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THE BROTHERS QUAY Director & Screenwriter
The Quay Brothers are identical twin brothers born outside Philadelphia, in Norristown, Pennsylvania.They studied Film and Illustration at the Philadelphia College of Art followed by a Masters Degree in London at the Royal College of Art where they continued their studies in Illustration and Film, particularly the latter, where they made three short animation films. Returning to America they attempted to make a living from free-lance book illustration out of New York, though economically times were difficult. In terms of their work, there was an increasing frustration with the two-dimensional graphic realm of drawing and little by little they gravitated towards wanting to create in miniature {in the manner of Joseph Cornell’s boxes} powerful three-dimensional realms, using puppets and objects through the medium of film animation. In 1978 they received a National Endowment Grant for the Arts. They travelled throughout England, Belgium and Holland researching the craft of puppetry. Whilst in London a former colleague from the Royal College of Art, KeithGriffiths was working as Deputy Head of Production for the British Film Institute Production Board, and suggested that they make an application for 'experimental' film funding. They promptly drafted a scenario for a short puppet animation film and then left for Holland. Some months later they received a telegram saying that they had been awarded the B.F.I. grant.
They returned to London 'a little like James Joyce who, upon his arrival in Paris planned on staying for only two weeks and instead remained 25 years. In our case, we had planned on staying a mere 9 months in order to execute the film but similarly have ended up staying some 25 years as well. Our first film lead to a second film, then a third and a fourth, etc.' By this time they had formed a small company KONINCK together with producer Keith Griffiths and over the past 24 years have made a hybrid variety of puppet animation films: Documentaries {Punch and Judy, Stravinsky & Janacek, The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer, Anamorphosis,The Phantom Museum}; Interludes & Stings {BBC, MTV}; Commercials (for England and America); as well as Fiction Films inspired by the writings of Kafka, Bruno Schulz (Street of Crocodiles), Robert Walser (The Comb, Institute Benjamenta - a live-action feature film). Recently, for Channel Four they have directed as part of a dance series called Choreographers and Filmmakers Duet - an 18 min. ballet by Will Tuckett from the Royal Ballet. For the BBC as part of its Sound and Image series they collaborated with the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen who wrote the music for their film In Absentia. They did a further collaboration with the choreographer Will Tuckett, a 40 min. film based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 'The Sandman'.
Selected Filmography
