About Us

ATHANOR s. r. o. – film production company

Jaromír Kallista, Jan Švankmajer

a film company founded with the intention of creating independent and non-commercial art.

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Since 1992 it has produced or co-produced the films of Jan Švankmajer, while remaining open to other filmmakers as well. The company maintained its own studio in Knovíz, a village 25 km northwest of Prague, along with its own facilities – making it fully self-sufficient except for laboratory and sound work. That self-reliance was one of the key factors guaranteeing its independence.

How it began

Our collaboration began in 1974 at Laterna magika. The reason was pragmatic – the political climate in Central Europe following the 1968 Soviet invasion made filmmaking impossible. But at the magic theatre in Prague, which used film as its primary medium and served as a showcase façade for the regime, we and a few friends created the show Wonderful Circus. It was performed over 6,000 times and ran around the world for many years.

Searching for logic in an absurd world made no sense.

We started making films in the 1980s. In 1986 we created Švankmajer’s first feature – a live-action and animated film based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. At that time we were working in defiance of the state monopoly. In 1991 we bought an old pub with a cinema and a farmstead in Knovíz near Prague, which we gradually equipped and converted into a studio. In 1990 we were able to legalize our operations and named the resulting company ATHANOR – after the ancient Greek name for an alchemical furnace. By then we possessed practically all the production equipment needed for filmmaking, with the exception of dubbing, laboratory work and digital processing. This allowed us to work in a way that truly suited us.

How we worked

We spent a long time working on scripts and preparation. Shooting a feature took a year on average, with around 150 shooting days. We continuously reviewed the filmed material through editing, allowing us to fix any errors immediately. We did not use computers for special effects; everything was done by hand using animation, or directly inside the camera. Our films featured a significantly higher number of shots – and cuts – than was usual. We relied on a small team of long-term collaborators. Producing a feature took three years on average. Even so, our projects were low-budget compared to the global average.

We strictly refused to shoot commercials or commissioned films, despite receiving numerous offers, and dedicated our time exclusively to our own projects. We also assisted young filmmakers and students, primarily with their debut works, when their projects caught our interest. Many students from all over the world took part in our shoots as interns from various foundations.

Regarding our work

Our films are not commercial megahits.

The return on investment took 20 to 30 years on average.

From lectures, festival discussions and meetings at schools and universities, we believe Švankmajer’s work continues to influence more than just the younger generation – and it seems our films have not aged much, as there remains a lasting interest in screening them.

Due to the advanced age of both of us, we will no longer be shooting any more films.