Exclusive: KimStim Has Acquired the Quay Brothers' Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

      We are thrilled to announce that KimStim has obtained all North American rights to the Quay Brothers' film, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. This stop-motion/live-action work, inspired by the Jewish-Polish author and artist Bruno Schulz, marks their first feature film since 2005’s The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes.

      KimStim intends to release the film in theaters later this year. Ian Stimler facilitated the agreement with Thania Dimitrakopoulou, a sales executive at The Match Factory, in Cologne.

      Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass made its debut as an Official Selection at the Giornate degli Autori during the 2024 Venice International Film Festival. The film is not a straightforward adaptation but rather a visual and poetic tribute, combining stop-motion animation with projection-based theatrical elements that focus more on capturing Schulz's atmosphere and texture than on a linear narrative.

      The story follows Jozef, who takes a spectral train to visit his ailing father at a secluded Galician sanatorium. Upon arrival, he finds that the sanatorium exists in a space where time is altered—his father has yet to pass away, as time there moves more slowly than in the outside world.

      Jozef's experiences become increasingly fragmented and dreamlike, embodying the Quay Brothers’ distinctive otherworldly style, filled with decaying objects, vintage puppets, dim lighting, and enigmatic devices. Throughout the film, Jozef encounters various iterations of his father, each symbolizing different facets of their relationship and his own mind.

      Over the years, the Quay Brothers have inspired other prominent filmmakers, including Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and Guy Maddin. In 2015, Christopher Nolan created the documentary Quay to honor their contributions to cinema. Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass further solidifies their unique cinematic legacy.

      The film features voice work by Tadeusz Janiszewski, Wioletta Kopańska, Andrzej Kłak, Allison Bell, and Zenaida Yanowsky, and it is produced by Lucie Conrad and Izabella Kiszka-Hoflik for Koninck Studios SpK Galicia and IKH Pictures Production, with co-production by Viola Fügen and Michael Weber.

      In our BFI London review, Oliver Weir commented on the film's structural complexity, attributing it in part to its visual style, which, like much of the Quay Brothers’ work, draws from German Expressionism. Every texture, movement, and melody is imbued with significance, and the characters remain entirely entwined with these elements: they exhibit no internal states or separateness from their environment; all their thoughts and feelings are reflected in the elaborate sets, distorted shadows, and close-ups, in the flowing smoke patterns and the gleaming blur of their faces. This haunting effect is reminiscent of Kafka’s The Castle, evoking a pervasive ambiguity and an existential dislocation that remain unresolved.

      Check out the exclusive clip below.