2020 | Czech Republic | Experimental

After the Magician

  • English 18 mins
  • Director | Lea Petrikova
  • Writer | Lea Petrikova
  • Producer | Tomas Pertold

This film is currently not available.   

Alice Rahon was a surrealist artist working mostly with painting. At the end of the 1940’s, Rahon, together with her partner Edward Fitzgerald, created her only film, Le Magicien (The Magician), narrating a story of a magician who was given the task to create a new human after the world had been destroyed by the nuclear war. However, the experimental film had been lost before its completion - just a few photos and memories of its creators remain.

Experimental short film After the Magician explores the forgotten, unfinished film and circumstances of its production, expanding on several layers, that the inspirational film provides with: story of a magician creating new world, motif of an undervalued female film pioneer, who was one of the first Mexican female directors, shamanic context of the magician character, nuclear tragedy, Rahon's roots in France, and primarily ambiguity of the notion of art in general - what is the value of an artwork? Does it become valuable in time? And is a lost film that wasn’t even presented, able to bring important values? The film also reflects artistically on the broader theme of invisibility in film and art, drawing on the non-existent film that was never finished and presented, and even got lost, however, as the project argues, is still able to open up a dialogue. Although the project is based on the story of a lost film, After the Magician is not about disappearance, it’s mainly about creation: creation of art, creation of new worlds, creation of life. Even if the original film was lost, its story continues. The director focuses on a strong visuality taking inspiration in surrealism with a contemporary approach to digital technology. The film is based on formal experiments with post production, combining techniques such as animation and various VFX.

magician Mexican art technology animation