Hundreds of Beavers

Whereas CGI spectacles have long since lost the ability to amaze us, here a green screen in combination with a group of friends in plush-toy costumes again and again becomes a field of limitless possibilities. The hyperactive genius Ryland Tews and his up-for-anything partner Mike Cheslik revive the tradition of both live-action and animated slapstick by means of RPG narrative formulas, DIY creativity and their own trademark mix of deadpan absurdity and frantic physicality. I tremendously enjoyed the way in which this film’s narrative established individual elements and is built on simple gags that subsequently vary, intensify and multiply with video-game combinatorics. Hundreds of Beavers is a loose, unrestrained work that deliberately avoids compromises in relation to current narrative, style and production norms. It thus also provides tremendous and unflagging pleasure both as a series of gags and as a creative, production and aesthetic challenge in which one enjoys particular madcap ideas and the fact that someone came up with them at all, as well as the way they are rendered using a full range of both sophisticated and primitive techniques (from camera angles and editing, through various forms and combinations of live-action scenes, animation and post-production tricks, to the actual physical placement of the actors). _____ Hundreds of Beavers was a case of love at first sight that grew from intense infatuation into a serious union. It was perhaps inevitable that one day I would lose my mind and fall so madly in love with a film that if my effort to persuade my acquaintances among the established distributors failed, then I would push it into Czech cinemas myself, i.e. with the funds of the Aero cinema in Prague and with the help of many particular people, as well as with the tremendous cooperation of the aforementioned established distributors. I can’t imagine a better film for such an undertaking, because in this case the only windmill at which it was necessary to tilt was the mere conviction of what kind of films work in Czech distribution and how they should be promoted and distributed. Though Hundreds of Beavers is not a film for everyone, it still easily wins the hearts of a large subset of film enthusiasts. Its charm, weirdness and distinctiveness are the strengths on which it was possible to undertake atypical distribution. We intentionally did not do standard promotion and instead relied on word-of-mouth, because this kind of film lives an all the more intense life when viewers are allowed to discover it for themselves and shower it with their enthusiasm. That’s exactly what happened when reports from abroad and the first enthusiastic responses resulted in a sold-out premiere at The Shockproof Film Festival and brought hundreds of viewers to additional screenings at Aero. In the following weeks, viewers’ interest was sustained by exclusive screening at Aero and Bio Oko, whereupon Aerofilms put the film in broad distribution. Then came the second wave with outdoor summer cinemas, at which Beavers became a firm fixture, and interest surged further with Tews’s presence at the Summer Film School festival. This summarisation of the film’s journey to Czech viewers is meant to highlight the fantastic potential and unique quality of Hundreds of Beavers, as well as to pay tribute to its viewers. I want to thank all of you for making this obsessive thought and crazy idea into a great, joyful experience. (21/09/2024) (less) (more)