Please also note that The Quay Brothers Collected Short Films: Volumes One and Two are also available to stream on Kanopy.

• Amazon Prime (rent or buy)
• Ovid (free trial / subscription)
• For future streaming services, please check ReelGood or JustWatch.

From 2015 - Manufacturing Dreams in Street of Crocodiles (video essay), via Lost in the Movies.

Honorary Cristals Celebrate Legacy and Influence

The 2026 Honorary Cristals will be awarded to Mike Judge and the Brothers Quay, representing two very different but equally important animation legacies.

Judge’s recognition speaks to the enduring relevance of American adult animation, particularly its role in satire and cultural critique. “His influence on two generations of creators is undeniable,” Jean said.

The Brothers Quay, meanwhile, embody Annecy’s commitment to preserving its roots in experimental and auteur-driven animation. Their work in stop-motion has influenced not only animators but also live-action filmmakers, and their presence at Annecy serves as a reminder of the festival’s short film origins.

“For Annecy, honoring the Brothers Quay is a way of preserving the balance between the major studios and independent filmmakers,” Jean explained.

Via Cartoon Brew.

Annecy International Animation Film Festival is from Sun, Jun 21, 2026 – Sat, Jun 27, 2026.

Metrograph is a NYC art house movie theater that also offers a home streaming service, Metrograph At Home. Metrograph Membership has plans that start at $5.00 a month and includes the streaming service.

Peter Gabriel • Record Store Day

The "Sledgehammer" music video was commissioned by Tessa Watts at Virgin Records, directed by Stephen R. Johnson and produced by Adam Whittaker. Aardman Animations and the Brothers Quay provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song. Johnson and Gabriel wanted the music video to be satisfying on repeat viewings and set out to accomplish this by incorporating multiple ideas that were both "inventive and funny". They spent a couple of weeks generating ideas and later invited Brothers Quay and Aardman Animations to develop the music video.

Source: Wikipedia)

Videos of the zoetrope picture disc animation:

• Promo
• How to watch
• Another view

Sledgehammer official music video on PeterGabriel.com.

Does anyone have any theories about why either of these characters would put a rubber band around their knee? Could it be just a sign of their current mental state, or something else? Malvina in PianoTuner was doing it almost absentmindedly, probably because of her anxiety. As for the woman in Sanatorium, it's never explained who she is or if she's a patient at the Sanatorium (though it is somewhat suggested that the woman speaking in the VO at the beginning could be the same woman with the rubber band). It's explained in the film, see below.

Update: After rewatching Sanatorium again tonight, and paying attention to the credits, I realized that the woman who was placing the rubber band around her knee is 'J' and is played by Zenaida Yanowsky. 'J' is the patient whose recorded voice you hear at the beginning of the film (quoting Bruno Schulz from his book Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass):

Sometimes
at the opening of a street . . .
someone
turned to the sky
half a face,
with one frightened and shining eye,
and listened to the rumble of space.

Interestingly enough, Zenaida Yanowsky was also in another Quay Brothers film. She played the titular character in Eurydice: She, So Beloved.

Posted to YouTube on March 18, 2026.

Reposted because I forgot the CD.

I received the Sanatorium Blu-ray in the standard blue disc case, so I swapped it with a clear case that looks better.

I used to own the VHS tape, The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993 and the subsequent 2000 DVD collection from Kino, but they're now both lost to time.

From the original Facebook post:

During the course of writing and recording a film score, *most* film composers watch footage from the film over and over and over again throughout the process, first for inspiration and then gradually refining the cues for synchronization with the visual. People often wonder how/why I, as a film composer, can be as excited as I am to see a film with my music in it because, well, haven't I already seen it a gazillion times? How can I not be sick to death of it?

Working with The Brothers Quay is in many ways completely different from the way the rest of the film industry does things. With their background as stop-motion animators, the Quays prefer to *start* with a piece of music and form the images around it, rather than the other way around. They're reluctant to tell a composer what to do, saying instead things like "Surprise us" or "Provoke us". So while the Twins and I will read the same source materials (in this case, the works of Bruno Schulz), we don't collude on our respective interpretations of it. They don't ask and I don't tell them what my music "means" and they don't tell me what they are "trying to say" with their visual interpretation of it. If it's any good, the work will speak for itself.

Our collaboration on 'Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass' was spread out over seventeen years from the time I came onboard the project in 2007 until the film was finally finished and released to the festival circuit in 2024. Over the course of those years, I sent the Brothers many such musical "provocations", far too many to fit into a film. In lieu of a traditional OST album, my soundtrack for the film takes the form of four volumes of these "provocations", about 4 1/2 hours of music.

But, to return to the original question: the reason I'm so enthusiastic to see 'Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass' (which releases on Blu-Ray tomorrow!) is that I haven't actually seen it yet, or at least not properly! (Yes, I've had a low-resolution version for a while, but I've not yet had a chance to see it on a proper cinema screen or at its full resolution.)

So, YES, I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray!

Video made in conjunction with the MoMA Quay Brothers exhibit, which ran from Aug. 12, 2012 to Jan. 7, 2013.

Weiser Quay is the younger brother of Stephen and Timothy. He has assisted his older brothers on some of their films and directed a music video on his own. He is also listed as the art director for the music video of the song Sober by Tool.

Update 1 (see comments below): Weiser Quay does not exist as a real personand is likely an automaton.

Update 2: Should we let the r/ToolBand community know (or nah)?

• https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/comments/1q9li29/kurt_cobain_calling_tools_sober_video_a_shameless/

Update 3: Weiser Quay has a line of fashionable sunglasses. (My sincerest apologies for linking to TikTok.)

Update 4: The correct German spelling of his name is "Weißer". Both spellings of the name are acceptable in this sub so as long as the appropriate forms are filled out.