The Last Theft
A man breaks into a large, seemingly abandoned old house to plunder the gold received. But the house is really abandoned?
Casts & Crew
Also Directed by Jiří Barta
Seven animated films and the 1987 live-action short "The Last Theft" comprise this collection spotlighting the prodigious talents and distinctive cinematic vision of Czech animator Jiri Barta. Slyly amusing and often featuring anti-consumerist motifs, his films brilliantly encapsulate imaginative worlds. Selections include "Disc Jockey" (1980), "The Design" (1981), "The Vanished World of Gloves" (1982) and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (1985).
Six animated shorts eschew traditional animation by featuring supernatural elements and darker themes, such as alien snatchings, life among mannequins and a spiritual rebirth. Among the films are "Ape," which features a couple fighting over a cooked monkey every night; "The Story of the Cat and the Moon," which is a tale of unrequited love; and "Gentle Spirit," which is based on a Fyodor Dostoyevsky story.
In Jiří Barta’s imaginative debut, a magic book poses three riddles to an anteater-like creature. His reward for answering, a wrapped piece of candy, proves elusive. Barta's animation revels in the possibilities of transformation and symbolic logic.
Pieces of wood are captured by a crow and dance in celebration of spring in this animated short film.
A darkly brilliant stop-motion adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin about a plague of rats that punish townsfolk corrupt with greed. One of Czechoslovakia's most ambitious animation projects of the 1980s, notable for its unusual dark art direction, innovative animation techniques and use of a fictitious language
Throughout the 1990s, Jiří Barta tried to find funding for a feature film called The Golem, but has thus far only managed to complete a short pilot film, released in 1993, though work on the feature is ongoing as of 2014.
An animated film compiled by David Ehrlich consisting of 27 animators from different countries all explaining themselves through their animation.
A short film by Jiri Barta
Laid-off old mannequins spend their cracked and broken lives in an old, abandoned warehouse. New mannequins are brought to the warehouse. They are old as well, but from a younger generation. The two groups must live together, but it's not easy at all.
