Ichthys

A metaphoric film parable about the persistence of waiting, hope and fulfilment told in a unique and unconventional manner. The main character is a mature man. He appears in a restaurant whose interior resembles a sacred building. He is the only client there and is greeted by a cherub-faced waiter. The waiter takes the order and leaves. The client waits for his return& Time goes by, making everything grow old. When finally, the ever-young waiter appears with the ordered meal, the client appears dead. The film touches the eternal issue of human fate, hope, waiting and fulfilment. It shows an individual totally abandoned in his pursuit to fulfill his dreams, without significant influence on his fate... but only seemingly, though this individual asks questions and makes choices, he depends on other people. This seemingly fatalistic view of the problem contains some irony on the action level, as well as black and abstract humor or pure nonsense, as it happens in real life, but on a narrative level- associations and meanings- it contains numerous stylistic nuances and emotional shades evoking associations with Christian symbols and Biblical motives. The main character is treated with kindness, so he is rather grotesque than tragic. His fate is not told directly, but through metaphysical parable, which aims to capture the sense and the aim of human life. These two narrative plots, grotesque-existential and metaphysical-philosophic, are parallel and correspond with each other. As if they were involved in animated discourse regarding the fundamental issues, enriching the whole film.

Stop-action puppet animation. The one-meter-high puppets appeared in Gothic-style sets which were built on a Se-Ma-For stage.

Release date is that of screening at the Cracow Film Festival.

Shot on 35mm Kodak film, using a 1934-vintage Debrie camera.

Digital copy financed by Synchrolab.

Special Mention, National Competition, Marek Skrobecki, Cracow Film Festival, 2005.
OIAF Award, Best Narrative Short Work, Marek Skrobecki, Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2005.
Bronze Jabberwocky, Cracow International Film Festival Etiuda and Anime, 2005.
Sony Audience Award, ANIMATEKA International Animation Film Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2005.
Silver Kreska, OFAFA (Ogolnopolski Festiwal Autorskich Filmow Animowanych), Cracow, 2005.
Special Distinction for Short Professional Film, SICAF Independent Animated Film Festival, Seoul, 2006.
Special Audience Distinction, Miedzynarodowy Festiwal Filmowy "Era -- Nowe Horyzonty," Wroclaw, Poland, 2006.
Grand Prix, BALKANIMA Animation Film Festival, Belgrade, 2006.
Honorable Diploma, TINDIRINDIS Animation Film Festival, Vilnius, 2006