Title of the work
Studio / Production Company
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Mythopolis [Mitópolis]. Directed by Hetmerova Aleksandra, Production by Bára Příkaská, FAMU Productions, 2013, 11:36 min.
Running time
Official Website
behance.net (accessed: August 17, 2018).
Available Onllne
Youtube.com (accessed: March 9, 2022).
Awards
2013 – Honorable mention for animation FAMUFEST 2013 – Prague, Czech Republic;
2014 – Best Animation Award-Kingston ARTS London Student Festival, 2014, UK;
2014 – Special DISTICTION in Student Award competition - 9th Athens ANIMFEST – Athens, Greece, March 13–19, 2014;
2014 – Golden Slipper – for Best Animated Film – ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL 2014 – 54th International Film Festival for Children and Youth – Zlín – Czech Republic, May 30 - June 5, 2014;
2014 – Certificates of appreciation of The Egyptian Animation Society Award – The 17th Ismailia International Film Festival for documentaries and Shorts, Ismailia, Egypt, June 3–8, 2014;
2014 – Audience Award at the 6th Annual Womanimation! – 95 Empire in Providence, Rhode Island, USA, June 28, 2014;
2014 – Student Grand Prize – SICAF 2014 – Seoul, Korea, July 22–27, 2014;
2014 – Best Film in Animation Category – The X International Short & Animation Film Festival Open Cinema – St. Petersburg, Russia, August 1–6, 2014;
2014 – THE CILECT PRIZE – Best animation – 14 International Film Schools Festival, Los Angeles, CA, USA October 3 – 16, 2014;
2014 – The audience award prize RTS – International Animated Film Festival « Animatou » – Geneva, Switzerland, October 3 – 11, 2014;
2014 – Special Mention of the International Jury in Student Film Category – Animasyroς International Animation Festival & Forum – student competition – Hermoupolis, Greece, October 2–5, 2014;
2014 – Special Awards for student film – European Animated Film Festival BALKANIMA 2014 – film schools competition - Belgrade, Serbia, October 7–11, 2014;
2014 – The Children Jury’s Award – PRIMANIMA – World Festival of First Animations – Budaörs, Hungary, October 28 – November 1, 2014;
2014 – Audience Award – best film of Anima competition – ETIUDA & ANIMA 2014 – International Film Festival – Krakow, Poland, November 21–27, 2014.
See: www.behance.net/gallery/11708903/MYTHOPOLIS (accessed: September 6, 2017).
Genre
Alternative histories (Fiction)
Animated films
Mythological fiction
Short films
Target Audience
Children
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Hanna Zarzycka, University of Warsaw, hanna.zarzycka@student.uw.edu.pl
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Alexandra Hetmerova
, b. 1986
(Director)
Alexandra Hetmerová was born on the 30th of April 1986 in Kroměříž, Czech Republic. In 2005 she graduated from the Secondary Graphic Art School in Jihlava. She got her Bachelor’s degree-Course in Animation at Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2009. That same year she completed an internship at the Estonian Academy of Art in Tallinn, at the department of Animation. In 2013 she completed her MA in Animation at the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (see here, accessed: September 6, 2017).
Bio prepared by Hanna Zarzycka, University of Warsaw, hanna.zarzycka@student.uw.edu.pl
Summary
The main character in the story is Medusa, a single mother living a normal life with her son Mino. She’s doggedly trying to find happiness in her love life so that she could have a man whom she’d not only love but also be a good father for her son. As she fails in her search, she attempts to be a great mother and hard-working woman. One day, she accompanies her son to school using a thread as a tool, so that the boy could come back home by himself as she’s still at work. Unfortunately, birds-harpies cut the thread and Mino starts to follow the wrong one. Suddenly he’s lost but with the help of a shepherd Cyclops, they manage to find a way back to home.
Analysis
Mythical beasts as heroes of animated movies appear as an interesting, down to earth example of reception of classical antiquity for children.
Alexandra Hetmerova surprises the viewers with an unconventional portrait of Medusa and also of many other mythical characters. We see Medusa who uses her deadly sight only for protection of her baby Mino, Mino’s pet (a three-headed Cerberus-like hamster), a bad Satyr, a good shepherd Cyclops, harpies who play the role of birds. We also see sirens, Sphinx, Chimera and other mythical beasts as real people living normal lives.
Her movie is an original and very imaginative treatment of the universal theme of a young single mother and of a boy different from others, of the problems they both have to face and somehow solve in spite of obvious disadvantages such vulnerable people experience in contemporary society. The striking contrast between the traditional deadly mythological creature and Hetmerova’s Medusa, the loving and protective mother who shows exemplary courage, persistence and ingenuity, contributes to a better understanding of painful and difficult challenges faced by many young viewers and their families. It is a modern story of hope and survival which transforms mythological characters and introduces children to classical antiquity while showing them that things are not always what they seem and traditional views and stereotypes gain at being contested.
Further Reading
shortoftheweek.com (accessed: August 17, 2018).
Tracewicz, Joanna, “Mythopolis” – świetna animacja o Minotaurze w czasach współczesnych, spidersweb.pl (accessed: August 17, 2018).
