this case though it was rather demanding. The subject matter is very difficult and this creative process was not easy for me, at all. I was often pondering how and why adults lose their authenticity and idealism. It was an interesting and creative personal journey for me.
Michal: It happened after the first brainstorming sessions of ideas. The vulnerability of children enabled us to place them in borderline situations and in this way introduce more complicated relationships between characters. Because it’s a short movie, we didn’t have much space for a deeper initial exploration of the characters, therefore we worked with an archetypal introduction of them so that they appear more familiar and better known to the viewers.
Wild Beasts, similar to your previous movies, Marta, focuses on a subject very closely connected to human feelings and emotions. They are always anchored in a world where animals take on human attributes and vice versa. Why?
Marta: I find it easier to communicate with the viewer through such characters. I think such a form enables better understanding of the subject matter, it gives you a detached view, even if generally it is a critique and reflection of your own humanity or society in general. Sometimes it offers more layers of meaning or works with symbolism.
You are both distinct artists and strong personalities. How did you cooperate in making Wild Beasts?
Marta: I think each of us focused on the things we excel at. And Wild Beasts is the end result :).
Michal: Years ago, together with Marta, we created three stories which eventually I wrote into a script. The further creative process and animation fell to Marta, while I got my chance again in the editing room, co‑working with Alexander Kashcheev.
In Wild Beasts we can clearly see your distinctive creative imprint, Marta – especially in the visual side of the film.
Marta: The visual is complicated, but at the same time clear. I tried to transform my thoughts within its atmosphere in such a way that they would become one with the story. Each plant, each stone has a meaning for me. Being a perfectionist, I think I have a long creative journey ahead of me yet. But I also hope that I did manage to get closer to my abstract idea, which makes me very happy.
