Demon of the Marshes

Demon of the Marshes follows the journey of Josef Paseka, an alter-ego of Czech expressionist painter Josef Váchal, on his odyssey through the captivating Šumava Mountains. His quest is to find a sanctuary to breathe, to create, and experience tranquility and authenticity. Amid the rugged beauty of Šumava's wilderness, Paseka encounters an array of whimsical creatures, from devil-pigeons to a magic goat and peat-eating miners. Slowly, Josef Paseka realizes that to truly comprehend this mystical region, he must shed the preconceptions he brought with him. A century ago, Šumava was already a place of paradoxes, both romantic and desolate, exploited and neglected, ravishing and enigmatic.

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.