I liked very much Pavlátová’s work and I also liked her when she introduced the screening of some of her works. I had already seen most of this Czech producer’s short films on the Internet, but enjoying them in a big screen was a really good opportunity to get a deeper appreciation.

Michaela graduated form the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in 1987 and since then she has worked with both animation and life-action. She has won several international awards and her short film “Reci, reci, reci” (Words, words, words) was nominated for an Oscar. To learn more about her, you can follow this link.

What I like about her works are the characters design, the way she approaches human relations and the freedom of her animated drawings. The characters are simple, very expressive caricatures. The best example, for me, can be found in “Reci, reci, reci”, which she created in 1991. They sometimes look as made of doodles, with quick, thin, black lines shaping deformed figures which remind me of Quentin Blake’s also carefree style. Her drawing style is very personal and recognizable.


Reci, reci, reci, by Pavlátová



BFG, by Blake









That freedom I’ve mentioned can be observed in the variations of shots she uses and the way the “camera” moves along the scenes, like in “Repete” (1995), or in “Karneval zvírat” (Carnival of animals) (2006). In one of its sequences we move forwards in a tracking shot through several windows leading to different rooms with fancy, floating characters. And in “Repete” our vision moves around the characters, which are somehow linked to the others through the quick, smooth transitions.

I also like her shorts contents since they focus on a subject I’m interested in, human relations. Again, my favourite one on this aspect is “Reci, reci, reci”. The scene takes place in a bar, where several emotions, attitudes and habits can be observed in the customers’ conversations. The contents of these conversations don’t matter; they’re all represented by colourful bubbles coming out of people’s mouths. But their intentions and meanings are perfectly identifiable by their looks, their movements and expressions. This way we witness the fragility of a love relationship, where just one nuance can either break the balance or bring it back; the way messages can totally change their meaning when being passed between several people; how gossiping can get out of hand, etc.

Michaela also explores sexuality without complexes, quite naturally and with sense of humour, for instance, in Laila’s short films (2003-2006), made in Flash, and in “Karneval zvírat”, her last animated production.

There’s an interview to Michaela I’ve found in YouTube, done during a cinema festival in Mar del Plata, Argentina. She makes some very interesting points about the role of the animator, who feels like a god when creating and moving his characters, and about animation itself, which makes you feel you’d rather work on something with an equal balance between the effort and the visible result.


(post still in process)