Stop-motion Czech fairy tale is part of BAMcinématek’s “Emotional Sloppy Manic Cinema”
BAMcinématek
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Tuesday, August 17, 6:30 & 9:15
Series continues through August 24
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
LITTLE OTIK (OTESÁNEK) (Jan Svankmajer, 2000)
Poor Bozena (Veronika Zilková) and Karel (Jan Hartl) are unable to have a baby, so Karel decides to carve one out of a tree for his desperate wife. Bozena showers her wooden child with lots of love — and soon the little tyke is crying and very, very hungry. Based on a poem by Czech writer Karel Jaromír Erben, LITTLE OTIK was written and directed by master stop-motion animator Jan Svankmajer, who has made such feature-length films as ALICE (1988) and FAUST (1994) as well as myriad shorts, including PUNCH AND JUDY (1966), DON JUAN (1969), MEAT LOVE (1988), and FOOD (1992). In LITTLE OTIK, Svankmajer mixes live action and animation to create a delightful, if disturbingly bizarre, fairy tale. The film will screen on August 17 as part of BAMcinématek’s “Emotional Sloppy Manic Cinema,” a two-week series curated by brothers Josh and Benny Safdie The diverse group of works range from Robert Bresson’s A MAN ESCAPED to Jafar Panahi’s THE MIRROR, from Olivier Assayas’s COLD WATER to François Truffaut’s SMALL CHANGE, from Ulu Grosbard’s STRAIGHT TIME to Ralph Bakshi’s HEAVY TRAFFIC, and from Woody Allen’s HUSBANDS AND WIVES to Elaine May’s MIKEY AND NICKY. Of course, the brothers have also included their own DADDY LONGLEGS and Red Bucket Shorts and will be on hand to introduce several of the screenings, including the 6:30 showing of LITTLE OTIK.