Indiegogo campaign for legendary Czech director’s final stop-motion animated feature inspired by Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ gains support from Guillermo del Toro, Henry Selick, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Neil Gaiman, Quay Brothers and Jan Pinkava.
Time is running out for the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign launched earlier in May to raise funds for the production of legendary Czech director Jan Švankmajer’s final film, Insects.
The stop-motion animated Insects is a surreal film inspired by Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” with imagery echoing the work of the Čapek Brothers. In a local pub in a small town, a troupe of amateur actors rehearse a play by the Čapek Brothers, “The Insect Play.” On a raised platform across the room we see a stage, set for Act II of the play. As the rehearsal progresses, the characters of the play are born and die with no regard to time. The actors slowly become one with them and some of them experience frightening transformations.
After five years of development, and with the help of his loyal fans and industry supporters worldwide, Švankmajer and producing partner Jaromir Kallista have teamed up with Athanor Production Company and are planning to begin filming later this summer.
The campaign, which aims to raise upwards of $150,000 towards the budget of the completed film, has gathered $236,684 from 2,320 backers to date -- reaching a whopping 158 percent of its goal -- and has received support from industry luminaries including Guillermo del Toro, Henry Selick, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Neil Gaiman, Quay Brothers and Jan Pinkava.
There are still plenty of awesome perks and campaign rewards available including signed copies of the script, digital downloads, 4K resolution copies of the film, signed film posters, art book and Blu-ray packs, and more.
Check out a new video featurette in which Švankmajer discusses his use of puppets in the player below, and learn more about the project on the campaign Indiegogo page here.
Source: Athanor Film Production Company, Ltd.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
