Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Ruslan i Lyudmila: Cul...

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

This animation short combines two of the La Fontaine fables,The Lion and the Gnat, plus The Lion Grown Old.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Scarecrow perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A drunken gardener is challenged to a poker match by agents of the Devil; replete with location shots in Hades of the Devil giving orders to his agents on Earth.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

An ant works hard throughout the summer to lay aside enough to last through the winter, while his friend the cicada plays in a band, without a thought for the future. We see the cicada playing at a club filled with other insects, drinking and dancing, while the ant is fending off beetles, and building vast palaces for the colony. The cicada is left in the cold without food, and so, the ant takes him into his home for the long, cold winter.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of La Cigale et la Fourmi perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A cruel king lion is bested in battle by a small but fierce gnat warrior.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A little girl tries to help her mother with the aid of an agile monkey.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Le Lion et le Moucheron perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

The Country Rat visits his friend, the Town Rat, but finds that life in the great metropolis is rather too hectic (and dangerous - there's a live cat among all the puppet rats!)

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of La petite chanteuse des rues perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

This composite film brings together four films featuring Nina Star, produced between 1921 and 1927 by Wladyslaw and his eldest daughter, Irene Starewitch. Jeanne, the younger daughter of Ladislas and Anna Starewitch embodies Nina Star, the heroine of this program. The films are The Scarecrow (1921), Midnight Wedding (1921), The Voice of the Nightingale (1925), and The Queen of the Butterflies (1927).

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A little toy soldier and a nutcracker are in love with a little dancer. The devil, who comes out of his box of surprises, complicates matters.

Dir: Wladyslaw Starewicz

A partly-animated short film, a fairy-tale-like telling of why the nightingale only sings at night. A young girl who has caught a nightingale dreams about the nightingale and its mate, and comes to realize that birds are not made to be captive but free. In return for its freedom, the nightingale loans the child its voice for use in the daytime, which is why nightingales only sing at night.