Firebird

Half-brothers, Martin (12) and Jirik (9) struggle to get along. Martin, feeling constant rejection from their father, is jealous and quite harsh to Jirik. Jirik cannot understand his brother’s behaviour and cannot leave Martin alone. Suddenly their mother gets injured. Martin knows that the only creature that can save her is a magical Firebird. He immediately sets off to seek the bird. Jirik secretly follows. Suddenly, there is no way back and they are stuck together on a very dangerous quest. Will they find the Firebird? And a path to each other? The film, inspired by a Czech folk tale, will use rough expressive animation rooted in medieval art.

Director’s statement
Matěj Podskalský: We want to dive into a toxic family dynamic through an adventurous action packed medieval fairy tale. Our hero’s family is not all related by blood, he suffers with constant conflicts and traumas. Can he ever find peace, love and appreciation? Yes he can but somewhere else then he was trying to.

Anna Podskalská: We aim to depict The Middle Ages in the most colorful way possible to fight stereotypical representation of this period as "the dark age". Medieval times can not be reduced just to cold stone castles and muddy roads. We want to fill our story with diverse forests, warm wooden homes and cozy embroidered fabrics – all inspired by whimsical medieval art. Our vision is to make an independent look – handmade as much as possible – to counterbalance today’s hyper-detailed polished computer-generated visuals.