Demon of the Marshes

Demon of the Marshes is a film about man’s love for nature. It speaks of the longing to free oneself from the norms and expectations of society – the journey of every person towards themselves through nature. It is a film about the desire to rediscover the primordial source of artistic creation, and to drink deeply from it in the pursuit of self-expression. It tells the story of a real artist, Josef Váchal, who in the film becomes an archetype of the 20th-century visual creator.

Director’s statement
"Imagine. A fine morning. You stand on a hill in the Šumava Mountains… You look into the valley, where the fog dances gently. Somewhere in the distance, a train whistles. A fire crackles in the outdoor stove next to you. Even though it's late spring, there's frost on everything. A cup of tea warms you up. The smoke rising from the stove’s chimney falls like cotton wool into the valley – it's merging with the fog. You're cooking the Šumava fog."

The cooking of the Šumava fog, combined with Josef Váchal's artwork, provided the starting point for our film. We based the script on Váchal's real trips to Šumava. Dozens of kilometres in soaked boots. Those who have experienced fatigue, hunger and cold on the road know that the inner vision sharpens, the mind calms down. Only then, the things can be seen! By stop motion animation of puppets and natural objects we want to create a mystifying but also ironic language based on Váchal's literary works.