S p a c e s

Simon Štrba is a 23-year-old whose short-term memory has been completely destroyed. He thinks events that took place a year ago happened yesterday. He looks at his empty plate, having forgotten that he just finished eating. This poignant and cleverly crafted animated film is based on the personal story of the brother of the filmmaker Nora Štrbová. His memory centers were damaged by a brain tumor, and now he lives exclusively in the here and now.

Nora Štrbová made her film at FAMU, the famed film school in Prague, and is also responsible for the script and animation. The jittery animation evokes her brother’s fragmented perception and memory: lost in time and space, trapped in a loop. We see infinite doorways, and photographs with the faces cut out. The director uses a wide range of film techniques including animation, split screen, photographs, and stop motion to convey the cruel loss of the memory, the container of our identity.