Tomm Moore | Ireland, France, Belgium | 2009 | 75 min.
Last year's PAF guest presentation of an international project had the working title Brendan and the Secret of Kells, and originated under the production and artistic supervision of a small independent Irish animation studio, Cartoon Saloon.
It was the very first public projection of the unfinished film. After a year the completed film is back in Olomouc under the title The Secret of Kells, festooned with festival jury awards and accompanied by the pride of its discoverers – organizers back in Olomouc. The film is based on classic animation in the best sense of the word – on precise workmanship and free imagination used as a tool of discovery and understanding of the surrounding world or stage in a nation's history, which in Cartoon Saloon's version gets drift, thrill and wit. The Secret of Kells draws inspiration − thematically as well as graphically − from the renowned illumination book produced by ancient Irish monks. The film images remind you of traditional illumination themes and are based on an equally captivating combination of filigree detail and sophisticated symbolic value.
Kateřina Surmanová
Possessed | Brian Hayden | Ireland | 2009 | 1'34''
