The Kite – Martin Smatana’s Tender Stop-Motion Tale of Love, Loss, and Letting Go

The Kite (2019), directed by Slovak animator Martin Smatana, is a quietly powerful stop-motion short that has touched audiences around the world with its gentle approach to one of the most difficult subjects to explain to a child: loss. Told through warm textures, rich hand-crafted materials, and thoughtfully constructed metaphors, the film creates a soft space in which young viewers — and adults — can reflect on the cycles of life and the inevitability of saying goodbye.

A Story About Seasons, Memory, and Connection

The short follows a young boy who regularly visits his grandfather in the countryside. Together they fly a simple red kite across the changing seasons, strengthening their bond as the world around them transforms. As summer turns to autumn and then winter, the grandfather gradually grows frail. His body loses its “layers,” becoming thin and light — a metaphor Smatana uses to explain aging in visual, child-friendly terms.

When the wind finally lifts the grandfather away like a kite slipping into the sky, the boy must face his grief. But the film continues beyond sorrow, showing the boy returning to fly the kite in the spring, carrying his grandfather’s memory and love with him. It’s a poetic reminder that the people we lose remain with us, even as life moves forward.

Crafting Emotion Through Materials

One of the most striking aspects of The Kite is its tactile world. Smatana and his team built the sets and puppets from second-hand clothing, felt, wool, paper, cotton, and other soft materials, each chosen to reinforce the emotional tone of the film:

Warm textiles form the grass, trees, and landscapes.
Paper layers create the grandfather’s thinning body — a symbolic visualization of aging.
Seasonal transitions are communicated through color palettes and fabric textures rather than dialogue.

This handcrafted approach gives the film a comforting, “storybook-come-alive” feeling that helps younger viewers process the themes without fear.

The Team Behind the Film

While Smatana directed and designed the film, The Kite was a multinational production supported by:

Producer: Peter Badač – BFILM
Co-producers: BFILM.cz (CZ), FAMU (CZ), CeTA (PL)
D.O.P.: Ondřej Nedvěd
Animation: Martin Smatana, Martyna Koleniec, Piotr Chmielewski, Łukasz Grynda, Matouš Valchař, Stanisław Szostak
Editor: Lucie Navrátilová
Image Postproduction: Michal Šabík
Sound Design: Viera Marinová
Music: Aliaksandr Yasinski

The music, in particular, plays a major role, with Yasinski’s accordion-centered score adding warmth and emotional resonance to the quiet, contemplative visuals.

Festival Presence and Global Recognition

The Kite premiered at the Berlinale in 2019 (Generation KPlus) and went on to screen at major festivals, including Annecy. Its warm reception led to numerous awards, and the film was later added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York — a testament to its artistic and emotional impact.

A Model for Children’s Storytelling

In many ways, The Kite represents a benchmark for filmmakers interested in exploring sensitive themes with young audiences. Smatana avoids darkness, fear, or direct depictions of death, instead shaping a metaphorical world that children can intuitively understand. It’s a film that opens doors to meaningful conversations between parents and kids — something stop-motion is uniquely suited for due to its tangible, handmade qualities.

For creators working in the medium, The Kite is a reminder of how much power there is in the materials themselves: the stories textures can tell, the emotions cloth and paper can convey, and the human warmth that radiates from handcrafted worlds.