Mala Morska Vila Screening in LA

March 22nd, 8pm at Cinefamily!

The story of the underwater siren who trades her enchanting voice with a witch in return for becoming a human princess has, over the past century, acquired a near-universal legacy -- so it should come as no surprise that, with their strong aflliction to fairy tale heritage, the Eastern Europeans produced the most truly memorable, haunting, and brilliantly unsettling version of all.

Following in the pure Czech New Wave tradition of equally fantastical films like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Daisies, and Cassandra Cat, 1976’s Mala Morska Vila is psychedelically anima-infused, with blue-haired mermaids and mermen, vampiristic fish shoals, and icy white-webbed witches -- all sumptuously photographed on exotic ocean locations, along with simulated underwater fantasy worlds created at alien-looking Czech lime quarries.

The film’s second-to-none design, costumes and cinematography are also matched by one of the most idiosyncratic and magical undiscovered musical scores in the annals of European cinematic history; composed by the vibrant Zdenek Liska, the soundtrack has all the hallmarks of a Broadcast album some twenty years before the band first committed sound to vinyl. Finders Keepers Records is excited to present Mala Morska Vila for the first time ever in all its subtitled glory! The evening also starts off with live performances by British acts Jane Weaver and Emma Tricca -- and after the film, get ready for female-folk DJ sets accompanied by a fairy tale video mix produced by Cinefamily’s own Tom Fitzgerald.

http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/events.html