Walerian Borowczyk: three shorts
Produced shortly after the director had left his native Poland for France, these miniature masterpieces demonstrate Borowczyk’s mastery of the surreal and the allegorical and his idiosyncratic approach to animation. From his haunting evocation of the atmosphere of Nazi and Soviet occupation in Les jeux des anges to his innovative use of reverse stop-motion in Renaissance and his chilling Maupassant adaptation Rosalie, these shorts capture in concentrated form Borowczyk’s unique blend of the unnerving and the empathetic.
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Renaissance
Directed by Walerian Borowczyk • 1963 • France
One of Borowczyk’s most well-known shorts, Renaissance deploys reverse stop-motion animation to picture the world caught in a cycle of destruction and reanimation. In the aftermath of an explosion, the remnants of a handful of objects (a trumpet, a ...
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Les jeux des anges
Directed by Walerian Borowczyk • 1964 • France
Perhaps the most concentrated achievement in Borowczyk’s singular career, Les jeux des anges, otherwise known as Angels’ Games, is a 12-minute masterpiece of surrealist horror. Constructed from a series of abstract paintings that recall the likes of...
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Rosalie
Directed by Walerian Borowczyk • 1966 • France
Cited by Borowczk as his favourite amongst his films, Rosalie adapts a short story by Guy de Maupassant into a moving account of female desperation. The director’s wife Ligia stars as a servant girl on trial for infanticide and forced to justify her...
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Film Is Not a Sausage: Borowczyk and the Short Film
In this documentary, produced by the Friends of Walerian Borowczyk foundation, we learn about the great Franco-Polish filmmaker’s fascination with the short film, a format which he pursued throughout his career. Featuring Borowcayk himself and a host of talking heads, Film Is Not a Sausage shines...
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Terry Gilliam on the short films of Walerian Borowczyk
Monty Python icon and director of Brazil and 12 Monkeys Terry Gilliam discusses his love for the eccentric short films of Walerian Borowczyk in this clip.
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The Quay Brothers introduce their Klassiki Picks
Klassiki Picks is our series of curated watchlists personally selected for our subscribers by celebrated filmmakers, writers, and actors. We’re delighted to welcome Stephen and Timothy Quay to the hot seat for the this latest edition. The Quay Brothers are among the most influential animators wor...
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Notes on the short films of Walerian Borowczyk
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