Se-ma-for European/Asian Express 2011 is a multidisciplinary, few day long project includianng: film screenings, animation workshops in various techniques, concert, short tutorial about history of most famous Polish animation studio in world – Se-ma-for. The whole project, which will take place in four capitals – two European and two Asian (Madrid, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris), was created for both children and youth, as well as for adults and passionate of art of film. The aim of Se-ma-for European/Asian Express 2011 is to promote Polish culture and art of animation.

Se-ma-for is the only Polish studio to continue a work of Wladysław Starewicz – a pioneer of puppet animation – for over 60 years and one of the most renown Polish brand in the world, which created over 1400 animated films and won countless amounts of awards including two Oscars!

SE-MA-FOR EUROPEAN/ASIAN EXPRESS 2011 PROGRAMME

 

MASTERS OF THE SE-MA-FOR 1

A selection of animated masterpieces realized in Se-Ma-For studio by artists, whose names will always remain inscribed on the pages of history of animated films.

 

ZA KRÓLA KRAKUSA (In Times of Krakus King) (1947), Zenon Wasilewski; 14’

The first Polish animated film realized after World War II

FOTEL (Armchair) (1963), Daniel Szczechura; 5’30”

Participants of a meeting fight feverously for the most important armchair.

KOTY I KOCIAKI (Cats and Kittens) (1964), Tadeusz Wilkosz; 10’

A wonderful parody of human behaviour and rivalry for ladies’ attention as performed by noisy though likeable cats.

KWARTECIK (A Quartet) (1965), Edward Sturlis; 7’

After dark, figures on candelabra, standing on the piano, come to life and start their vigorous dance.

SCHODY (Stairs) (1968), Stefan Schabenbeck; 7’

An amazing metaphor on human fate reflected in a countless number of stairs…

TANGO (1980), Zbigniew Rybczyński; 8’

Different people walk into a room one after another… Executed with mathematical precision, a metaphorical experiment that gave Polish industry its first ever Oscar®.

WOLNOŚĆ NOGI (Leg’s Freedom) (1988), Piotr Dumała; 10’

A sleeping man disintegrates and falls to pieces. When he wakes up, all his limbs return to him except his leg…

 

MASTERS OF THE SE-MA-FOR 2

CYRK (Circus) (1954), Włodzimierz Haupe; 14’

By a strange spell of luck small circus artists fly into space and get involved in many attractive though slightly incredible adventures.

IGRASZKI (Trifles) (1962), Kazimierz Urbański; 7’

An anti-war film showing the development of different weapons and the results of their usage.

NIE DRAŻNIĆ LWA (Don’t Tease the Lion)(1960), Tadeusz Wilkosz; 10’30”

A lion, following its escape from a Zoo, pretends to be a human and makes a career.

WSZYSTKO JEST LICZBĄ (Everything’s a Number) (1966), Stefan Schabenbeck; 7’

A human being lost in the world of numbers eventually turns into a number himself.

WOREK (Sack) (1967), Tadeusz Wilkosz; 9’

A bag left in the attic devours everything in its way…

HOBBY (1968), Daniel Szczechura; 7’

A macabre grotesque about female possessiveness. A film about the cruelty of women tempting naïve men, but also a tale about imprisonment and freedom.

DIM.(1992), Marek Skrobecki; 10’

Slowly, the existence of two lonely puppets comes to its end. They only come to life when a bird they can feed appears. But one day the bird does not come…

CZARNY KAPTUREK (Little Black Riding Hood) (1983), Piotr Dumała; 5’

A deceitful, bloodthirsty and perverse interpretation of a well-know story of Little Red Riding Hood.

FANTASTYCZNY SKLEP Z KWIATAMI (The Fantastic Flowershop) (2001), Paweł Partyka; 15’

A magical story about a secret night life in a certain flowershop…

PODRÓŻ (Journey) (1970), Daniel Szczechura; 6’

Our life is a journey towards… eternity?

 

MASTERS OF THE SE-MA-FOR 3

ICHTHYS (2005), Marek Skrobecki; 16’

Unconventionally told metaphorical parable about the persistence of waiting, hope and fulfillment.

PIOTRUŚ I WILK (Peter and the Wolf) (2006), Suzie Templeton; 30’

Rewarded with Oscar®, adaptation of a musical fairytale of 1936 composed by Siergiej Prokofiew and intended for a reciting voice and symphonic orchestra

MASKA (2010), Quay Brothers; 23’

Somnambulist adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s short story with music by Krzysztof Penderecki.

DANNY BOY (2010), Marek Skrobecki; 10’

It is difficult to keep your individuality in times when everybody else have lost their heads…

 

SE-MA-FOR EXPERIMENTALLY

PLAŻA (Beach) (1964), Edward Sturlis; 8’

Funny adventures of two tattooed figures that come to life on the chests of sunbathing sailors.

NOWA KSIĄŻKA (A New Book) (1975), Zbigniew Rybczyński; 10’

A journey for a new book seen simultaneously from 4 perspectives.

PORTRET (A Portrait) (1977), Stanisław Lenartowicz; 7’30”

A poetic reflection on the passing of time and youth.

OJ! NIE MOGĘ SIĘ ZATRZYMAĆ! (Oh! I Can’t Stop!) (1975), Zbigniew Rybczyński; 10’

‘It’ comes out of the woods and sets on an apocalyptic journey through the city.

MARTWY CIEŃ (Dead Shadow) (1980), Andrzej Klimowski; 10’

In a murky room an old man recalls his past while listening to Mozart’s Requiem

LINIA (A Line)(1981), Grzegorz Rogala; 7’

A documentary image of a street is disturbed by an unexpected line. It violates the natural rhythm, splits the frame, leads to movement of elements.

ZUPA (Soup) (1974), Zbigniew Rybczyński; 8’

An attempt to look at human existence through a prism of modern civilization; or an animated film whose content are jokes about animations and its capacity to twist and turn reality.

BLOK (Block of Flats) (1982), Hieronim Neumann; 8‘40”

A modern block of flats built to resemble a honeycomb. Inside this dome petty and grotesque events invisibly intertwine with human tragedies.

PIERWSZY FILM (The First Film) (1981), Józef Piwkowski; 9’

A hilarious ‘making of’ the first film by the Lumiere brothers- ‘Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory’

 

YOUNG SE-MA-FOR

A selection of most recent films by Se-Ma-For Film Production and Se-Ma-For Film Foundation, created by talented young generation artists.

 

CARACAS (2006), Anna Błaszczyk; 10’

Animated pearl inspired by Joseph Conrad’s Youth, drifting between oniric, impressionist illustration of a sea journey and a story of an unwearying dreamer.

MIASTO PŁYNIE (City Flows) (2008), Balbina Bruszewska; 17’

A daring mixture of techniques and aesthetics. A portrait of contemporary Poland and the city of Lodz in the eyes of its inhabitants.

ZUZANNA (2010), Daria Kopiec; 17’

An observation of an acquaintance set in reality of a contemporary town and told in the convention of dance cinema.

POWRÓT (Return) (2008), Anna Błaszczyk; 8’

A rectangular Astronaut after many years spent in the space, returns to ‘Earth’…

SNĘPOWINA (Sleepincord) (2011), Marta Pajek ; 13’

Where are we when we fall asleep? A debut of a graduate of Cracow School of Arts.

DOBRO, PIĘKNO I PRAWDA (The Good, the Beauty and the Truth) (2011), Balbina Bruszewska; 8’

Do ancient values keep their meaning in contemporary world?

DWA KROKI ZA.. (Two Steps Behind..) (2010), Paulina Majda; 8’

We always come back to places we started from just to leave them again soon…

SPONGE IDEAS (2011), Kasia Nalewajka & Paulina Szewczyk; 5’

A puppet video to the song SPONGE by a Polish band PARISTETRIS.

 

 

SE-MA-FOR FILM MORNING FOR CHILDREN

One of the most important chapters in the whole history of Se-Ma-For Film Studio are still popular animated series for children called ‘goodnight tales’ or ‘evening tales’. Since the beginning of the 60s a few dozen series have been realized, on which a few generations of Poles grew up. Mostly these were puppet animations but still some cartoons and actors film appeared as well.

 

The programme includes: MIŚ USZATEK „FARBY” (Uszatek Bear- “Paints”) (1977), ZACZAROWANY OŁÓWEK „KATASTROFA W GÓRACH” (Magic Pencil- „Catastrophe in the Mountains”) (1965), MAŁY PINGWIN PIK-POK „PRZYGODA Z WIELORYBEM” (The Little Penguin Pik-Pok- “Adenveture with a whale”) (1989), PRZYGODY KOTA FILEMONA „NAJWIERNIEJSZY TOWARZYSZ” (The Adventures of Filemon the Cat- “A loyal Companion”) (1980), KOLOROWY ŚWIAT PACYKA „LEW W KWIATKI” (The Colorful World of Puppetboy- “Flowery Lion”) (1982), PRZYGÓD KILKA WRÓBLA ĆWIRKA „DARMOZJADY” (A Few Adventures of Sparrow Tweet- “Spongers”) (1987), OPOWIADANIA MUMINKÓW „COCKTAIL PARTY” (Mumi- Trolls Stories- “Coctail Party) (1982).

 

SE-MA-FOR FILM MORNING FOR CHILDREN

FANTASTYCZNY SKLEP Z KWIATAMI (The Fantastic Flowershop) (2001), Paweł Partyka; 15’

A magical story about a secret night life in a certain flowershop…

CYRK (Circus) (1954), Włodzimierz Haupe; 14’

By a strange spell of luck small circus artists fly into space and get involved in many attractive though slightly incredible adventures.

PYZA (Dumping Girl) (1959), Lucjan Dembiński; 10’

A narrative about adventures of a girl created from a dumping, who, accompanied by a bunny, travels to Toruń, the land of gingerbread.

MALUCH (The Little One) (1965), Lucjan Dembiński; 8’

A small car carelessly playing on the road is taken to driving classes by his parents.

KUNDELEK (Mongrel) (1969), Lidia Hornicka; 6’

One of the dachshund’s puppies does not win an award in a dog contest, but wins friendship of a small girl.

SMOK BARNABA (Barnaba the Dragon) (1977), Tadeusz Wilkosz; 10’

A fairytale about a gluttonous dragon that is finally defeated by a blacksmith’s apprentice.

POWRÓT (Return) (2008), Anna Błaszczyk; 8’

A rectangular Astronaut after many years spent in space returns to ‘Earth’…

 

YOUNG EURASIA EXPRESS POWERED BY POLAND

ANIMATION WORKSHOPS

 

KAROL SZYMANOWSKI – VISUAL IMPROVISATIONS

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WORKSHOPS IN SE-MA-FOR MUSEUM OF FAIRYTALE

 

The objective of the workshop, whose consecutive components will be realized in 5 cities (Lodz, Madrid, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris) giving as a result one film, is to raise sensitivity to Polish culture and art and to make people more familiar with the rules of stop motion animation created in this case by means of the drawing- painting technique. Workshop participants will learn about the difference between thinking about individual picture, where the action begins and ends in the same dimension, and building tension in time, when each picture is only an element of one whole. The final result depends on participants from all countries and creates between them a new artistic quality affected by cultural and personal sensitivity of each of them. The whole workshop will be accompanied by music of Karol Szymanowski and the task of its participants will be to pay special attention to finding means of artistic expression that would reflect the musical theme played throughout the workshop. Coordinators of the workshop „Karol Szymanowski – Visual improvisations” are: Maria Dzierżanowska, young and extremely talented graphic designer and animator (Lodz Art. School) and Paulina Zacharek, art historian, co-founder of the Association Sztuk-Pol. 1. In Lodz the participants prepare monochromatic works with ink and water 2. In Beijing they extract shapes from abstract monochromatic stain. 3. In Madrid the shapes are coloured. 4. In Tokyo the colour changes into an array of tints with no specific borderline. 5. In Paris colour abstraction is combined with monochromatic abstraction.

YOUNG EURASIA EXPRESS POWERED BY POLAND

ANIMATION WORKSHOPS

 

WE DON’T NEED OTHER WORLDS. WE NEED MIRRORS

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PIXELATION WORKSHOPS

For a few hours a group of 10 people will turn into ‘puppets’ animated by an animator (according to the script based on motifs from the works of Lem, prepared by the project director- an extremely versatile young director, also a theatre director, screenwriter and stage designer, Daria Wiktoria Kopiec). Just like in a stop motion puppet film, the animator (also Daria Kopiec) will change their positions and the cameraman (Emil Kumor/ Bartek Śmiechowski) will record consecutive stages of their movement. A starting point for the script is a famous quote from Lem’s ‘Solaris’: WE DON’T NEED OTHER WORLDS. WE NEED MIRRORS.

In 4 capitol cities 4 motifs will be created and during postproduction they will intertwine and form a unique cultural puzzle. The aim of the workshop is not to create a perfect, ideal animation as happens on the set where we get 1sec of a film only after 24 shots have been taken. The workshop is to help young people understand the essence of stop motion animation, to show them how an animated film is created, how much work it requires and to let them to have a lot of fun. The participants/ actors can substitute each other, can make movements that they wouldn’t be able to make in reality because they have some time between one frame and the next one to change their position.

 

 

WŁADYSŁAW STAREWICZ (1882-1965)

PIONEER OF PUPPET ANIMATION

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TRESER ŻUKÓW (The Puppetmaker) (Poland/Lithuania 2008, 53’)

A documentary story of life and work of Władysław Starewicz- pioneer of puppet animation films. Starewicz is the only Pole to have created a film genre. Born in Moscow, educated in Lithuania and Estonia, he produced his first films in Kaunas, later in Moscow, and after the October Revolution in France. He became known as ‘European Disney’. The film is directed by: Marek Skrobecki- Poland and Linas Augutis- Lithuania. Se-Ma-For was its producer.

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STAREWICZ / SzaZa / POLAŃSKI

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CONCERT

Musical- visual project Starewicz/ SzaZa was born following an initiative of Piotr Kardas, programme director of Se-Ma-For Film Festival, who asked a Warsaw duo SzaZa to compose music to the oldest films by Starewicz. The premiere of the project took place during the Gala closing the 1^st Se-Ma-For Film Festival when SzaZa presented a breathtaking and stirring interpretation of 4 classics by Starewicz: LILIA BELGII (Belgia’s Lilly) (1915, 14'), KONIK POLNY I MRÓWKA (A Grasshopper and an Ant) (1911, 5'), BOŻE NARODZENIE W LESIE (Christmas in the Woods)(1911, 7'), ZEMSTA OPERATORA FILMOWEGO (Cameraman’s Revenge) (1911, 12').

As an exception in the programme of ‘presidential’ concert we will include an excellent etude by Roman Polański prepared in Se-Ma-For Studio of Small Forms and entitled ‘SSAKI’ (Mammals) (1962).

SzaZa (www.szaza.pl), i.e. Paweł Szamburski and Patryk Zakrocki, are musicians, improvisers, animators who since 1999 have been active on the Warsaw scene of improvised music and independent art.

 

Partners of Se-ma-for European/Asian Express 2011:

MADRID –  ESDIP (Escuela Superior de Dibujo Profesional), with a support of Polish Institute in Madrid;

PARIS – Polish Institute in Paris – organizer of KINOPOLSKA Festival and Forum des Images;

BEIJING – Beijing Publishing Group LTD organizer of World Conference & 2011 Beijing International Comic Animation Week in Beijing with a support of Embassy of the Republic of Poland in P.R.C.;

TOKYO – Image Forum and ROTUNDA Association, with a support of Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Japan.

 

Project sponsored by Lodz Voivodship

Project under the patronage of Marshal of Lodz Voivodship,  Witold Stępień

 

OUR TEAM:

MARIA DZIERŻANOWSKA - WORKSHOPS KAROL SZYMANOWSKI – VISUAL IMPROVISATIONS, KATARZYNA GROMADZKA – CHIEF COORDINATOR OF THE PROJECT, PIOTR KARDAS – PROJECT CONCEPT, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, DARIA KOPIEC – PIXELIZATION WORKSHOPS, ADAM PTAK – LECTURE ABOUT HISTORY OF SE-MA-FOR , PAWEŁ SZAMBURSKI (SzaZa) – CONCERT STAREWICZ / SzaZa, BARTEK ŚMIECHOWSKI – CAMERAMAN AT PIXELIZATION WORKSHOPS, PAULINA ZACHAREK - WORKSHOPS KAROL SZYMANOWSKI – VISUAL IMPROVISATIONS, PATRYK ZAKROCKI (SzaZa) – CONCERT STAREWICZ / SzaZa

 

 

Co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage