Polish Masters of Animation Pt. 4: Julian Józef Antonisz

Very much like the case with Ryszard Czekala, I have not been able to dredge up much information on this guy or his work. There is, however, a page for him on Wikipedia in Polish. Without going through the trouble of choppy, nonsensical online translation, it is at least obvious that he was born in 1941 and died in 1987. So far I’ve seen three of his animations - ‘How a Sausage Dog Works’, 1971, ‘Ostry Film Zaangazowany’ (A Highly Committed Movie), 1979, and 'Non-Camerowa' from 1983. They are fairly similar in method and structure, except for the fact that the action of A Highly Committed Movie is based solely on a musical score, versus the narration which apparently (even though I can’t understand it) drives How a Sausage Dog Works and Non-Camerowa. The technical aspect to the films is quite enigmatic in itself. At times in A Highly Committed Movie and certainly entirely throughout Non-Camerowa, the method seems to be akin to that of Norman Mclaren, among others - i.e. the images are drawn / painted or ‘scratched’ directly onto unexposed film. Occasionally, though, certain objects which appear onscreen alongside the images seem to contradict that method.

Perhaps a rough Google translation of the Polish Wikipedia page will clear things up...

Here’s ‘How a Sausage Dog Works' and 'Non-Camerowa.' ‘A Highly Committed Movie’ is available on PWA’s Anthology of Polish Animated Film - http://pwa.gov.pl/en/show/60/index.html

How a Sausage Dog Works, 1971.

Non-Camerowa, 1983