Brothers Quay Films To Premiere on MUBI; Duke Johnson Introduces Work

From July 26th through the 29th, the online streaming service MUBI will present the exclusive online premiere in HD of new restorations and digital scans of four painstakingly animated wonders from the groundbreaking stop-motion filmmakers, The Brothers Quay.

These four films and their synopses are as follows:

“Rehearsals For Extinct Anatomies” (7/26): Oscillating hands each hold a pen; a man made of wire has a malevolent look and an oscillating eye as he pokes at a bump on his forehead. Op-art stripes are in the fabric. Lines become jumbles that become balls that oscillate, bounce, or stay suspended in air.
“The Combs” (7/27): A woman dreams of a fairytale landscape populated by ladders and sinister puppets.
“Anamorphosis” (7/28): An exploration of the optical phenomenon of anamorphosis, whereby the eye can perceive images differently if viewed at an appropriate angle.
“In Absentia” (7/29): A woman alone in a room repeatedly writes a letter with tiny broken off pieces of pencil lead. Outside her window, vistas of ever-changing light register her every emotion.

In the clip below, watch director Duke Johnson, who recently co-directed the Oscar-nominated film “Anomalisa,” introduce the work of The Brothers Quay by describing the unique power of their work and how they embody the idea of animation being “a medium, and not a genre.”

Head to the MUBI website for more details.