“MY FAT ARSE AND I” AND “EVEN MICE BELONG IN HEAVEN” AWARDED IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
At this year's edition of the Zlín Film Festival, Yelyzaveta Pysmak's work was named best international animated film while the Polish co-production received a special mention.
Zlín Film Festival was established in 1961 in Czechoslovakia and kept its original name of International Film Festival for Children and Young People for many years. In an extremely rich programme, both young and old audiences have the opportunity to watch animated films, documentaries, or features. Meetings between cinema and literature, i.e. screenings of adaptations of comics, books from school reading lists, and other classics, is also its major highlight.
Yelyzaveta Pysmak's film was invited to participate in the festival. “My Fat Arse and I” delighted the jury and received the main prize in its category. The best animation of the Czech festival tells the story of a girl who one day discovers that she can no longer fit in her pants. Shocked, the girl sees herself as a huge, fat pig in the mirror. She decides to go on a strict diet immediately. No candy, no coke – just water with a tiny bit of lemon juice. All is going well, but along with the fat, so is her joy of life being sucked away.
However, being unhealthily thin already, she still won’t stop. The girl now resembles a walking corpse and, not knowing what she is doing, at night she drags herself to the refrigerator, which keeps haunting her dreams. During one of the fridge’s temptations, the girl is visited by the Angel of Slimbuttlandia carrying a royal invitation to a ceremony. What ceremony is this? Are the Skinny Butts as lovely and harmless as they try to appear? Which God do they praise? Is there a way back from Slimbuttlandia if anything goes wrong?
A special mention also went to the Czech-French-Slovak-Polish co-production “Even Mice Belong in Heaven” directed by Jan Bubeníček and Denisa Grimmová. The animated feature is about two mortal enemies – the little mouse Whizzy and Whitebelly the fox who – as a result of an unfortunate accident – meet in animal heaven. Both protagonists lose their natural instincts and become best friends over time. Together they set off on a journey not only to find the mouse's Dad, but most of all to find themselves and face their own weaknesses. The film “Even Mice Belong in Heaven” is about hope, love, and courage. It is a story of friendship that seems impossible.
You can learn more about the festival here.