One Night in One City

The film is built from short interlinked stories taking place in one city over a single night. It was made with puppets, in handmade animation. There is almost no dialogue; the account is carried by sound, by music and by settings built in fine detail. The stories are strange, at times dark and uncomfortable; once night falls the city changes its own rules. The account arrives at no conclusion and ends when the night gives way to morning. The faces of the puppets are deliberately left coarse and unlovely; rather than building a beautiful night, the account shows the dark side of the city. The shortness is a choice as well: each story lasts only as long as it takes to tell itself. Jan Balej’s sixty seven minute Czech film was completed in 2007.