The Quay brothers: choreographed chiaroscuro, enigmatic and sublime

Twins Stephen and Timothy Quay are among the most accomplished animation filmmakers to emerge from under the umbrella of Britain's Channel 4, which funds independents. The Street of Crocodiles, made in 1986, is their best-known animation film and has a puppet as its central character. Besides puppet films, the Quays' work includes animated shorts, biographical documentaries, and TV station breaks. They also design sets for theater and opera productions on various European stages and can count pop videos among their commissions. The combination of striking decors and unique puppets used in their films, their attention to the ?liberation of the mistake,? and their casual and lingering close-ups produce an ingenious alchemy of animated cinema..