Sospeso presents the Quay Brothers' film In Absentia, a collaboration with Stockhausen, at the Sospeso Xponential concert on Tuesday, November 11, 2003. Sospeso presented the American premiere of the work on Thursday and Friday, March 14 and 15, 2002, at the Miller Theater in New York.

The extraordinary Brothers Quay are two of the world's most original and much imitated filmmakers.  These identical twins were born in Pennsylvania, but live in London in publicity-shy seclusion, making their unique and innovative animated films under the aegis of Atelier Koninck.  Strongly influenced, in their early careers, by the animation of Walerian Borowczyk and Ladislas Starewitch, the Quays display a great passion for detail, a breathtaking command of color and texture, and a deft use of focus and camera movement.  They are masters of miniaturization and on their tiny sets have created an unforgettable world, suggestive of a landscape of long-repressed childhood dreams.  With Institute Benjamenta they made their first foray into live-action feature-length filmmaking.

Their work also includes sets for the following theatre and opera productions for director Richard Jones:  Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, Feydeau's A Flea in her Ear, Chaikovsky's Mazzeppa and Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. In 1998 their award-winning set for Ionesco's The Chairs won great acclaim on Broadway.

The Quays have also directed pop promos for His Name is Alive, Michael Penn, 16 Horsepower, and Peter Gabriel (contributing to his celebrated Sledgehammer video), and have also directed ground-breaking commercials for, among others the Partnership for a Drug Free America, Coca Cola, MTV, Nikon, and Slurpee. 

In Absentia is based on an actual case history: a woman alone in an asylum obsessively writes the same letter, while outside her window, vistas of ever-changing light mirror her every plea. This short film has won several international awards, including Leipzig's Golden Dove Award (2000), Tampere's Special Jury Award (2000), a Special Jury Mention at the 2000 Montreal FCMM, a Special Mention at the 2001 Golden Prague Awards, an Honorary Diploma Award at Krakow (2001), and the Grand Prix (Ex Aequo) at Turku (2001). It was also named Best Animated Short Film at the Fiftieth Melbourne International Film Festival (2001) and Best Short Film at the 2001 Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya.

With text from Zeitgeist Film and the Brothers Quay.