I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 8.
Petr Volný was named as the new Barrandov Studios Sales Director. Petr Volný joined Finance Director Janka Vozárová and General Manager Vladimír Kuba in the top management of the company.
3. 8.
Representatives of Jára Cimrman Theatre (Prague, Czech Republic) together with actor Vojtěch Kotek set off to Altay Mountains (Russia), where they conquered 3000 meter-high peak. At the summit the expedition placed Czech flag and as well as an electronic record of the summit book containing the names of contributors to the fund-raising campaign A Nation to You, Jára Cimrman, intended for building a home for retired actors Home of the Four Muses (Domov čtyř múz). Two documentaries originated from this event, one about the ascent of the 3,000 meter-high mountain, and another dealing with the search for the traces of Jára Cimrman’s stay at Altay Mountains.
3. 8. - 21. 10.
Museum Kampa (Prague, Czech Republic) held the exhibition Andy Warhol: Disaster Relics, which presented the works of one of the most prominent figures of modern art, Andy Warhol (6. 8. 1928 – 22. 2. 1987), who was the founder of pop-art, painter, director, writer and photographer.
6. - 11. 8.
In cooperation with the National Film Archive in Prague (Czech Republic), Slovenian Grossmann Film and the Wine Festival in Ljutomer presented Czech feature films Icarus XB 1 (Ikarie XB 1, dir. Jindřich Polák, 1963), The End of August at the Ozone Hotel (Konec srpna v hotelu Ozon, dir. Jan Schmidt, 1966) and An Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy, dir. Karel Zeman, 1958).
7. - 16. 8.
Plzeň (Czech Republic) hosted its 14th festival Na ulici (On the Street). At four stage sets the festival presented theatre performances, concerts and screenings of Czech musical films, such as Crime in the Night-Club (Zločin v šantánu, dir. Jiří Menzel, 1968), The Blockbuster (Trhák, dir. Zdeněk Podskalský, 1980), Smoke (Kouř, 1990) and The Prague Five (Pražská pětka, 1988) by Tomáš Vorel, Rebels (Rebelové, dir. Filip Renč, 2001) and A Ballad for the Bandit (Balada pro banditu, dir. Vladimír Sís, 1978).
16. - 20. 8.
Brno (Czech Republic) hosted the 8th Špilberk International Music Festival. The classical music programme, sub-titled Around the World in Ten Days featured five thematical evening concerts. The 8th year of the festival presented a concert of film music entitled “Journey Through the World of Film”, performed by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, which included Bernard Herrmann’s music for Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, USA) and Taxi Driver (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1976, USA).
16. 8. - 18. 11.
The Moravian Gallery in Brno’s Museum of Applied Arts (Czech Republic) held an exhibition of black and white photography of Miloš Spurný entitled Between Photography and Ecology. The curator of the exhibition was Antonín Dufek. Besides their artistic value, the photographs by the scientist, botanist, landscape ecologist and photographer Miloš Spurný (12. 10. 1922 – 20. 7. 1979) have also documentary significance. They capture vanished places and the past state of the landscape of Vysočina Mountains and of South Moravia, for instance the Pálava area with its Novomlýnské Reservoirs. Miloš Spurný dealt in his scientific research with the physiology of plants, botany and the use of film to capture natural processes. His experience includes working at the groundbreaking Laboratory of Scientific Film, which received international recognition for its research.
17. - 18. 8.
Rock Café club in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted a film event Film Hopefuls Night with screenings of student films from five Czech and Slovak film schools. The project was organized by TV Nova, which broadcast it for the first time on the night of 2. – 3. 3. from midnight till 6 a.m. It presented viewers with films of students from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek, the Private Film College in Písek, the Faculty of Multimedia Communications of Tomáš Baťa Univerzity in Zlín and School of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Technology in Prague. Another five schools have joined in the project: The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Film School Zlín, Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Academy of Arts in Banska Bystrica and University of Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. In Slovakia, Markíza Television joined TV Nova.
18. - 25. 8.
Orlík castle near Humpolec (Czech Republic) hosted the 6th Film Festival and Special Seminar on Film and History 2007. The theme of the event, sub-headed Former Czechs (A Screening of National Giants) were great figures from Czech history as they were depicted in about thirty presented films. The programme started with the section National Mythology: Saint or a Hero, which was followed by films on the theme of National Revival as a Nightmare. The next section was entitled Who Are the “New Hussites”, followed by Heroes (and Traitors) of the Anti-Nazis Resistance, and the Patriotic Opus, Palacký and Smetana. Another selection of films bore the heading Saints and Witnesses, followed by the section “The Greatest Czech? (The Father of the Nation in a Film Trap)”. The closing part of the programme was “Nation of Misunderstood Geniuses”. From the Prague National Film Archive’s collection films selected for the programme included the unique film St. Wenceslas (Svatý Václav, dir. Jan S. Kolár, 1929).
20. 8.
In the three months that followed, the shooting o f the French film Faubourg 36 took place in Prague’s exterior and interior locations (Czech Republic). The director of the movie is Christophe Barratier and actor Pierre Richard played one of the leading roles. The film, produced by the Pathé company and actor and producer Jacques Perrin is meant as a “tribute to music-hall musicians, to friendship and to the dignity of ordinary people.” The director also gave roles to actors Clovis Cornillac and Nora Arnezeder. Shooting locations included studio as well as Lucerna Palace and the State Opera in Prague and also a plateau above the Běchovice district, where facades of old Paris were erected.
20. 8. - 2. 9.
As part of Letní Letná (Summer Letná) Festival, the acrobat, object manipulator, theatre actor and proponent of new circus and student of Czech mime Ctibor Turba Johann Le Guillerm performed in Prague (Czech Republic). With his Cirque ici ensemble Le Guillerm presented to viewers his second solo show, Secret. His first solo performance with Cirque ici in Prague in 1998 was called Where? (Où ça?). Ctibor Turba has invited Le Guillerm to Prague in the past – some years ago he acted in one of the roles in the TV series The Highest of the Pierrots (Největší z pierotů, dir. Ivan Balaďa, 1990) about the life of French mime of Czech origin Jean Baptist Gaspard Debureau (31. 7. 1796 – 17. 6. 1864).
22. 8.
Barrandov Studios, the joint-stock company that operates one of the largest film studios in Central Europe announced a split into two companies in order to facilitate the planned launching of a digital TV of the two resulting companies (1. 11.): Barrandov Television Studio will be responsible for digital TV and will be the holder of digital broadcasting license, and Barrandov Film Studio will operate the film studios and the portfolio of all the film services offered. Both companies will be owned by the present owners of Barrandov Studios.
22. - 26. 8.
Karlovy Vary hosted the 4th International Student Film Festival Fresh Film Fest. Apart from student films the festival presented several world premiere or Czech pre-premiere screenings of films by renowned directors, as well as several special evening screenings. Forty-four films were selected for the three competition sections – Official Selection – Competition, Official Selection – Theatre Optique, and Central and Eastern European Films Competition. The festival’s Best Film Award in the category Official Selection – Competition (documentaries) went to Olivia Tonteri for the film Lilli (2007, Finland). Special Jury Prize Theatre Optique went to the animated film of Czech director Zdeněk Durdil Radio Kebrle (2006). Playwright and former Czech president Václav Havel assumed patronage over the main non-competition section of the programme – Lectures, previously held by director Jan Němec. For this section, in which Czech cultural figures bring forward significant Czech films, Havel chose the films The Long Journey (Daleká cesta, 1949) by Alfréd Radok and The Party and the Guests (O slavnosti a hostech, 1966) by Jan Němec. From his own filmography he selected: Agnieszka Holland’s TV film Largo desolato (1991, France) and one part of the samizdat Original video journal by director Andrej Krob. A novelty in the festival programme was the section of feature film debuts Fresh Generation, which included films that were selected for major international competitions. The debuts section features Czech films Rules of Lies (Pravidla lži, 2006) by director Robert Sedláček and Dolls (Pusinky, 2007) by Karin Babinská. The awards ceremony was closed with the pre-premiere screening of Tomáš Vorel’s film High School (Gympl, 2007). In the international juries the Czech Republic was represented by actor and director Jaroslav Dušek and visual artist Veronika Bromová. The festival’s director was Martin Pošta.
22. - 26. 8.
Litoměřice (Czech Republic) hosted the Film Festival Litoměřice for the Seventh Time 2007, focusing on the Clash of Generations. The festival opened with the Czech documentary Lost Holiday (Ztracená dovolená, dir. Lucie Králová, 2007). The programme featured British films If (dir. Lindsay Anderson, 1968) and A Suitable Case for Treatment (dir. Karel Reisz, 1966), the German film Angst essen Seele auf (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974) and a film from the golden fund of Slovak cinematography The Pavilion of Beasts (Pavilón šeliem, dir. Dušan Trančík, 1984). Czech cinematography was represented by documentaries by directors Jan Špáta (25. 10. 1932 –18. 8. 2006), Věra Chytilová, Evald Schorm and Jaroslav Papoušek.
23. - 26. 8.
Teplice nad Metují (Czech Republic) hosted the 24th International Mountaineering Film Festival. The festival’s director was Marie Jirmannová. Seven Czech films entered the competition. Apart from screenings, the programme included lectures, including one by the mayor of Prague, Pavel Bém, on his trip to Mount Everest. Martin Minařík presented his experiences from climbing. The Czech film which received a prize was How Could It Happen? (Jak to vlastně tenkrát bylo?, dir. Pavel Rýva, Karel Macas, Vlastimil Šafránek, 2006), the jury awarded it the Special appreciation prize.
23. 8. - 3. 9.
Montreal (Canada) hosted the 31st International Film Festival. Czech cinematography was represented by the films Dolls (dir. Karin Babinská, 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).
23. 8. - 6. 9.
Brno Cultural Centre organized a film event for fans of European film. Scala cinema hosted a Week with Danish director Lars von Trier, Art cinema hosted a film exhibition 13 Days with Polish film featuring the works of the directors Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, Piotr Szulkin and Krzysztof Kieślowski (27. 6. 1941 – 13. 3. 1996).
24. 8.
In Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), the civic association Protebe live opened an exhibition (with an open closing date) of film posters by Czech artists to Czech films from the 1960’s to 1980’s. Posters were displayed inside an underpass that connects T. G. Masaryk walkway with the Lower Railway Station. The exhibition, entitled Retroplakátmanuál, shows the design strategies of the various authors and invites passers-by to a direct comparison with contemporary design. The one criterion for the selection of the posters was their artistic quality.
24. 8.
Pivovarská restaurant in Jihlava (Czech Republic) hosted a film screening as part of the Živé kino (Live cinema) cycle, which was also a part of the accompanying programme of the 11th International Festival of Documentary Film (23. – 28. 10.), and an invitation to this event. Viewers saw the documentary by director Erika Hníková I Guess We’ll Meet at the Eurocamp (Sejdeme se v Eurocampu, 2006). Live cinema, in which films are screened in places related to the films’ themes is a unique project within the Czech Republic. Another screening took place in the courtyard of the building of regional council of Vysočina, presenting the film Internal Communication in Official Matters (Interní sdělení ve věci úřední, 2004) by director Andrea Culková.
24. 8.
American director Wes Anderson was completed his film about three brothers travelling through India, The Darjeeling Limited (2007, USA), in Barrandov Studios in Prague (Czech Republic). The adventure movie was shot outside of Europe, but the director checked its final version at the modernized screening room operated by the Barrandov Studios.
24. - 27. 8.
Pula (Croatia) hosted the 54th International Pula Film Festival, where the Czech film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR) was awarded Special Golden Arena for best directing, and Award of the young film lovers’ Jury for best International competition programme film. The Jury of the International competition programme was chaired by programme director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Eva Zaoralová.
29. - 30. 8.
Archa Theatre in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted a performance of one of the world’s best flamenco dancers, Belén Maya. The dancer, renowned for her role in director Carlos Saura’s film Flamenco (Flamenco de Carlos Saura, 1995, Spain), presented her solo choreography Pictures (Dibujos), which featured a range of flamenco styles accompanied by a guitarist and two singers.
30. 8. - 1. 9.
The courtyard of Jelení Club in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the 2nd festival of Czech and German silent films. The programme of the festival featured open-air screenings of silent films accompanied by live music by, among others, Ondřej Kopička, Martin von Frantzius, Leopold Hurt, Jürgen Kurz, Miloš Orson Štědroň, Jan Kořínek, Jiří Mráz and Ondřej Galuška. The festival opened with a concert of Eggnoise band together with a projection of camera shots of Prague capturing a performance of Josef Šváb-Malostranský (16. 3. 1860 – 30. 10. 1932), taken in 1898 – 1908 by a pioneer of Czech cinematography, photographer and filmmaker Jan Kříženecký. Festival also presented German films Schuhpalast Pinkus (1916) and Ein Fideles Gefängnis (1917) by director Ernst Lubitsch, Die grosse Liebe einer kleinen Tänzerin (dir. Alfred Zeisler, 1924) and Czech films Eroticon (Erotikon, dir. Gustav Machatý, 1929), The Man Who Built the Cathedral (Stavitel chrámu, dir. Karel Degl, Antonín Novotný, 1919), Polycarp’s Winter Adventure (Polykarpovo zimní dobrodružství, dir. Jan S. Kolár, 1917) and Aimless Walk (Bezúčelná procházka,1930) by Alexander Hackenschmied.
31. 8. - 8. 9.
Nancy (France) hosted the International Film Festival Aye Aye, which presented, in cooperation with the National Film Archive in Prague, a Screening of Czech films from the 1960’s, which included in its programme the films Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci, dir. Jan Němec, 1964), Loves of a Blonde (Lásky jedné plavovlásky, dir. Miloš Forman, 1965), The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, dir. Juraj Herz, 1968) and Daisies (Sedmikrásky, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966).