I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 6.
The National Film Archive presented at its Ponrepo screen hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) upon the occasion of the International Children's Day two animated films from the workshop of artist and director Jiří Trnka (24. 2. 1912 – 30. 12. 1969) and music composer Václav Trojan (24. 4. 1907 – 5. 7. 1983), whose life jubilee was commemorated by the National Film Archive. The programme featured the cartoon film Grandpa Planted a Beet (Zasadil dědek řepu, 1945) and the feature-length puppet film Bayaya (Bajaja, 1950) by Jiří Trnka on which Václav Trojan and the poet Vítězslav Nezval worked.
1. 6.
The film monthly Cinema, a licensed issue of the German magazine of the same name, announced the results of his readers' survey on best Czech actor, best actress and best Czech film. The statuette created by artist Dalibor Nesnídal went to actor Jiří Schmitzer for his role in the film Beauty in Trouble (Kráska v nesnázích, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2006) and to actress Anna Polívková for her role in the film Holiday Makers (Účastníci zájezdu, dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2006). The best film for 2006 went to Holiday Makers (Účastníci zájezdu).
1. 6.
Writer, poet, screenplay writer, playwright and translator Jiří Stránský received the Award of the city of Plzeň (Czech Republic). The award has been given by the city since 1993 to commemorate the events of 1. 6. 1953, in which the people of Plzeň were the first to oppose the communist regime after the monetary reform. Jiří Stránský received the award for his literary, film and publicist work, in which his beliefs are reflected — the fight for freedom, tolerance for other views and an emphasis on basic democratic and moral values.
3. - 6. 6.
The 17th Prague Writers’ Festival was held in Prague (Czech Republic). The festival was subtitled Dada East and was dedicated to Dadaism. Signifant guests included the American writer E. L. Doctorow (6. 1. 1931), whose novel Ragtime was the basis for director of Czech origin Miloš Forman`s film of the same name, and American poet and longtime promoter of the world environmental movement Gary Snyder, who was connected with the beat generation during the 1950s. Czech authors were represented by, among others Ludvík Kundera, Miroslav Topinka and Pavel Řezníček.
5. - 30. 6.
Prague Days entitled From the Heart of Europe to the Heart of the United States were held in Chicago (USA). The festival of cultural, social, compatriot and promotional events was to acquaint the people of Chicago with the city of Prague. The festival’s programme offered, among other things, concerts of classical and jazz music, a tourist and business seminar, a film screening, an exposition of Czechs in the USA, an outside installation of the sculpture Man Hanging Out by artist David Černý and an exhibition of drawings and graphic work by Oldřich Kulhánek (28. 6.). Director Jan Hřebejk opened the Czech Film Days festival, which featured his film Pupendo (2003) as well as Eeny Meeny (Ene bene, dir. Alice Nellis, 1999), The Buttoners (Knoflíkáři, dir. Petr Zelenka, 1997), Bored in Brno (Nuda v Brně , dir. Vladimír Morávek, 2003) and a documentary on the music legend The Plastic People of the Universe (dir. Jana Chytilová, 2001). The ceremonial closing evening, the Golden Prague Gala, was held at the Hilton hotel and attended by a Czech delegation headed by Prague mayor Pavel Bém. Accompanied by Chicago mayor Richard Daley, Bém attended a ceremony at the Czech National Cemetery in Chicago at the tomb of Antonín Čermák (9. 5. 1873 – 6. 3. 1933), who was of Czech origin and was the mayor of Chicago in the early 1930s.
6. 6.
The St Simon and Juda Church in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the awards ceremony of the Czech Literary Fund Foundation for 2006. In the category of film and television work director Petr Kaňka was awarded for the art documentary Touched by God (Dotkl se mě prst boží, 2006) on the music composer Josef Suk (4. 1. 1874 – 29. 5. 1935).
6. - 8. 6.
The Jan Amos Comenius Museum organized in Uherský Brod (Czech Republic) a jubilee 10th Screening of Video Films of Museums of the Czech Republic – Musaionfilm 2007. This year`s seminar on Ethnographic and anthropologic film – a space for science and creating with samples of films was led by director Rudolf Adler from the Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The screening of the films of Czech adventurer, music composer, conductor, photographer and documentary filmmaker Eduard Ingriš (11. 2. 1905 – 12. 1. 1991) was led by Dr. Magdalena Preiningerová from the Southeast Moravian Museum in Zlín. An exhibition in the museum there was devoted to the work of Eduard Ingriš. The films screened included: President Beneš's Trip to Moscow (Cesta prezidenta Beneše do Moskvy, dir. Miloslav Kučera, 2007), Dinosaurs and Dragons — The Opening of an Exhibition in Harlem (Dinosauři a draci – Vernisáž výstavy v Harlemu, dir. Petr Baran, 2006), The Music Composer Josef Suk (dir. Martin Stecker, Marcel Stecker, 2007), Plečnik’s Church of St Francis in Lubljana (Plečnikův kostel sv. Františka v Lublani, dir. Václav Hron, 2007) and The Cinematographer of Muses (Kinematograf múz (dir. Leoš Ryška, 2007).
6. 6. - 15. 7.
Světozor cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) organized in collaboration with the Terry's Socks shop as part of Golden Era of Czech Film Posters an exhibition of graphic artist, illustrator and animated filmmakers, aviator, and Czech champion in balloon flying Vratislav Hlavatý, which presented a sample of his poster works from the early 1970s to 1989, including for the films Planet of the Apes (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968, USA), The Jungle Book (dir. Wolfgang Reitherman, 1967, USA), Lady Sings the Blues (dir. Sidney J. Furie, 1972, USA) and Like Poison (Jako jed, dir. Vít Olmer, 1985, Czechoslovakia). Awarded posters exhibited included the posters for the film Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy (dir. Harold Lloyd jr., 1962, USA), which Vratislav Hlavatý won The Hollywood Reporter's third prize for in 1977 – 1978 and a Silver Hugo at the International Film Festival in Chicago (USA). In 1988 he received the Most Beautiful Poster of the Year honour for the film Big Money (Bony a klid, dir. Vít Olmer, 1987, Czechoslovakia). The exhibition's opening featured the screening of the animated film The Carneval of the Animals (Karneval zvířat/Le carneval des animaux, dir. Michaela Pavlátová, 2006) which Vratislav Hlavatý worked on as an artist.
6. 6. - 2. 9.
The Josef Sudek Gallery in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted an exhibition of the photography of Jan Lukas (5. 8. 1915 – 28. 2. 2006), who also worked as a cinematographer. His most expressive pre-war cinematographic work was the advertisement for the Baťa tire company entitled The Highway Sings (Silnice zpívá, 1937) directed by Elmar Klos (26. 1. 1910 – 31. 7. 1993). The film was awarded with a Gold Medal at the World Expo in Paris.
7. 6.
The Aero cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the 1st International Film Festival of (Non)Actors with Mental and Combined Disabilities — Mental Power Prague under the auspice of Czech minister of culture Václav Jehlička and the chairperson of the National Council for the Disabled, Václav Krása. The festival was founded by the Hendaver, o. s. association in collaboration with Sluneční zahrada, o. s. Seven films from the Czech Republic and one from Slovakia were assessed by the jury led by director Jan Hřebejk. Awards were given in the categories of best film, best actor and best actress, best supporting role, best screenplay, camera and spoken word. The programme was moderated by actor Tomáš Hanák. The Grand Prix – the viewer's choice award went to the film Prince Igor (Kníže Igor, dir. Hendaver, 2007), the Main prize – award for best film went to Z deníka jedného vagóna (dir. Jan Štrbák, 2002, SR), the Golden Camera – jury's prize went to the film Returns (Návraty, dir. Jana Hnilicová, 2006). The award for best actor and actress went to Milan Lepšík for the role of Petr Bajza in the film We Were Five (Bylo nás pět, dir. Tomáš Trojan, 2006) and to Lenka Malíková for the role of Zlatuše Sněhurková in the film Snow Whites and Dwarfs (Sněhurky a trpaslíci, dir. Marek Doležel, 2006), the Spoken Word award went to the students of the Chotounská primary school in Prague 10-Malešice for the film Maralík (dir. Matěj Žák, 2005). The Screenplay award went to the clients of the Stéblo Sedlčany daily centre for the film Friends (Přátelé, dir. Ivona Fairaizlová, 2006) and the Best supporting actor award went to Tomáš Gabriel for the role of the head nurse in the film Vašek on Holiday (Vašek na prázdninách, dir. Petr Škranc, 2006) and to Kateřina Růžičková for the role of the dwarf Brbla in the film Snow Whites and Dwarfs.
7. 6.
The awards ceremony of the competition announced by the Association of Film & Sociology in collaboration with the International Film Festival — One world was held at Archa theatre in Prague (Czech Republic). The winner of the 1st annual competition for the Pavel Koutecký award was documentary filmmaker Jan Šikl and his film A Low-level Flight (Nízký let, 2007), that was part of The Private Century (Soukromé století) TV series, in which the director made amateur films from family archives. The jury also bestowed special recognition on two documentary filmmakers: to Jaroslava Panáková for the short film The Caique's Flight Against the Wind (Let čajky proti větru, 2005) and to Martin Řezníček for the film Jan Křížek, Sculptures and Bees (Jan Křížek, sochy a včely, 2005).
9. 6.
As part of the Newfest festival of films with gay and lesbian themes that was held in New York (USA) the Czech documentary film In Faith and Love (S důvěrou a láskou, dir. Michal Herz, 2006) was screened in which the director captured the path of singer Pavel Vítek and producer Janis Sidovský to registered partnership, the ceremony itself and the days following the wedding. From New York, the documentary travelled together with its protagonists to San Francisco (USA) for the Frameline International Festival — the oldest and largest film festival of its kind in the world.
9. 6.
The Czech animated film The Fridge (Lednice, dir. Lucie Štamfestová, Pavel Sobek, 2007) on global warming and climate changes won and earned first prize at the 5th International Festival of Short Films NUFF Global in Tromsø (Norway). The film’s creators won in competition with 200 screenplay writers from all over the world and they were one of the ten best provided with a grant from the festival's organizers to make the film. The Norwegian festival was organized upon the occasion of the start of the International Polar Year 2007 — 2008 in collaboration with the Minor Foundation for Major Changes and the Norwegian Polar Institute.
9. 6.
The premiere of the documentary film Live Sculptures of Dead Children (Živé sochy mrtvých dětí, dir. Tamara Wölfelová, Jana Patková, 2007) took place in the gallery rooms of the Lidice Monument to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the raising of the Czech town of Lidice during World War II. The film's story was awarded with the journalist Prix non pereant 2006. The filmmakers captured the figure of academician sculptor Marie Uchytilová (17. 1. 1924 – 16. 11. 1989), who together with her husband Jiří V. Hampl created based on photographs a memorial in the form of 82 Lidice children, victims of World War II. The first thirty sculptures were installed in Lidice in 1995, the last 10. 6. 2000.
10. 6.
There opened and in the months to follow there was presented at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (USA) the event entitled Modernity and Tradition: Film in Interwar Central Europe, at which there was screened in collaboration with the National Film Archive in Prague the Czech film We Live in Prague (Žijeme v Praze, dir. Otakar Vávra, 1934), Aimless Walk (Bezúčelná procházka, dir. Alexander Hackenschmied, 1930, Czechoslovakia), Prague in the Glare of the Lights (Praha v záři světel, dir. Svatopluk Innemann, 1928), Heave-Ho! (Hej-Rup!, dir. Martin Frič, 1934) and Marijka the Unfaithful (Marijka nevěrnice, dir. Vladislav Vančura, 1934). The screening was held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (USA), at the Milwaukee Art Museum (USA) and at The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh (Great Britain).
11. 6.
National Film Archive's Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the christening of the first DVD of the series Film Novels of Karel Vachek with the latest film Záviš, the Prince of Porn Folk under the Influence of Griffith's Intolerance and Tati's Mr Hulot’s Holiday, or the Rise and Fall of Czechoslovakia (1918 – 1992) (Záviš, kníže pornofolku pod vlivem Griffithovy Intolerance a Tatiho Prázdnin pana Hulota aneb Vznik a zánik Československa (1918 – 1992) from 2006. Participating in the series were producer Radim Procházka, the companies Negativ, Krátký film, Czech Television, the National Film Archive, and the Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The evening's programme offered a two-hour collage that the director created from his films from 1963 – 2006 especially for this occasion.
11. - 17. 6.
The summer part of the 8th International Festival of Czech-German-Jewish Culture – Nine Gates, which consisted of numerous concerts, theatre performances and literary evenings, took place in Prague (Czech Republic). The Czech Senate, Czech Ministry of Culture and Prague City Council took part in organizing the festival. The programme opened with an exhibition of the work of German photographer Monika Zucht, which featured 23 large-format portraits of renowned world figures who survived the holocaust of World War II. A main theme of the festival was the 70th anniversary of the death of American composer George Gershwin (real name Jacob Gershowitz, 26. 9. 1898 – 11. 7. 1937). In the opening concert the Czech National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Libor Pešek with Czech pianist Pavel Kašpar played Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris. The autumnal part of the festival was devoted to film art and took place on 12. – 16. 9. in Mariánské Lázně and 19. – 21. 10. in Prague.
12. - 14. 6.
The 3rd International Film Festival of European Arts — Art&Film Telč 2007 (Czech Republic), aimed at spreading and searching for creative paths to better understanding of European art and culture was held. The festival was visited by director of Czech origin Vojtěch Jasný. Upon the occasion of the opening of the festival a re-premiere of the film That Cat... (Až přijde kocour, 1963), which Vojtěch Jasný shot in Telč, was held with the participation of the director and Slovak actress Emílie Vášáryová. Before the screening of the film the director received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friends of Czech Art) medal, given by Czech minister of culture Václav Jehlička for his many years of spreading the good name of Czech culture at home and abroad. Telč mayor Roman Fabeš presented the director with a certificate of honorary citizenship and Vysočina Region hetman Miloš Vystrčil presented him with a commemorative certificate. The festival presented film from the field of fine arts, architecture and design, of Czech origin Vojtěch Jasný. Upon the occasion of the opening of the festival a re-premiere of the film That Cat... (Až přijde kocour, 1963), which Vojtěch Jasný shot in Telč, was held with the participation of the director and Slovak actress Emílie Vášáryová. Before the screening of the film the director received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friends of Czech Art) medal, given by Czech minister of culture Václav Jehlička for his many years of spreading the good name of Czech culture at home and abroad. Telč mayor Roman Fabeš presented the director with a certificate of honorary citizenship and Vysočina Region hetman Miloš Vystrčil presented him with a commemorative certificate. The festival presented film from the field of fine arts, architecture and design, music, dramatic arts, film, literature, folk art, arts and crafts and naive art. Works of film school students were categorised to the separate New Generation category. An accompanying event to the festival was an exhibition of drawings by Austrian painter of Czech origin Oskar Kokoschka (1. 3. 1886 – 22. 2. 1980) at the Firemen's House gallery. The awards ceremony took place in the courtyard of the Telč chateau. The Grand Prix went to the part Picturesque Znojmo (Šumné Znojmo, dir. Radovan Lipus, 2006) from the Czech Television series Picturesque Towns, the Czech Inspiration award went to the film Ecce Homo – Bedřich Smetana (dir. Martin Suchánek, 2004), the Best Camera award went to cinematographer Richard Špůr for the film A Land of Mystery (Krajina tajemství, dir. Martin Suchánek, 2006). Czech films award in the category of fine art in all areas and fields included the film I'm Crazy in My Village (Blázen jsem ve své vsi, dir. Aleš Kisil, 2006) with 2nd place and the Jury's prize to Artivists (Artivisté, dir. David Kořínek, 2006). In the category of architecture and design the Czech Television series Brno Style (Styl) and its part How to Live in a Loft (Jak se bydlí v loftu, dir. Pavel Jirásek, 2006) took first place, the film An Eye without Light Does not Delight (Oko bez světla se nepotěší, dir. Jan Hanák, 2006) took 2nd place , 3rd place went to Tradition and Historical Continuity (Tradice a historická kontinuita, dir. Pavel P. Ries, 2006) and the Jury's Prize went to Telč and It Surroundings (Telč a okolí, dir. Jan Lengyel, 2006). In the category of music, theatre, film and literature 1st place went to The Brno Musical Ghetto (Hudební ghetto Brno, dir. Pavel Jirásek, 2005), 2nd place to director Olga Špátová with the portrait of Czech singer Radůza I Go Where I Want (Půjdu, kam chci, 2007) and 3rd place to Jarek and Amadeus or Meine Schlesier verstehen mich (Jarek a Amadeus aneb Mí Slezané mi rozumějí, dir. Jiří Vondráček, 2006). In the New Generation category, Jury prizes went to the student film Harold and Vincent (Harold a Vincent, dir. Jan Chramosta, 2006) and the collection of films of the Písek Private Film School.
12. 6.
The ceremonial opening of the feature co-production French-British-Czech film La Môme/Edith Piaf (dir. Olivier Dahan, 2007) was held at Lucerna cinema in Prague (Czech Republic).
12. - 23. 6.
The multicultural festival Color Meeting 2007 with international participation took place in Polička (Czech Republic). The festival was expanded to include a theatre part this year. The film part of the programme featured a screening of feature films Exils (dir. Tony Gattlif, 2004, France – Japan), Grbavica (dir. Jasmila Žbanić, 2006, Austria – Germany – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia) and the documentary films Violin Knight (Houslový rytíř, dir. Pavel Marek, 2006, ČR) and Other Worlds (Iné svety, dir. Marko Škop, 2006, SR – CR).
13. 6.
The National Film Archive presented in its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) in collaboration with the Prague Langhans Gallery a series of short films from Bhutan, India and Vietnam. The films Bhutan (dir. P. N. Kaul, 1971, Indie), Poor People (Chudí lidé, dir. Alexander Hackenschmied, 1939, Czechoslovakia) and Bedalong (dir. Nguyen Tien Loi, Jaroslav Novotný, 1954, Czechoslovakia) were shown in connection with an exhibition of 16 photographers focussing on Southeast Asia and held in the Langhans Gallery in Prague till 1. 7.
15. - 24. 6.
Havlíčkův Brod (Czech Republic) hosted the 7th Krimifest HB 2007, which featured, in addition to theatre presentations and concerts, the film Rules of Lies (Pravidla lži, dir. Robert Sedláček, 2006, CR), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (dir. Doug Liman, 2005, USA) and Match Point (dir. Woody Allen, 2005, Great Britain – USA – Luxembourg).
16. - 20. 6.
The Žofín palace in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the 44th International Television Festival — Golden Prague. The festival's organizer was Czech Television and its director was Vítězslav Sýkora. For the first time the festival was opened to ethnic and rock music and the festival rock club was set up in the Mánes exhibition hall. The festival's programme featured, in addition to various television music programmes, the Honours series, which enabled viewers to become acquainted with important world figures, who serve to present classical music on the television screen — British directors Brian Largo and Humphrey Burton and Czech director Petr Weigel. One hundred and twenty-four works from 28 countries were entered in the competition. A five-member expert jury decided on the winner of the Grand Prix Golden Prague and the three Czech Crystal awards in three categories. The jury awarded Czech Crystals to three foreign programmes. One of the Czech Crystals went to the black-and-white film Car Men (dir. Boris Paval Conen, 2006, the Netherlands), on which Dutch choreographer of Czech origin Jiří Kylián worked. The Viewers' Choice award went to the Czech Television programme Jarek and Amadeus or Meine Schlesier verstehen mich (Jarek a Amadeus aneb Mí Slezané mi rozumějí, dir. Jiří Vondráček, 2006), in which the filmmakers captured the work of Ostrava songwriter and composer Jaromír Nohavica on his version of a libretto of Mozart's opera Cosi fan tute. Golden Prague became on 16. 6. the host of the semifinal meeting of the jury of the International Emmy Award 2007.
17. 6. - 25. 9.
The British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank in London (Great Britain) hosted a retrospective of films by Czech director Jan Švankmajer. The screening was accompanied by the release of the DVD collection of Švankmajer’s short films and a travelling festival in another 20 cities in Great Britain. The Czech Centre in London and the British Film Institute Southbank (BFI) took part in the extensive programme. The programme opened with the film Lunacy (Šílení, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 2005, CR – SR). The retrospective contained Švankmajer's short films and feature-length films Faust (Lekce Faust, 1994, CR – France – Great Britain), Conspirators of Delight (Spiklenci slasti, 1996, CR – Switzerland – Great Britain), Alice (Něco z Alenky, 1987, Switzerland) and Otesánek (2000, CR – Great Britain). Jan Švankmajer's work has been the subject of two documentaries The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (dir. Keith Griffiths, 1984, Great Britain) and Les Chiméres de Jan Svankmajer (dir. Michel Leclerc, 2000, France).
19. 6.
Světozor cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted a movie marathon commemorating Gender Equality Day, entitled The Camera Has a Female Gender, as part of the Half and Half project – promoting equal opportunities for women and men, which was organized by the organizations Gender Studies and Člověk v tísni o. p. s. (People in Need) in collaboration with Světozor cinema. The programme featured the documentary film War in the Memory of Women (Válka v paměti žen, dir. Dagmar Smržová, 2005, CR), social shots and feature films Thin Ice (dir. Hakan Berthas, 2005, Sweden) and Vores lykkes fjender (dir. Eva Mulvad, 2006, Denmark), accompanied by a discussion on gender stereotypes in society and by the documentary films All Out of Love (To všechno z lásky, dir. Tomáš Kudrna, 2004, CR) and My Beloved Child (dir. Brit Jorunn Hundsnes, 2005, Norway), and a discussion on violence against women. The programme also featured the premiere screening of two Czech prefilms entitled The Golden Treasure (Zlatý poklad, 2007) and After School (Po škole, 2007), which were produced as part of the Breaking the Waves project of the proEquality coalition. The films, directed by Vojtěch Kopecký with screenplay by Filip Smoljak, were produced by Creative Bazaar, s. r. o.
21. - 30. 6.
The 29th International Film Festival took place in Moscow (Russia). In the non-competition section Perspectives the viewers could become acquainted with early films of director Miloš Forman and with Jiří Menzel's film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR).
22. - 30. 6.
Trenčianske Teplice (Slovak Republic) hosted the 15th International Film Festival Artfilm. Russian actor and director Oleg Tabakov, director of Polish origin Roman Polanski and Czech director and actor Jiří Menzel were awarded the Golden Camera award for their marked contribution to cinematography. Among those awarded the Actor’s Mission award was also Slovak actor Marián Labuda, who has starred in many Czechoslovak and later Czech films. The actor together with director Jiří Menzel introduced the Czech film The End of Old Times (Konec starých časů, 1989) to the festival's audience.
25. 6.
In the National Film Archive's Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) the Andrej Nikolaj Stankovič award for 2006 was given to director Petra Všelichová for the documentary Name of the Crime (Zločin jménem Katyň, 2006), which addresses the murder of ten thousand Polish officers. The group of “self-appointed”, or more precisely the group of followers of the critical thoughts of Andrej Stankovič (22. 6. 1940 – 12. 7. 2001), who have presented the award for the 5th time now, also awarded two exceptional prizes. One went to the Slovak film Miluj blížneho svojho (2004) directed by Dušan Hudec, which deals with the post-war Jewish pogrom in the town of Topoľčany (SR), and the second prize was awarded to Ondřej Švadlena for the animated film Sanitkasan (2007), a story about “self-destroying mechanical character and pathological gluttony” of cyber-civilisation and society at large.
25. - 26. 6.
American actor Brad Pitt, accompanying his wife actress Angelina Jolie who worked on the shooting in Prague of the film Wanted (dir. Timur Bekmambetov, 2008, USA), was shooting a commercial for a Japanese bank. The shooting of the commercial took place in the neighbourhood of Národní třída and the National Theatre. The actor also participated in posing for photo shoots in the Barrandov Studio for a Swiss watch company.
26. 6.
Czech Technical University in Prague (Czech Republic) opened the new Intermedia Institute. Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU and the Academy of Performing Arts participate in the project, which brings together technical and art subject fields. Roman Berka was appointed the director of the new institute. The institute aims to promote interdepartmental cooperation among students, teachers and scholars, along the border spaces between technology and art. As a part of the Institute, an experimental space for lighting design and stage design was set up, with theatre and exhibition equipment. Plans for the future include setting up a new study programme which would prepare students for work in modern television studios.
26. 6.
The Czech Embassy in Buenos Aires (Argentina) screened within the framework of the Kafka-Borges/Buenos Aires Prague Festival and in collaboration with the National Film Archive in Prague the films Double Trial (Dvojí proces, dir. Zdeněk Kopáč, 1962) and Shivat Sion (r. Yakov Ben-Dov, 1921, Palestina).
27. 6.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the press conference of the company Filmexport Home Video, which has issued in collaboration with the National Film Archive a DVD of a silent film from the Golden Fund of Czech Film The Little False Cat (Falešná kočička, dir.Svatopluk Innemann, 1926), which features Vlasta Burian (9. 4. 1891 – 31. 1. 1962) in the lead role. The piano music accompanying the film was recorded by Miroslav Kořínek from Ypsilon Theatre in Prague. The DVD of The Little False Cat comes supplied with English subtitles and bonus features such as a discourse by a historian, photographs, biography and filmography, contemporary documentation and interviews with the makers of the DVD. Among those invited to the press conference were the historian Pavel Taussig, the musician Miroslav Kořínek and Elmar Klos Jr., the son of the screenplay writer and director Elmar Klos Sr. (26. 1. 1910 – 31. 7. 1993). Elmar Klos Sr. took part in writing the screenplay when he was sixteen years old.
28. 6.
Světozor cinema in Prague (Czech Republic), as part of a campaign for the rights of mentally disabled people, presented a premiere screening of three films which all deal with a mentally disabled person and his/her right for a fulfilling life. The programme featured the films Job Wanted – Note: I Have Down Syndrome (Hledám práci – zn. Mám DS, dir. Olga Strusková, 2007), Just Like That (Přesně tak, dir. David Čálek, 2007) and Love, Record Player, Fall (Láska, gramec, pád, dir. Veronika Sobková, 2007).
28. 6.
Czech president Václav Klaus presented the screening in Blaník cinema in Prague of a documentary by British director Martin Durkin’s The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007). The screening was organized by the Centre for Economics and Politics.
29. 6. - 7. 7.
Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) hosted its 42nd International Film Festival Karlovy Vary 2007, organized by FILM SERVIS FESTIVAL Karlovy Vary, a. s., chaired by actor Jiří Bartoška. The festival’s programme director was Eva Zaoralová. 7. 7. A meeting of the European Film Academy was held at the Grandhotel Pupp. Participating for the Czech Republic were Pavel Strnad (Audiovisual Producers’ Association), Eva Zaoralová, Ivo Mathé (rector of the Academy of Performing Arts) and Petr Vachler (Czech Film and Television Academy). Another meeting that took place within the festival's framework was organized by the European Producers Club. The festival's programme featured sections and retrospectives, including the International Competition of Feature Films in which the Czech representative was the film The Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark), the International Competition of Documentary Films, the competition section East from West, in which the Czech Republic was represented by the feature film Rules of Lies (Pravidla lži, dir. Robert Sedláček, 2006), Horizons, Another View, the Independents Forum and Czech Films 2006 – 2007. For the first time the festival’s programme featured the section Opened Eyes, which included films from the International Film Festival 2007 in Cannes (France). In the section Variety Critics Days, viewers were treated to a collection of 10 films selected by critics of the Variety movie magazine and organized in collaboration with European Film Promotion. In the section Shochiku Nouvelle Vague a retrospective of three directors incorporating the new wave in Japanese film was shown — Nagisa Oshima, Masahiro Shinoda and Joshishige Joshida. Director Masahiro Shinoda was the festival's honourable guest. A retrospective of New Hollywood was composed of works by new Hollywood filmmakers shot in the early 1970s. A discussion panel was organized for this section in which president of the main jury Peter Bart, director Monte Hellman, actress Cybill Shepherd and actor Bud Cort, took part. The discussion was moderated by Steven Gaydos. The festival also commemorated the 105th anniversary of the birth of American director William Wyler (7. 1. 1902 – 27. 7. 1981). The films Jezebel (1938), The Letter (1940) and Little Foxes (1941) were personally introduced by the director's daughter Catherine Wyler. The section entitled Gallery, linking the art and film scene, included four feature films, a series of short films Viewer-friendly Film and a screening of Czech artists entitled Guard of Honour: New Czech Video Art. The festival was attended by Andrew Kötting, Jiří Černický and Martin Zet. The section Treasures from the National Film Archive in Prague featured a screening of the two parts Der Goldenen See and Das Brillanteschiff from the originally prepared four-part detective series by director Fritz Lang entitled Die Spinnen (1919 – 1920). The Fresh Selection — five promising films consisted of five of the most interesting films — Synchronoff (dir. Cátia Peres, 2006, Great Britain), Carlitopolis (dir. Luis Nieto, 2006, France), Two of Us (dir. Nikolay Khomeriki, 2005, France – Russia), Behind the Fence (dir. Marcin Sauter, 2005, Poland) and the Czech film Clay Pigeon (Hliněný holub, dir. Miloš Tomić, 2005) – screened during the past two years at the international Fresh Film Fest. The Crystal Globe grand prix went to the film Mýrin (dir. Baltasar Kormákur, 2006, Iceland – Germany). From Czech film, Special recognition went to Zdeněk Svěrák's screenplay for the film The Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark). The film The Empties (Vratné lahve) also received the Viewers' Choice award of the daily Právo. In the competition of documentary the Award for best documentary film (at least 30 minutes) went to the film Lost Holiday (Ztracená dovolená, dir. Lucie Králová, 2007). The Award for exceptional artistic contribution to world film went to American actor, director and producer Danny DeVito and Czech director of animated films Břetislav Pojar. Foreign guests at the festival included Renée Zellweger, whom viewers saw in the film Miss Potter (dir. Chris Noonan, 2006, Great Britain – USA). Financial support of the RWE & Barrandov Studio a. s. Film Foundation was announced for the authors of best film stories and screenplays. In the film story category support went to Ivan Vojnár Erika from Love (Erika z lásky) and to Vít Klusák and Pavel Klusák We Three Brothers (My tři bratři), in the film screenplay category to Petra Soukupová To the Sea (K moři) and Sabina Bočanová (Oj vej zmir).
29. 6. - 9. 7.
La Rochelle (France) hosted the 35th International Film Festival, at which the Czech feature film Eroticon (Erotikon, dir. Gustav Machatý, 1929) was screened in collaboration with the National Film Archive in Prague.