The Cassandra Cat

In a quiet Czech town, a traveling magician arrives with a beautiful performer and a spectacled cat donning a mysterious pair of sunglasses best left in place. When the shades come off, the feline’s extraordinary vision reveals the hidden nature of everyone it sees, turning the townspeople’s secrets into a riot of color. A key work of the Czechoslovak New Wave, Vojtěch Jasný’s playful fairy-tale allegory combines fantasy, comedy, and sharp social satire, winning both the Special Jury Prize and the C.S.T. Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.