By Coral Gables Gazette staff

A castle steeped in legend, an animator revered as Slovakia’s national treasure, and a live score from one of indie music’s most mercurial talents come together for one night at Coral Gables Art Cinema. On Wednesday, September 3 at 8 p.m., Ad Hoc Cinema, in association with Coral Gables Art Cinema, presents The Bloody Lady, a newly restored animated feature by Viktor Kubal with a live performance by Canadian-American composer Claire Rousay.

The film is widely considered one of Slovak animation’s crown jewels — an improbable and mesmerizing fusion of gothic horror and children’s animation. It retells the notorious tale of Cachtická Castle and the legend of Countess Báthory, often cited as an inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kubal’s treatment straddles innocence and menace, refracting folklore through bright lines and stark images that carry both the charm of children’s illustration and the dread of gothic imagination.

A landmark of Slovak animation

First released in the 1980s, The Bloody Lady now arrives in a new 2K restoration courtesy of the Slovak Film Institute. The restoration is part of Viktor Kubal: Father of Slovak Animation, a retrospective showcasing the animator’s much-loved children’s shorts alongside his more subversive features. Kubal’s place in Eastern Bloc cinema is singular: working within constraints, he carved out a style that was playful yet slyly critical, blending humor and horror with deceptively simple line drawings.

“If there is a single jewel worthy of discovery in Slovak animation then The Bloody Lady, a film by Viktor Kubal, is certainly it,” the Slovak Film Institute has noted. For American audiences, this screening marks a rare opportunity to encounter a filmmaker celebrated abroad but still underseen in the United States.

A new score for a new audience

The evening’s centerpiece is not only Kubal’s restored film but also its live accompaniment by Claire Rousay. Known for genre-defying work that blends musique concrète, field recordings, and delicate instrumental textures, Rousay has become a fixture in the international ambient and experimental scene. Her albums on Thrill Jockey and Shelter Press have been praised for their quiet intensity, turning the hum of daily life into fragile soundscapes.

For The Bloody Lady, Rousay expands her palette to match the film’s gothic tale, weaving strings, piano, and electronics with her signature use of everyday sound. The result is a score that pulls the film into the present while preserving its otherworldly mood. Rousay remains difficult to categorize — she has incorporated elements from hyperpop, folk, free jazz, and noise — but her work consistently circles back to the ordinary, the emotional, and the profoundly human. In live performance, those qualities can sharpen into something uncanny, perfectly matched to Kubal’s unsettling fairy tale.

Context and resonance

Pairing Kubal’s stark imagery with Rousay’s modern soundscape situates The Bloody Lady as both artifact and living work of art. For Coral Gables audiences, the screening underscores the Art Cinema’s role as a venue where rediscovered international treasures meet contemporary artistry. It is also a reminder of how folklore persists — reshaped by each retelling, whether in Kubal’s animation or in Rousay’s score.

As the centerpiece of the Kubal retrospective, The Bloody Lady represents a chance to see how a single film can carry cultural memory across decades and borders, transformed yet intact. For those accustomed to the familiar canons of Disney or Miyazaki, Kubal’s vision will feel both alien and strangely familiar, proof that animation has long been a space for unsettling, genre-bending storytelling.

If you go…

• What: The Bloody Lady — new 2K restoration with live score by Claire Rousay
• When: Wednesday, September 3, 8 p.m.
• Where: Coral GablesArt Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables
• Presented by: Ad Hoc Cinema in association with Coral Gables Art Cinema
• Part of: Viktor Kubal: Father of Slovak Animation retrospective
• Restoration: Courtesy of the Slovak Film Institute