I. A Calendar»
January
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October
November
December
1. 5.
The parish in the village of Krásná (Czech Republic) hosted the feature-length amateur film Eleazer Kittel (dir. Lukáš Müller, 2007) about the local healer Jan Josef Antonín Eleazer Kittel (1704 – 16. 11. 1783). Kittel built for himself and his family an extensive and unique wooden construction that he used as a pharmacy and treatment centre; he financed the construction of the St Joseph Church and the parish as well as the local school. He used uncommon, modern treatment methods for his time. Clergymen of various churches shot the story of his life during three years in the Jizerské Mountains and their surroundings. The author of the screenplay was the Catholic priest Ivan Peschka, the character of the devil was played by Catholic priest Karel Koláček and the character of Eleazer Kittel was played by a clergyman of the orthodox church Přemysl Ivan Hadrava. For an amateur film the 170 extras was an unusually high number. The film's premiere took place in the Alfa cinema in Desná (Czech Republic) 28. 4. The town of Krásná has decided to renovate with the support of the Czech Ministry of Culture all buildings that belonged together, and they will thus become for the future an example of an 18th century dwelling as well as a commemoration of Eleazer Kittel and his family.
1. 5.
American actress Angelina Jolie arrived in Prague accompanied by her husband American actor Brad Pitt and their children. Jolie worked on the shooting of the film Wanted (dir. Timur Bekmambetov, 2008, USA), based on the comics by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. Actors Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy also had roles in the film. Stillking Films provided services to the foreign filmmakers.
2. 5.
The National Film Archive screened at its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) a series of films entitled The Puppets of Jiří Trnka in the films of Břetislav Pojar, which took place upon the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the birth of Jiří Trnka (24. 2. 1912 – 30. 12. 1969). The programme featured The Ginger-Bread House (Perníková chaloupka, 1951), The Little Umbrella (Paraplíčko, 1957), A Drop Too Much (O skleničku víc, 1953), The Midnight Adventure (Půlnoční příhoda, 1960) and Spejbl on the Trail (Spejbl na stopě, 1956).
2. - 3. 5.
Upon the occasion of the visit of Sardinian President Renato Soru in Prague there was held a series of lectures, discussions, film screenings and exhibitions entitles Italian Culture and Natural History Days. The aim of the programme entitled Sardinia – Mediterranean Beauty was to present to the Czech public the island of Sardinia as one of the autonomous regions of Italy with its own language, ancient culture and beautiful landscape. A press conference was held at the Hotel Roma in the Lesser Quarter of Prague (Czech Republic) on 3. 5. with Renato Soru on the Italian Culture and Natural History Days including a press conference introducing the new Czech-Italian feature documentary film Peace With Seals (Mír s tuleni, 2007) by Czech director Miloslav Novák and Italian story author and screenplay writer Ferdinand Pitrosu. The event organizer was the Czech company 12 opic and the Czech Ministry of the Environment.
3. 5.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) celebrated in the circle of friends and family of cinematographer Juraj Šajmovič (27. 4. 1932) his 75th birthday. The film The Golet in the Valley (Golet v údolí, dir. Zeno Dostál, 1995) was screened to give viewers a glimpse of his cinematographic mastery.
3. - 6. 5.
Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republic) hosted The 9th Seminar of Archive Film – The Golden Fund of Spanish Cinematography, which was devoted to Spanish film of the past fifty years. The Association of Czech Film Clubs organized a ceremonial opening on 2. 5. at Světozor cinema in Prague (Czech Republic). Director Imanol Uribe presented here his film Días contados (1994), the best Spanish film of 1994. The seminar featured the screening of the films arranged into three series – Goya Prizes, Profiles of Directors Uribe and José Maria Forn and the Golden Fund of Spanish Literature. The directors personally took part in some screenings and discussions. Director José Mária Forn personally introduced his film Los Culpables (1962) and La piel quemada (1966). Also screened were films with Spanish themes by various filmmakers, including Goya (dir. Konrad Wolf, 1971, East Germany – USSR – Bulgaria) and Don Kikhot (dir. Grigori Kozintsev, 1957, USSR). The seminar at Uherské Hradiště also featured the General Meeting of the Association of Czech Film Clubs, an exhibition of Spanish posters representing various films based on the story of Don Quixote entitled Quijotes de celuloide. A catalogue containing a brief history of Spanish film and essays by Spanish film critics was published for the seminar. After Uherské Hradiště, the festival moved to other towns and cities in the Czech Republic – Boskovice, Brno, Česká Lípa, Hradec Králové, Olomouc, Hodonín, Litoměřice and Strakonice.
3. - 6. 5.
The Association of Czech Book Dealers and Publishers organized in collaboration with the City of Prague at the Prague Fair Grounds the 13th International Book Fair and Literary Festival – The World of Books 2007, devoted to the literature of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to which the central exposition, Kniha/Das Buch (The Book), which presented contemporary German literature, belonged. The fair's organizers also devoted a large space to a multimedia screening that presented audio books, electronic books, Internet literary portals and other projects crossing the boundary of the traditional literary medium – the book. Czech film presented in the multimedia hall and cinema included the films Love between Raindrops (Lásky mezi kapkami deště, dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1979) based on the literary work of Vladimír Kalina, The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, dir. Juraj Herz, 1968) based on the novel by Ladislav Fuks, Gentlemen Boys (Páni kluci, dir. Věra Šimková-Plívová, 1975) shot freely based on the work of American writer Mark Twain and A Ballad for the Bandit (Balada pro banditu, dir. Vladimír Sís, 1978) based on the novel by Ivan Olbracht. Two accompanying screenings The World of Books on Stage and the World of Books in Film offered theatre and film works based on German literature. In collaboration with the book fair, the National Film Archive organized at its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt a screening of films based on German literature. The screening's programme featured the film Angst (dir. Hans Steinhoff, 1928, Germany) based on a story by Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, Seventh Cross (dir. Fred Zinnemann, 1944, USA) based on the novel by Anna Seghers, Der Untertan (dir. Wolfgang Staudte, 1951, East Germany) based on the novel by Heinrich Mann, Der Richter und sein Henker (dir. Maximilian Schell, 1975, Germany), based on the early novel of Swiss writer and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (dir. Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta, 1975, Germany) based on the story by Heinrich Böll.
3. - 9. 5.
The 6th International Festival of Animated Films — AniFest took place in Třeboň (Czech Republic). Internet animation became a new category in the festival sections. The director of AniFest Třeboň 2007 was Petr Slavík, and the honourable president of the festival was Belgian director Raoul Servais. AniFest was preceded by the international conference (2. – 3. 5. ) on the theme of Drugs and Television, which dealt with whether television steers young people away from drugs or leads them to them and on the relation between drugs and the world of art and film. Over 50 experts from health and the media took part in the discussion. The best feature-length film was the Czech puppet film One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, dir. Jan Balej, 2007). The Prize of the Town of Třeboň based on viewer voting went to the puppet film Ms G. (Paní G., dir. Michal Žabka, 2007), the national competition for the best Czech short animated film was won by the film Cook, Mug, Cook! (Domečku, vař!, dir. Jiří Barta, 2007), the jury's Special recognition in the competition for best Czech short animated film went to the film Exit us (dir. Josef Lepša, 2006).
4. 5.
The Husa na provázku theatre in Brno (Czech Republic) awarded British playwright and screenplay writer of Czech origin Tom Stoppard (= Tomáš Straussler) with an honourable degree granted by Janáček’s Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. In his reception speech Stoppard remembered his father Evžen Straussler, who lived in Brno, studied medicine there and died during World War II.
4. 5.
The City of Prague Philmarmonic Orchestra completed recording accompanying music for the silent film The Godless Girl (dir. Cecil B. DeMille, 1929, USA). The orchestra worked on the recording in the Smečky music studio conducted by Carl Davis.
7. 5.
The travelling festival of Czech films Czech on Tour 2007 was opened in Hamburg (Germany). The festival’s 2nd year was organized by the Czech Film Centre in Berlin in collaboration with Kinemathek Hamburg and with Czech centres in Dresden, Munich and Vienna with the German Association for Communal Film Work with the German Artkin guild. From May to November German and Austrian viewers could in over twenty cities become acquainted with Czech film. The opening film was the documentary by director Ivana Miloševičová Never Been Better (Nikdy nebylo líp, 2006). Other films included in the screening were the feature debuts Restart (dir. Julius Ševčík, 2005, CR – Finland), Shark in the Head (Žralok v hlavě, dir. Maria Procházková, 2005) and The Indian and the Nurse (Indián a sestřička, dir. Dan Wlodarczyk, 2006). The programme was supplemented by films of reknowned directors such as Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství, dir. Petr Zelenka, 2005, CR – Germany – SR), Lunacy (Šílení, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 2005, CR – SR) and The Devil Knows Why (Čert ví proč/Čert vie prečo, dir. Roman Vávra, 2003, CR – SR). In addition to the opening film Never Been Better (Nikdy nebylo líp), a second documentary film Vierka or The Mystery of Family B's Disappearance (Vierka, dir. Miroslav Janek, 2005) was screened.
7. 5. - 15. 6.
Upon the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome (1957), which was one of the basis for later European integration, the Czech Centre in London (Great Britain) in collaboration with the National Film Archive in Prague screened the Czech feature film Wolf Trap (Vlčí jáma, dir. Jiří Weiss, 1957).
10. 5.
The silent film by director Gustav Machatý Eroticon (Erotikon, 1929) was released in a Golden Fund of Czech Film edition by Filmexport Home Video in a 2-CD set, supplemented by several bonuses. According to representatives of the National Film Archive, its director Vladimír Opěla and historian Blažena Urgošíková, who in the first half of the 1990s served with archive workers to reconstruct film copy and supplement their lost parts, the film was presented in 1933 in a Czech and German sound version with the music of Erno Košťál. Composer Jan Klusák composed the music for the newly reconstructed copy. The second disc contained comments by film historians and witnesses. These include the director's wife Helge, living in Munich (Germany) and his cousin Marie Vondrejcová, who personally attended the christening of the DVD at the National Film Archive's Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt. The filmmakers were provided with the footage from the director's personal archive acquired after he left Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s and made films in Austria, Italy and the USA. Experts appreciate Eroticon more than any other of Machatý's films: the story is of a seduced and abandoned girl provided to the director by the poet Vítězslav Nezval, who, fearing the reaction of his avant-garde colleagues in the Devětsil group, was not listed in the credits.
11. - 12. 5.
Aero cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted a festival focussing on the animal rights entitled Open Your Eyes!, the first festival of its type in the Czech Republic as well as in the Europe. The festival was organized under the umbrage of Animal Freedom and its aim was to present to the public films focussing on animal rights and acquaint people with the theme of protecting nature. The jury was made up of, in addition to the representatives of protection organizations, actor Radovan Lukavský and writers Jiří Stránský and Jan Vodňanský. The award for best Czech film was given by the jury to the Czech Television documentary Animal Testing (Pokusná zvířata, dir. Zdeněk Plachý, 2006). The Award for the individual who served the caused of animal rights went to Dr Jan Čejka, who for over 40 years of his life in the USA has supported the animal rights movement both through his thinking and financially. Czech singer Marta Kubišová presented the crystal award with the motive of an animal paw and film reel to the honoured artists.
12. 5.
director of Czech origin Miloš Forman was awarded the Hanno Ellenbogen Prize given by the Prague Society for International Cooperation (Czech Republic). The prize is awarded with the condition that the winner donates it to a talented, young person. Miloš Forman donated the CZK 200,000 to the Miroslav Ondříček Film Academy in Písek (Czech Republic).
15. 5. - 2. 9.
An exhibition entitled František Tröster – A Poet of Light and Space, capturing the artistic legacy of the Czech stage designer was held in Prague (Czech Republic) in the Municipal House. The exhibition was created in collaboration with the National Museum and Arts Institute –Theatre Institute as an accompanying event to the 11th International Competition Exhibition of Stage Design and Theatre Architecture — The Prague Quadriennale, which took place at the Fair Grounds in the Industrial palace (14. – 24. 6.). The exhibition's curator was Vlasta Koubská, and the exhibition's architect was the stage designer's son Martin Tröster. František Tröster (20. 12. 1904 – 14. 12. 1968) worked with Jiří Frejka (6. 4. 1904 – 27. 10. 1952), Jaromír Pleskot, Hanuš Thein (17. 1. 1904 – 30. 12. 1974) and other avant-garde directors. In 1945 Tröster established in Prague the first stage design department in the world and led it at the Theatre Faculty until 1968. The exhibition of his work was supplemented by the screening of the documentary entitled Changing Gravity (Změnit gravitaci, 2004), in which director Aleš Kisil presented František Tröster, founder of modern Czech stage design, and his work. He also presented in the film Tröster's contemporaries, students and family members.
16. 5.
The opening ceremony took place in the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) for the premier of the feature film Little Girl Blue (Tajnosti, dir. Alice Nellis, 2007, CR – SR).
16. - 27. 5.
The 60th Cannes International Festival took place in Cannes (France). For the fourth time Czech film was presented at the festival via the Czech Film Centre, this time together with the Slovak Republic. The Czech Film Centre offered four Czech films to the film market. As part of the European-wide project Producer on the Move, whose aim is to promote young European producers, the Czech Republic presented Martin Vandas from the company Maur film. Presented on the Marché du film market were the films The Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark), Little Girl Blue (Tajnosti, dir. Alice Nellis, 2007), I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, dir. Jiří Menzel, 2006, CR – SR) and Bitch’s Diary (Bestiář, dir. Irena Pavlásková, 2007). Slovak screenplay writer Zuzana Liová became at the Cannes festival the first winner of the Krzysztof Kieślowski award, named after the late Polish director. This prize will starting with this year's jubilee 60th annual festival be awarded to the best screenplay from Central and Eastern Europe that has not yet been made into a film. American director Martin Scorsese announced at Cannes 22. 5. the founding of the World Cinema Foundation that should serve to preserve and restore master works of world cinematography. Also taking part with him in the project's presentation were another fourteen directors who had promised their cooperation, including British director Stephen Frears, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai. According to Scorsese the foundation's objective is to save "neglected films" shot all over the world, "famous films that are no longer screened and have not been transferred to video or unknown and still undiscovered films". So far the foundation's list contains 10 films for restoration. The foundation plans for the films to be released on DVD or shown at international festivals. Czech film critic and art director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Eva Zaoralová accepted from Cannes Film Festival director Giles Jacob an award – a plaque with a Cannes palm tree.
16. 5. - 10. 11.
The exhibition The Birth of the Evening Fairytales, acquainting viewers with the production and history of animated films was held in Brno (Czech Republic) at the Moravian Regional Museum. Visitors could try their hand at creating technical screenplay, making puppets and painting figure movement phases. A zoetrope for creating sheet-stock film and wooden puppets were available, as were a simple programme for computer animation and technology for recording movement and dialogue to prepared film sequences. A large part of the exhibition was devoted to the television broadcast of fairytales.
17. 5.
The National Technical Museum within the framework of the Club of Friends of the National Technical Museum organized at the National Film Archive's Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague (Czech Republic) the 10th Conference of the Radio, Television and Film Club with the following programme and speakers: The Prehistory of Television ( Miroslav Jedlička), The Institutional Development and Work of VÚZORT /Research Institute of Audio, Visual and Reproduction Technology/ (Felix Kolmer), Historical Development of Professional Colour Cinematography (Zdeněk Stuchlík), Operation Research in Czech Radio Communication (Pavel Gregora), Video projectors – Types, Properties, Availability, Perspective (Stanislav Voráč), 60 Years Between Antennas (Miroslav Procházka), Restoration and Digitising of Film Photography and Glass Negatives of Czech Feature Film 1898 – 1992 in National Film Archive in Prague (Jaroslav Karlíček), Digitising of audio recordings at Czech Radio (Jiří Truneček) and Polyecran and Similar Exclusive Film Presentations (Svatopluk Malý).
17. 5.
The Czech Scientific and Technical Society for Advancement of Information Technology in collaboration with the Czech Technical University in Prague – Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Micro-Electronic Applications, s. r. o. and the Institute of Micro-Electronic Applications, s. r. o. and the Economic Chamber of the City of Prague organized in Prague a seminar on theme culture: creative industry, digital art and cultural heritage in the 21st century. The project was co-financed by the European Social Fund and state budget of the Czech Republic. Giving papers at the seminar were the head of the ČVTS project Jindřich Skokan, who presented in the introduction the project Platforma 2010, Denisa Kera, Ph.D., head of the research centre of the New Media Studies of the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University and the Centre of Global Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, who spoke on the subject of E-culture: digitising, innovation, convergence and globalisation, representative of the Director of the Centre for art and new technology – CIANT Pavel Sedlák presented his contribution From the Laboratory to the Gallery: Institutional Support of Digital Art, curator of art collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague Michaela Hájková gave his talk entitled Lost of the Image – In search of form: The museum on the threshold of the 21st century and in year 5767 from the creation of the world and Telefónica O2 marketing expert Jiří Rýdl spoke on the theme of New technologies in the creative industry: computer games and mobile entertainment.
17. - 20. 5.
A screening was held in Berlin (Germany) on the theme of Czech-German cinematographic relations organized by Cinegraph in collaboration with the German Historical Museum (Deutsches historisches Museum). With the assistance of the National Film Archive in Prague the following films were screened: Schweik’s New Adventures (dir. Karel Lamač, 1943, Great Britain), Menschen im Sturm (Lidé v bouři/Ein Mädel von der Reeperbahn, dir. Karel Anton, 1930, Germany – Czechoslovakia), Crisis (dir. Hanuš Burger, Alexander Hackenschmied, Herbert Kline, 1939, USA) and The World Belongs to Us (Svět patří nám, dir. Martin Frič, 1937).
17. - 20. 5.
screening of the films of the 9th Annual Czech Festival of Documentary Films on Human Rights — One World took place in New York (USA). Audiences were screened, among others, the documentary film Sold (Prodáno, dir. Lucie Králová, 2005), Violin Knight (Houslový rytíř, dir. Pavel Marek, 2006), A Low Level (Nízký let, dir. Jan Šikl, 2007) from the series The Private Century (Soukromé století) and Industrial Elegy (Industriální elegie, dir. Daniela Gébová, 2006). The Czech Centre in New York in collaboration with the not-for-profit organization The Thank used the event to draw attention to the quality of Czech documentary films, but presented the screening as a professional film festival. The festival's echoes should establish a new tradition — the Czech Centre would show films every spring and would thus augment the offer of Czech films that the autumn screening of new feature films by Czech filmmakers has presented each year in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
18. 5.
An open house at the local malt house, in which the centre of illustration and animated film is to be created, was held in Písek (Czech Republic). Repairing the malt house is part of the project aimed at regenerating the historic centre of Písek on the bank of the Otava River between the Stone Bridge and Putim Gate. A multimedia exposition of the Písek Illustration Centre featured Písek native Radek Pilař (23. 4. 1931 – 7. 2. 1993) and his illustrated characters Rumcajs and Cipísek. This will be followed by an exhibition on how an illustration turns into a book and then the final exhibition in the malt house will be on the creation of a film from the illustration.
18. 5.
The Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava (Czech Republic) presented a dramatisation of the Czech play made for film by director Oldřich Lipský and screenplay writer Miloš Macourek Four Murders Are Enough, Darling (Čtyři vraždy stačí, drahoušku, 1970). The theatre adaptation was directed by Jan Mikulášek; the original literary work was written by Croatian writer Nenad Brixi.
19. 5.
The Municipal theatre in Brno (Czech Republic) hosted the premiere of the musical staging of Marketa Lazarová. This scenic ballad by musical composer Petr Ulrych and director Stanislav Moša is based on the novel of the same name by Czech writer Vladislav Vančura (23. 6. 1891 – 1. 7. 1942). The lead role was played by Thália laureate Radka Coufalová-Vidláková. The composer of the music Petr Ulrych, singer Hana Ulrychová and their group Javory form the basis of the live orchestra at performances. Vančura's Marketa Lazarová was brought to the screen by director František Vláčil in 1967.
21. - 24. 5.
Liberec (Czech Republic) hosted The 10th International Festival of Sport Films — SPORTFILM Liberec 2007 – FICTS World Challenge. Winning Czech films included: in the documentary category the film Chuchelské Transformations (Chuchelské proměny, dir. Karel Jonák, 2006), in the category of sports figure Cyclist Tereza Huříková (Cyklistka – Tereza Huříková, dir. Hana Pinkavová, 2006) from the series Don't Put it Out! I’m on Fire!, in the journalism category Yvetta Returns (Yvetta se vrací, dir. Jiří Slezák, 2006) and in the category of popular-educational television and cinema films the television series Playing with Katka (Sportujeme s Katkou, dir. Karel Jonák, 2007). The jury prize went to the film Fairytale Pete or The Life and Running of Emil Zátopek (Pohádkový Péťa aneb život (a) běh Emila Zátopka, dir. Miroslav Kačor, 2002) and Liberec Children's Television for the promotion of sport among the younger generation. The Jiří Kössl award was given to fore discus thrower Olga Fikotová-Connoly.
22. 5.
The Talent — Illusion theatre was opened at the former Illusion cinema at the Palace u Macešků in Prague (Czech Republic). The theatre was opened on 27. 5. of The Chimney Sweeper opera by British composer Benjamin Britten of the Prague Children’s Opera, an ensemble of Children and Young Soloist studying singing. The Prague Children’s Opera was founded by Jiřina Marková-Krystlíková, an opera soloist for the Prague National Theatre and professor of singing at the conservatory. In 2003, the Club of the Friends of the Prague Children’s Opera was created by leading figures of Czech culture including Vlastimil Harapes, Vlasta Chramostová, Radovan Lukavský, Štefan Margita and Zdeněk Troška. The programme should continue to feature film presentations for families with children and for retired citizens.
23. - 24. 5.
The Vysočina Museum in Třebíč (Czech Republic) hosted the 12th Fair of Museums of the Czech Republic, that, in addition to presenting fair participants and companies and specialized and work seminars, also organized the seminar Museum and Audiovisual focused on the use of audiovisual means and multimedia in museum work.
23. - 31. 5.
The 33rd Festival of Medical Films — MEDICFILM took place in Podbořany (Czech Republic). The winning film was the feature film The Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark), second place went to I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, dir. Jiří Menzel, 2006, CR – SR) and third place to Bitch’s Diary (Bestiář, 2007) by director Irena Pavlásková. ]]
24. 5.
The annual awards ceremony of the Literary Fund of the Slovak Film Union and the Union of Slovak Television Artists for audiovisual work for the year 2006 was held in Bratislava (Slovak Republic). The creative prize for feature productions for cinemas went to Milan Čorba for period costume designs for the Czech-Slovak co-production I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, dir. Jiří Menzel, 2006, CR – SR), Martin Štrba for inventive, dynamic camera work in the Czech feature film Pleasant Moments (Hezké chvilky bez záruky, dir. Věra Chytilová, 2006), Marko Škop for screenplay and direction of the film interpretation of the changing world in the era of globalization Iné svety Other Worlds (2006, SR – CR) the creative prize for acting in film or television production was given to Milan Lasica for his performance in I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále).
24. 5.
Prague Crossroads, the centre for spiritual and cultural life, hosted at the St Anna Church in Prague (Czech Republic) the DVD by music composer Petr Hapka and lyricist Michal Horáček entitled Guardians of the Flame (Strážce plamene). The DVD contained 11 songs related to the story narrated "on the H + H theatre virtual stage" by puppets stylised in the form of Hapka, Horáček and the participating singers, including Jaromír Nohavica, Daniel Landa and Slovak singer Szidi Tobiasová. The directors of most of the filmed songs were young graduates of Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. As a counterweight to the young filmmakers Michal Horáček also invited the doyen of Czech film directors, Otakar Vávra, who thus shot a music clip for the first time. The DVD also features a documentary by Jan Mudra on the five-year work of shooting the songs.
25. 5.
The Department of Cinema Studies of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the 12th Film Festival by Students of the Department Film Studies of Charles University’s Faculty of Arts and Philosophy — Golden Eyes. The Grand Prix went to Aleš Klíma for his film A Path through the Dense Forest (Cesta hustým lesem (2004), the Eyes of Jean Moreau award went to Kateřina Krejčová for her film Taste of Once Upon (2006), the Eyes of Laura Mulvey went to the theme trailer (2007) by Andran Abramjan, who also received the Scratched Glasses of Gustav Machatý award for Bits of a Bun (Kousky housky, 2001). The Pink Glasses award went to Jan Hlubek for the emceeing the evening, the Cyclop Eye award to Vladimír Tupáček for Essence “P” (Podstata „P“, 2005), The Crying Eyes award to Jan Kohoutek for the film Linda (2006) and the Closing Eyes award to Notes on a Play, Its Sense and Objective (Poznámky o hře, jejím smyslu a cíli, 2005).
25. - 26. 5.
The Bohnice psychiatric treatment centre in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the 16th Annual Theatre and Music Festival – Inside the Fence (Mezi ploty). The festival's accompanying events were an exhibition that presented the history of the psychiatric facilities that in 2008 will celebrate the 100th year of its existence. A film festival at the Atlas cinema entitled Psycho Film was a novelty in the accompanying programme. The programme mostly featured films of Czech production thematically linked to alcohol and other addictive substances. These included the film Today for the Last Time (Dnes naposled, dir. Martin Frič, 1958), Cobweb (Pavučina, dir Zdenek Zaoral, 1986), Battalion (Batalion, dir. Miroslav Cikán, 1937), The Invisible Man (Prokletí domu Hajnů, 1988) and The Girl with a Sea-Shell (Dívka s mušlí, 1980) by Jiří Svoboda. The discussion with viewers following the screening of the film The Arch of Fools (1970 – 1990) was attended by film director Ivan Balaďa and cinematographer Juraj Šajmovič together with psychiatrists. This year for the first time the treatment centre at Bohnice was the festival's co-organizer.
25. - 27. 5.
The 29th International Festival of Underwater Photography and Videos — PAF Tachov 2007 was held at the House of Culture in Tachov (Czech Republic). A total of 76 filmmakers from 11 countries around the world took part in the festival. The Grand Prix was awarded to Hugo Habrman’s film The River Kamenice in the Jizerské Mountains (Kamenice v Jizerských horách, 2006) from the Czech series Arteries or Our Country (Tepny naší země) and the Award of the Association of Divers of the Czech Republic went to Steve Lichtag for his film A Bizarre World (Prapodivný svět, 2006), which also won first place in the category professionals – fresh water and also received the Viewers' Choice award. In the category of professionals – salt water, first place went to Miroslav Hrdý for his film Martin Štěpánek – On One Breathe (Na nádech – Martin Štěpánek, 2006) and third place to Petr Horký and Jan Tutoky for their film Hitchhikers (Stopaři, 2007).
27. 5. - 2. 6.
The 47th International Festival of Films for Children and Youth was organized in Zlín (Czech Republic) by Filmfest, s. r. o. and the Film Festival Zlín Foundation Fund. The festival's president was Petr Koliha. The professional conference Children and Advertising was held as part of the event. The main sections of the festival consisted of the International Competition of Feature Films for Children, the International Competition of Feature Films for Youth, the Competition of Feature Film Debuts — European first films, A Screening of Feature Films From the Visegrad Countries, the International Competition of Animated Films for Children and Youth and the Informative Section. Czech films awarded were Code Name Maharal (Maharal – Tajemství talismanu, dir. Pavel Jandourek, 2007) with the Viewer's Choice award for most successful feature film. Recognition for creative contribution in film for children and youth went to Czech actress Libuše Šafránková. Once again in 2007 the festival featured the international competition of student films — the Zlín Dog and the Rainbow Marble competition focussing on the issue of advertising aimed at children, in which the category of radio shots was added to the competition's television and print form. The Rainbow Marble's expert jury awarded in the category of television spots aimed at children and youth first place to the spot Birth Control (Antikoncepce.cz, dir. Jiří Strach, 2007), second place to Metal on Head (Metal v hlavě, dir. duo Mods, 2006) and third place to Low-Threshold Clubs — Testing Room (Nízkoprahové kluby – Zkušebna, dir. Jakub Kohák, 2006); in the category of television spots aimed at children and youth the children's jury awarded first place to Kofola Summer (Kofola léto, dir. Jakub Kohák, 2007), second place to Ice Age (dir. Ledoborec, s. r. o. team, 2006) and third place to Speedy Caps (Rychlé špunty, dir Noro Držiak, 2006). In the category of television spots with social themes aimed at children first place went to Birthday (Narozeniny, dir. Tomáš Kudrna, 2007), second place to Low-Threshold Clubs — Schools (Nízkoprahové kluby – Škola, dir. Jakub Kohák, 2006) and third place to the Kolečko Foundation (Nadace Kolečko, dir. Dominik Miškovský, 2006). Juries of the Zlín Dog festival did not award any Czech film. Guests at the festival included American actor, and former successful child actor, Haley Joel Osmant, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the thriller Sixth Sense (dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 1999, USA) and Russian actor Andrei Khalimon, who played the lead child role in the film Kolya (Kolja, dir. Jan Svěrák, 1996, CR – Great Britain – France), Dutch animator Gerrit van Dijk, American director Lawrence Guterman, Slovak actors Marián Labuda and Maroš Kramár. Two stars were added to the walk of fame of child actor stars: actress Mahulena Bočanová and in memorian the only Czech actor to receive a Golden Globe and an Oscar awarded by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (24. 3. 1949), Ivan Jandl (24. 1. 1937 – 21. 11. 1987), who played the role of the Czech boy Karel Malík in the film The Search (dir. Fred Zinnemann, 1948, Switzerland – USA). As part of the accompanying programme on 27. 4. the specially equipped fairytale Cinema Train set out from the train station in Jičín en route to visit twenty-four eastern Bohemian and Moravian towns and villages, ending its journey in Vizovice. The aim of the event was to bring the films to children who could not get to Zlín and the larger towns. The programme was focussed on the 40th anniversary of the inception of the Rumcajs robber character, created by academician painter Radek Pilař (23. 4. 1931 – 7. 2. 1993).
28. 5.
As part of the programme of the 62nd International Festival Prague Spring, Lucerna cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted a screening of the film Faust (1926) by German director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau with a live performance by the Dutch jazz orchestra Willem Breuker Kollektief. The orchestra took part in a number of theatre production and on recordings of film soundtracks. Willem Breuker obtained several prestigious award in the field of film music.
28. 5. - 3. 6.
The 11th World Festival of Puppet Art, organized by the International Institute of Marionette Art, was held in Prague (Czech Republic). The programme featured 27 theatre and film productions from 32 countries. A festival novelty was a screening of puppet films from various genres and productions that took place at the Municipal Library screening hall (29. 5. – 2. 6. ). The event featured the programme The World of Jiří Trnka and the workshop Puppets and Film.
29. 5.
The deputy mayor of the Czech town of Třeboň Anna Kahounová announced that the town hall signed a contract for the creation of an animantion centre with AniFest, the company that organizes in the town the 6th international festival of animated films Třeboň – AniFest 2007. The historically preserved building Beseda is to be changed after its renovations into the Labyrinth of Animation. The project is to be supported by funds from the EU, Czech Ministry of Culture and South Bohemian Region. Animation studios, laboratories, lecture and screening halls, an archive and school are to be part of the unique centre.
29. 5.
Czech feature puppet film by director and artist Jan Balej's One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, 2007) received the Grand Prix Monstra/RTP at the festival in Lisbon (Portugal). The public TV and radio station Radio Televisão Portuguesa (RTP) was a partner of the Grand Prix and the possibility thus opened for the film to be screened in Portugal.
29. 5. - 20. 6.
The Světozor cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) screened a re-premiere of the Czech film Kino-Automat – Man and His House (Kinoautomat Člověk a jeho dům, dir. Radúz Činčera, Ján Roháč, Vladimír Svitáček) from 1967. The moderator Eduard Hrubeš appeared before the cinema's film screen as the guide through the story of this first interactive film in the world and hit of Expo 67 in Montreal (Canada), just as he did in the early 1970s. Preparing her father's project was director Alena Činčerová, who presented Kino-Automat in February 2006 at the National Film Institute in London (Great Britain), where the public was accompanied by comedian Tom Hillebrand through the action. The re-release of the film was supported by the State Fund of the Czech Republic for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography. The original film could thus be adapted from the new copy and technically modified for the DVD version.
30. 5.
The 105th meeting of the Eurimages Fund, which supports European film co-production, decided on the support of projects with Czech participation. The film Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, 2008), which is the third part of the "moral" trilogy The Wild Bees (Divoké včely, 2001) and Happiness (Štěstí, 2005, CR – Germany) by director Bohdan Sláma received EUR 300,000. The Czech company Negativ with partners in Germany and France realized the film. The Czech production company – První veřejnoprávní Čestmíra Kopeckého obtained with a Polish co-producer support for the film The Karamazovs (Karamazovi) by director Petr Zelenka in the amount of EUR 200,000.
30. 5.
The opening ceremony took place in the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) for the premiere of the feature film Roming (dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2007, CR – SR).