I Am Bigger and Better

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2007, 17 min
Section: East of the West - Out of Competition

Synopsis

A theatre is staging a new play. The director decides to replace an actor who’s always late with a robot operated by remote control. The peeved actor angrily maintains that technology has triumphed over humanity. After the rehearsal the robot goes off into town. Pre-programmed to come out with stage dialogue, it provides pleasant company in one of the bars, where its human prefiguration also shows up and takes over the controls… Martin Duda’s graduate film combines 3D animation with live actors. The film’s vision of the future is both melancholic and comical, while the artificial creature proves more viable than its human colleagues…

About the director

Martin Duda (b. 1981, Mikulov, Czech Republic) works with 3D animation and visual effects to combine the real world with animated sequences. After graduating from Brno’s School of Applied Arts (furniture and interior design, 1996–99), he studied animation at FAMU in the years 1999–2007. During this period he was already involved in DVD production and animated spots. His films (Contact, 2003, VR, 2004) were successful at domestic and foreign festivals.