Today from 18:00-21.00 hrs, the UvA Film Club will host their next screening in HVL/BuzzHouse’s Co-Working Space! This week's film is Alice (Jan Švankmajer, 1988), with an introduction by Mel Ketelaars.

This twisted adaptation of Alice in Wonderland reimagines the famous story as a bizarre hallucination rather than a colorful fairy tale. This comes as no surprise, as it’s created by Jan Švankmajer, a key figure in Czech surrealist cinema and a master of stop-motion animation. He seamlessly blends live action with stop-motion, often blurring the lines between them, making viewers forget where one ends and the other begins. The result is a nightmarish dreamscape filled with porcelain dolls, furniture, and taxidermy. Švankmajer largely abandons traditional narrative structure, offering tableaus that are sometimes recognizable, like the white rabbit checking his pocket watch, however it also at times abandons the familiar story, turning it into an uncanny dreamscape. The film is a tactical spectacle that surprises audiences with practical effects and clever camera tricks reminiscent of George Méliès’ early films, using cinema to create bizarre illusions. The result is an surreal and refreshing take on Wonderland, and perhaps even the most accurate depiction of Lewis Carrol’s vision.