Soundtrack: Zdenek Liska

Direction Ján Kadár · Elmar Klos

Cast Josef Kroner · Frantisek Zvarik · Ida Kaminska · Hana Slivkova

Synopsis Tono Briko (Josef Kroner) is a slothful Czechslovakian carpenter. The time is World War II, and the occupying Nazis are nationalizing all Jewish-owned businesses. To please his ambitious family, Tono takes the job of "Aryan comptroller" for a rundown button...

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Josef Kemr · Magda Vásáryová · Nada Hejna · Jaroslav Moucka

Synopsis A minor Czech clan falls afoul of the King in medieval times, against the backdrop of Christianity replacing Paganism.

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Petr Cepek · Jan Kacer · Vera Galatíková · Zdenek Kryzánek

Synopsis Ondrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air and then gives...

Direction Juraj Herz

Cast Vlasta Chramostová · Rudolf Hrusínsky · Jiří Menzel · Ilja Prachar

Synopsis Karl works at a crematorium in Prague. Obsessed with his duties, he believes he is not just cremating the dead, but liberating the souls of the departed. With Nazi forces gathering at the Czech border, he descends into a mania...

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Katerina Irmanovová · Anna Pitasová · Karel Smyczek · Vjaceslav Irmanov

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Miroslav Machácek · Vítezslav Vejrazka · Vít Olmer · Cestmír Randa

Synopsis The story takes place in the early 18th century when a priest arrives in a small town to investigate the rumors that a miller's family, who survived a house burning, are in league with the devil.

Direction Jan Švankmajer

Cast Ivan Kraus · Juraj Herz

Synopsis A nondescript man is trapped in a sinister flat, where nothing seems to obey the laws of nature.

Direction Karel Zeman

Cast Milos Kopecký · Rudolf Jelinek · Jana Brejchová · Karel Höger

Synopsis The outrageous Baron Munchausen tells of his many adventures, from meeting the Man in the Moon to defeating a Turkish army all by himself.

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Petr Cepek · Emma Cerná · Jan Vostrcil · Jana Krupicková

Synopsis In the aftermath of World War II, a former Czech soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family. He falls in love with the daughter, who is now a maid, and is forced to confront the...

Direction Lubomir Benes

Synopsis Puppet variation on the themes of the classic tale of King Midas.

Direction Karel Zeman

Cast Lubor Tokos · Arnost Navrátil · Miroslav Holub · Frantisek Slégr

Direction Jan Švankmajer

Cast Jirí Hálek · Ludek Kopriva · Míla Myslíková · Václav Borovicka

Synopsis Frank visits his friend Josef, who introduces him to his pedigree rabbits and his wife Mary. Frank is more interested in the slightly unsettling fact that Josef and Mary's garden fence is entirely made up of living people holding hands....

Direction Juraj Jakubisko

Cast Philippe Avron · Jirí Sýkora · Magda Vásáryová · Míla Beran

Synopsis The story is about three orphans who have lost their families in war. Although the two men Andrej and Yurick and the lady Marta are adults, they act foolish like children trying to live life to the fullest. They resort...

Direction Jan Švankmajer

Synopsis In stop-time animation, a wardrobe moves through the countryside. It arrives in a house, a child's voice recites Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," and various objects, such as toys and dolls, move about, disintegrate, and play out archetypal scenes. Like Carroll's verse,...

Direction Karel Kachyna

Cast Miroslava Safránková · Radovan Lukavský · Petr Svojtka · Libuse Safránková

Synopsis The little mermaid rescues a prince from drowning and falls in love with him. To be with him, she makes a deal with the evil sorceress: her beautiful voice against a life on land. It seems to work at first,...

Direction Jindrich Polák

Cast Zdenek Stepánek · Frantisek Smolík · Dana Medrická · Irena Kacírková

Direction Karel Zeman

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Juraj Kukura · Marta Vancurová · Gustáv Valach · Václav Babka

Direction Karel Kachyna

Cast Vladimír Dlouhy · Zdena Hadrbolcová · Lubos Vraspir · Borivoj Navrátil

Direction Timothy Quay · Stephen Quay · Keith Griffiths

Synopsis In Prague, a professorial puppet, with metal pincers for hands and an open book for a hat, takes a boy as a pupil. First, the professor empties fluff and toys from the child's head, leaving him without the top of...