Quote: One of the most important images of the Czech New Wave 60s, which was ranked among the top ten domestic films of all time. Feature debut screenwriter and director Ivan Passer is currently his only feature-length film, which was shot in Czechoslovakia. In this original sad comedy in a small town after ten years encounter two classmates – musicians: one is a member of the regional symphony orchestra, the other made it to the director of local music school puts family villa, playing at funerals…Read More »
This 1966 production is the world’s first interactive film. Created by Czech filmmaker Radúz Cincera, “Kinoautomat” caused a sensation at the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. It’s a black comedy in which you make decisions for the central character at key moments in the film using a wireless voting system. Groundbreaking and great fun, “Kinoautomat” has been restored by Cincera’s daughter, Alena Cincerova.Read More »
Synopsis: The film uses a mix of cut-out animation from photographs and live-action segments, and tells the story of a married man who lives a double life in his dreams, where he is married to another woman.Read More »
Kaspar Len returns home after three years in the army. He vainly searches for the mason Kryštof’s family where he had lived before he left. All he finds out is that Kryštof’s daughter Márynka, who was in his thoughts all those years, is now working in the local brothel. He goes to visit her and Márynka tells him of the misfortunes which befell her family. Her father lost his job and hunger forced him to steal some food from the merchant Konopík. Konopík caught him red-handed and threatened him with the police. He finally raped Márynka. Kryštof went mad and drowned himself in despair. Márynka grew up in a reformatory and then found herself in the brothel where she had to work to pay off her debts. Len decides to avenge Kryštof’s family…Read More »
Kafka scholars investigate Kafka’s life and work with the aid of readings, dramatisations and clips from archive footage and film adaptations.Read More »
Quote: After second world war the people from Ruthenia’s Carpathian villages were promised a better life in Bohemia. Once settled down they felt like strangers at the new places, so memories and tales became very important reminding them of their old homes. One of these tales is about Jakub, a man who knew the bible by heart. This film follows his trace portraying the almost forgotten loss of those people who nowadays still feel without a home.Read More »
PLOT: In the aftermath of World War II, a former Czech soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family. He falls in love with the daughter, who is now a maid, and is forced to confront the stress between his love and his conscience when he discovers her sheltering her German-soldier brother.Read More »
The partnership between director František Vláčil and screenwriter Vladimír Körner yielded films including Adelheid (Adelheid, 1969), Pověst o stříbrné jedli (The Legend of the Silver Fir, 1973) and Stín kapradiny (The Shadow of a Ferns, 1984). But it is the historical drama Údolí včel (The Valley of the Bees, 1967) that is widely regarded as the pair’s greatest collaborative achievement. Released in cinemas shortly after Vláčil’s highly acclaimed Marketa Lazarová (Marketa Lazarová, 1967), The Valley of the Bees came about as a result of efforts to reuse the props and costumes from the director’s previous opus – hitherto the most expensive Czechoslovak film of all time. Körner’s compact concept is very different from the ambitious, expansive adaptation of author Vladislav Vančura’s historical novel Marketa Lazarová. While the former film told the story of Christianity’s battle with paganism, The Valley of the Bees is more of a timeless picture representing a battle between asceticism and freedom. Read More »
The graduate film of Jasny and Kachyna shows both the incredible abilities of its creators and the time of their creation. An untraditionally conceived feature documentary about the settlement of Moldava in the borderland after World War II.It shows the village in an entertaining way from the first settlement to the first successes of collective farming.
The graduate film of Vojtěch Jasný and Karel Kachyně was the first film by FAMU students to be distributed.Read More »
