Mouse House

Two mice, Mance and Skinny are looking for food. When they find a large wheel of cheese, a cat starts chasing them. Mance finds refuge in the cheese while Skinny stays outside. Mance seems to be the lucky one: he starts carving a cheese palace for himself. All the food and the feeling of being safe make him hypnotised, and he forgets about Skinny who is starving outside. Mance brakes through the cheese crust just when the cat tries to attack Skinny. He manages to save him and rushes back to his cheese palace. But he realises the palace is gone. He has eaten it. The cheese is just an empty shell. And now the cat can easily break the crust and attacks him – Mance is running for his life and Skinny joins him. They miraculously escape the paws and find themselves in a new space, where an even bigger cheese wheel awaits. But this time they don’t rush for it.

Director’s statement
The film shows a struggle of two mice on the verge of survival with a visual dialogue without words. The main focus is on the atmospheric experience of the viewer. I would like to show the attitude of greed and care, the relation of exaggeration and contemplation through the dark narrative and psychedelic, silent and tense moments. The protagonists are two mice who rely on their instincts but have certain human characteristics. The narration has two levels – one takes place on the outside and the other one on the inside of the cheese. I want to show the world in the attic in a slow rhythm, with long, silent and tense moments, and a distinctly linear story. Contrary to that, there is more confusing action in the interior in relation to the delusional, overweight mouse. I’m going to accentuate colours: the shiny interior of the cheese, the number of pans and subjective frames, and support it with dynamic music.