Inspired by Kafka: Insectum K. & Joseph Kilian

Step into the surreal and unsettling world of Franz Kafka as we celebrate the centenary of his legacy with a night of cinematic masterpieces and a mesmerizing dance performance. Follow a young man’s mysterious search in Joseph Kilian (Pavel Juráček, Jan Schmidt, 1963), delve into Kafka’s fear of modern civilization in Double Trial (Zdeněk Kopáč, 1962), and experience the claustrophobic terror of The Flat (Jan Švankmajer, 1968), where a man is trapped in his own home. The evening concludes with a captivating dance by PULSAR & Jan Malík - one man, one table, one chair, one light, one sound - creating a haunting tribute to Kafka’s world by artists across generations and artforms.
PULSAR / Jan Komárek & Honza Malík: Insectum K.
Direction and design: Jan Komárek
Creation and performance, production: Honza Malík
38 min
A dance for one man, one table, one chair, one light and one sound.
A half-naked body and its groping way across the table top, illuminated by a single light bulb, surrounded by an "unknown universe" that speaks to us with the urgency of a Francis Bacon painting about man's fundamental position in the world: the fragility, transience and unpredictability of his existence...
Nominated for the Best Interpretation Award 2008, Special award for choreography 2007
Suported by: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
Joseph Kilian and others
Double Trial
Zdeněk Kopáč, Czechoslovakia 1962, 12 min, subtitles
Director Zdeněk Kopáč takes us on a stroll through Prague, exploring the life and work of Franz Kafka through quotes from "The Trial." He interprets the novel as a powerful artistic expression of the fears of modern civilization, foreshadowing the horrors of the Holocaust.
Joseph Kilian
Pavel Juráček, Jan Schmidt, Czechoslovakia 1963, 38‘, subtitles
Cast: Karel Vašíček, Consuela Morávková
In this Kafkaesque allegory, a young man wanders the streets of Prague searching for the elusive Joseph Kilian and borrows a cat from a peculiar cat-loan shop for the weekend. This strange journey through bureaucratic absurdity vividly captures the mood of Kafka, explicitly linking it to the aftermath of Stalinism.
Flat
Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia 1968, 13 min, no commentary
Cast: Ivan Kraus, Juraj Herz
A surrealist horror short featuring a man trapped in a sinister flat where nothing obeys the laws of nature. Combining silent-era gags with Kafkaesque nightmare, Jan Svankmajer masterfully blends live action and stop-motion animation, set to Zdenek Liška’s evocative music.