On 8 April 2025 in Warsaw, during the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, the Polish premiere of "Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass”, directed by the Quay Brothers, will take place. The full-length animation is inspired by the stories of Bruno Schulz. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is one of the co-producers of the film.
Adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s prose directed by the Quay Brothers
"Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” by the Quay Brothers is an original adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s prose, created in a unique style combining puppet animation with live-action. At the end of August 2024, the public had the opportunity to see the production for the first time during the Venice Film Festival, in the prestigious competition within the Giornate Degli Autori. The creators of the film were appreciated by the jury and received a special distinction, the Musa Cinema & Arts Award. "Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” also opened the London Film Festival, where it was named one of the best films of 2024 by the International Cinephile Society.
"Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” is the story of Józef, who ends up in a peculiar sanatorium where time has been turned back so that the dead do not notice their own death. A magic optical box allows a man to see his father in different incarnations. The creators made the bold decision to retain Schulz’s original phrasing, making this work a hypnotic tribute to the writer’s imagination. This is yet another work by the Quay Brothers, whose fascination with the prose of the Drohobych writer dates back to the 1980s and the award-winning “Street of Crocodiles”.
Polish premiere of the "Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass”, photo: Kuba Celej / IAM
"Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” – a combination of puppet animation and amateur camerawork
"Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” is a British-Polish-German co-production that combines elements of animation and live action. The main roles are played by Tadeusz Janiszewski, Wioletta Kopańska, and Andrzej Kłak. Most of the film’s production units were staffed by a Polish crew: Dorota Roqueplo was responsible for costumes, Agata Trojak for set design, Anna Buttny for make-up, and Bartosz Bieniek was the cinematographer. The Polish premiere will take place during the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw. The festival programme includes retrospectives of outstanding authors of Polish and world cinema, documentaries, a rich representation of genre cinema, surprising combinations of films and phenomena, and sections devoted to avant-garde and animation artists.
The premiere screening of "Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hour Glass” will take place on Tuesday, 8 April 2025 at 8:30 p.m. in the Zbyszek Hall at the Muranów Cinema in Warsaw. Tickets are available on the website of the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw. The screening will be followed by a meeting with the creators – the Quay Brothers. The film will be released in select arthouse cinemas on 11 April 2025.