Metrograph Spotlights Czech Animation From Foundational Stop-Motion To Contemporary Breakouts

From now through April 18, New York’s Metrograph is teaming up with the Czech Center NY to present The Weird and Wonderful World of Czech Animation, a survey spanning 1949 to 2025 that traces one of animation’s most distinctive national traditions, from handcrafted puppet films to contemporary shorts.

Czech animation is often tied to the country’s long history of stop-motion puppetry, and this series makes that connection clear. The program ranges from early pioneers like Hermína Týrlová and the inventive hybrid films of Karel Zeman to the darker, surreal work of Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Barta.

At the contemporary end is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daria Kashcheeva, who will appear in person on April 18. Her program pairs her shorts Daughter (2019) and Electra (2023) with recent films by a new generation of Czech animators.

The lineup shows the range of Czech animation styles over the decades, from Zeman’s engraving-inspired fantasy Invention for Destruction to Švankmajer’s eerie hybrid live-action/stop-motion feature Alice (1988). Barta’s The Pied Piper, screening with The Vanished World of Gloves, highlights the tradition’s interest in strange, often unsettling imagery.

The series runs through April 18, with encore screenings to follow.