You’ve studied as a graphic designer, you’ve made several book illustrations. Looking at your illustrations, it seems that the depiction of nature, plants and animals is the closest to you. Where is this interest coming from? Do you like hiking and spending time in nature anyway?

I came from a secluded spot in the woods near a small village in the Jizera Mountains (northern Bohemia). I have been in contact with nature since I was a child. I used to spend all my teenage years in the woods drawing trees and mosses and it very easily became my personal theme.

As a graphic designer, what challenges do you see for the profession in the Czech Republic?

We have many skilled designers and illustrators, as well as a rich history in the field of illustration. So, it is a challenge for me to honour the field and its history and to reference it in my work.

This year you made your first feature film, 'Tony, Shelly and The Magic Light', which will have its pre-premiere at Primanima in Hungary. Why did you feel it was important to work on this piece?

I consider the symbol of carrying light and spreading it around to be important in today's world. It's a beautiful motif that can be interpreted on many levels.

Why did you want to make an animation for children? As a creator, what are some of the things to look out for in this genre? Which age group did you want to target and why?

Children are the most honest and purest audience. It's no fun making a movie for them. But it's a great adventure – for example to discuss our script with kids and consult them for feedback. I was careful not to make the film completely literal and leave room for interpretation.

The film is a Slovakian-Czech-Hungarian co-production. How was it working with creators from three different countries?

All my colleagues are great professionals and people who love their work. We had a common goal – to do our work in the best possible way. That's what united us. It blurred all the lines between us.

It is truly amazing what people can do when they work together with mutual respect and love for their work.

It really didn't matter who was Slovakian, Czech or Hungarian, it was a real European cooperation.

This is your first feature film – what were the challenges of directing compared to short films? What unexpected problems did you have to overcome? How did the crew come together?

Luckily I already had experience with stop-motion from the past, so now it was really important to make a good shooting plan and keep to it. Our biggest obstacle was Covid, which we had to resist for two years. But we did it. We put the team together with the producers, and it usually depends on who's interested in the film and whether they're willing to work on it for a few years.

Stop-motion animation is a special kind of animation. Why was this time-consuming and expensive technique chosen for the film?

I love the puppets and the dramatic charge that is hidden in them.

Puppet animation is a magical alchemy, where things you have handmade yourself come to life through the magical art of the animator.

The audience gets an almost tangible experience from the film. Personally, I find stop-motion a very inspiring process to create.

The Czech Republic has a great tradition in stop-motion and puppetry, just thinking of Jiří Trnka or Jan Švankmajer. How far can stop-motion animation appeal to viewers in the era of digital animation?

Puppetry is one of the important parts of our Czech culture. It’s even listed as an intangible heritage at Unesco. For the older generations it is something absolutely familiar, I would say too much so. I think they admire this craft, but they are not surprised so often. On the other hand, for children and young viewers, as I have found after many screenings at home and abroad, it is something completely unknown and very inspiring. Some children were surprised that it was not 3D, which looks as if it was hand-made. It was funny, their faces completely changed when they found out that they could make such an animation at home using their mobile phones and their own creativity. 

I think it's great that stop-motion is creating an alternative to mainstream digital animation.