THE BONES

The world’s first stop-motion animation film is excavated as Chile drafts a new Constitution. The film shows a girl performing a ritual exorcism to free Chile from its feudal heritage. Among a dance of bones, organs, and body parts, the spirits of two damned Secretaries of State are invoked.

STREET OF CROCODILES

The Quays’ masterpiece, STREET OF CROCODILES is adapted from a short story by Polish writer Bruno Schulz, and was their first film shot on 35mm. A museum keeper spits into the eyepiece of an ancient peep-show and sets the musty machine in motion, plunging the viewer into a nightmarish netherworld of bizarre puppet rituals among the dirt and grime.

PUPPET SHOW

In 1970, the Yale student film collective May 1st Media made two 16mm works supporting the Black Panther Party’s New Haven chapter to help spread the word of their community-based activities. PUPPET SHOW is a charming curiosity that sees the story of Panther Lonnie McLucas, who was convicted of murder in 1969, being performed for neighborhood children at the Party’s local headquarters.

THE DEMON

A pair of hunters encounter a ghastly demon in the woods. Escaping by severing the apparition's arm, they make an even more grisly discovery on the journey home. Based on the 12th-century Japanese medieval legend Konjaku-monogatari.

MELVIN THE BIRDER

Melvin the Birder is a live-action, puppet short film featuring a lonely fellow who is obsessed with capturing every species of woodpecker known to man. This film is part of the Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Series.

MISOPHONIA

MISOPHONIA, a 9 minute puppet film short developed with the Handmade Puppet Dreams film series.

LESSONS LEARNED

Instead of the regular tea and cake fare, Grandfather presents The Boy with an intriguing gift. When curiosity gets the best of him, the boy falls into an adventure of other-worldly experiences not intended for him. This film is part of the Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Series.