Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi is a Psychology graduate from Warsaw University and an animation graduate and PhD student at Lodz Film School. She uses stop motion animation with unconventional materials. The short film I was assigned is Ab Ovo (2013).
Her most recent work is Momo i Lulu (2024). Momo i Lulu is a somewhat tragic love at first sight story that takes place underwater.
Tomasz Popakul is a Polish animator and director known for his distinctive, experimental style that blends 2D and 3D animation. His films often explore themes of alienation, identity, and psychological transformation, characterized by surreal storytelling and striking visuals. Notable works include Acid Rain (2019), a hallucinatory road trip film praised for its intense atmosphere, Ziegenort (2013), a coming-of-age story about a fish-like boy struggling with identity, and Black (2016), a sci-fi short about stranded astronauts facing existential dread.
Tomasz Popakul studied animation and scriptwriting at the Łódź Film School (PWSFTviT) in Poland, where he developed his storytelling and visual style. His films have gained international recognition, with Acid Rain (2019) premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and winning awards at Annecy and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. His earlier work, Ziegenort (2013), also screened at Annecy, Sundance, and other major festivals, while Black (2016) was praised for its monochromatic sci-fi aesthetic. Known for his surreal visuals and emotionally raw narratives, Popakul has established himself as a significant voice in indie and experimental animation, especially in Poland.
ACID RAIN
Acid Rain follows a woman, known as Young, who runs away from home and meets Skinny, a reckless drug dealer involved in small-time crime. Together, they embark on a chaotic journey across a bleak, neon-lit Eastern landscape. As their trip unfolds, reality begins to blur, and the film takes on an increasingly hallucinatory and unsettling tone. The story explores themes of escapism, self-destruction, and the search for connection in a hostile world. With trippy visuals, glitchy electronic soundtrack, and raw emotional intensity, Acid Rain shows a dreamlike yet gritty atmosphere.
Laska was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland and he became an artist/animator super early on- it’s listed that he went to the Academy of Fine Arts which is an arts school in Poland!
To start off here is a short reel of a lot of his work:
So overall he’s veryyy interesting. He experiments with a lot of different styles, some of which are more contemporary/modern. His most famous film is Chick (2008). My first source was his website because he actually has information in both Polish and English so I was able to read some stuff!
When looking through his website one common motif I found was the peace dove (I think). He uses it a lot for a lot of different things, and one artwork he uses it and says the word “Freedom” so I think it could be a big reoccurring theme in his work to use a dove or bird in general to evoke positivity and/or peace.
My second source is an article by Cartoon Brew. It seems to be something similar to a student-run blog website. It talks about Chick and how its abstractedness really stays with the viewer long after watching. It talked about how the film was actually made using a lot of CG which I found super cool! He utilizes many different mediums and combines them to create interesting atmospheres. Chick has adult themes but it isn’t explicit (that’s where the abstraction comes in, he uses it so that he doesn’t have to fully show it) Some of it has artistic nudity but nothing too crazy. When I first watched it up until the end I thought it was about maybe a woman in an unhappy relationship, wanting to escape from her life or husband or something but the final part really threw me. I’m pretty sure it’s about prostitution or being a sex worker, and how each person becomes a part of her. I thought it was a very intriguing story.
I chose Coraline’s opening for this assignment because it was the first film that came to mind when Briana was explaining the assignment. And also I never skipped it whenever I watched the movie which is extremely rare because I always skip the opening. The opening features a doll being taken apart and reassembled, symbolizing the themes of manipulation and control central to the story. With no dialogue, the sequence tells a visual story, raising curiosity and draws the viewers into the film. And the haunting music and crazy attention to detail make it both unsettling and mesmerizing, perfectly setting stage for the rest of the movie. And also the Lead Animator for this opening was Anthony Scott, who worked on The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach, Corpse Bride, ParaNorman, The Little Prince, and the most recent Pinocchio movie.
The opening of Coraline was inspired from earlier woks in stop-motion and hand crafted animation that evoke a similar sense on detailed, eerie visuals. One likely influence is the work of Jan Švankmajer, a Czech filmmaker known for his surreal stop-motion films where objects like dolls, fabric, and household items come to life creepy dreamlike ways. The work of Švankmajer that likely influenced the opening of Coraline is “Alice” (1988). In Alice, Švankmajer uses deconstructed dolls and sewn objects that closely mirrors the tone of Coraline’s opening. While Švankmajer influence isn’t officially confirmed, his work resonates strongly with the haunting, handcrafted aesthetic of Coraline.
