FilmDokument

Patafil und Filopat – "Wiry Figures" from the DEFA-Studio for Animated Films

Reduced, stylized, typified: With the series PATAFIL UND FILOPAT (1962–68), the DEFA-Studio for Animated Films managed to catch up with international trends. The puppets have a wooden head, a body made of wire and plastic hands. Tall, arrogant Filopat always encounters small and clever Patafil. Everyday or surreal props accompany the variations of their fights. (Oct. 5–7) After the initial film, DER WETTLAUF, 39 sequels were sold from Dresden to France. In 1968 Günter Rätz again took up the wire-puppet animations. The protagonists, now dressed, perform in a surreal fairy-tale world and – between the lines – criticize the conditions in the GDR.