I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
6. 7.
The panel of New Eastern European Documentary Projects in Prague included the films Mama. Otyec (dir. Nikita Mikhalkov, 2007, Russia), Exotic Home Prague (Praha – exotický domov, 2008, CR) by the Czech exile director Jana Boková, Gyumri (dir. Jana Ševčíková, 2008, CR), Cooking History (Jak se vařily dějiny, dir. Peter Kerekes 2008, Austria – SR – CR), A kis rénszarvas, dir. Zoltán Török, 2006, Hungary) and Testimony (dir. Razvan Georgescu, 2008, Romania).
6. 7.
In the courtyard of Sovinec castle in an eponymous village in the Bruntál region (Czech Republic) screenings were held of films related to local villages. The Czech films included, for instance, David Jařab’s Vaterland – A Hunting Logbook (Vaterland – Lovecký deník, 2004) and Bohdan Sláma’s film The Wild Bees (Divoké včely, 2001).
7. - 20. 7.
Aero cinema in Prague (Czech Republic) hosted screenings of films shown at the 42nd International Film Festival Karlovy Vary 2007. The selection included films by Czech artists such as the documentary film on singer Radůza I Go Where I Want (Půjdu, kam chci, dir. Olga Špátová, 2007), full-length feature films Marta (dir. Marta Nováková, 2006), Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark) and Rules of Lies (Pravidla lži, dir. Robert Sedláček, 2006). Works of foreign filmmakers were represented by the films Inland Empire (dir. David Lynch, 2006, USA – France – Poland), The Good Night (dir. Jake Paltrow, 2005, USA – Great Britain), Venus (dir. Roger Michell, 2006, Great Britain) and Idlewild (dir. Bryan Barber, 2006, USA).
9. - 12. 7.
Municipal agency K3 in Bohumín (Czech Republic) organized the Bohumil Hrabal festival. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Czech author’s death (28. 3. 1914 – 3. 2. 1997), film adaptations of his books were selected as a tribute to his work. Apart from viewing the films I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR), Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky, 1966), Pearls at the Bottom (Perličky na dně , dir. Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, 1965) and Skylarks on the String (Skřivánci na niti, 1969) by Jiří Menzel, the visitors could attend a lecture on Hrabal’s film adaptations or a public reading from his works.
10. 7.
Czech director of animated films Břetislav Pojar met in Prague (Czech Republic) with representatives of AniFest festival, who presented him with a prize from the International Animation Film Festival in Kecskemét (Hungary) KAFF 2007, which awarded his film tale Tom Thumb (Paleček), a part of the feature film Fimfarum 2 (Fimfárum 2, 2006). International jury led by the American animator David Ehrlich awarded Břetislav Pojar’s film in the category Best TV Special.
10. - 29. 7.
Prague (Czech Republic) hosted the summer music festival Prague Proms. The Municipal House concert hall presented a premiere performance by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone’s composition Segesta for Choir and Orchestra conducted by the composer’s son, Andrea Morricone.
11. 7.
Snoop Dog (real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr.), American rapper, actor and producer, performed for the first time in the Czech Republic in Sazka Arena in Prague (Czech Republic). His acting credits include films such as Baby Boy (dir. John Singleton, 2001, USA), Starsky & Hutch (dir. Todd Phillips, 2004, USA) and the leading role in Bones (dir. Ernest R. Dickerson, 2001, USA). As part of his European tour Snoop Dog presented mainly songs from his eighth solo album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.
19. - 22. 7.
Boskovice in Blansko region (Czech Republic) hosted its 15th Multicultural Festival of Music, Theatre, Films and Exhibitions dedicated to the local Jewish quarter. The event was organized by Unijazz association. The programme featured screenings of films such as It’s Gonna Get Worse (…a bude hůř, dir. Petr Nikolaev, 2007, CR), the Slovak film by director Štefan Uher Panna zázračnica (1966, SR) and a series of films entitled Memories of Pavel Koutecký.
20. - 29. 7.
Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republic) hosted the 33rd Summer Film School (SFS), organized by the Association of Czech Film Clubs. The event opened with the screening of Kino-Automat – Man and His House (Kinoautomat Člověk a jeho dům 1967, ČSSR) by the directors Radúz Činčera, Ján Roháč and Vladimír Svitáček, the world’s first interactive film, which enables the viewers to influence the plot. It was the film’s first screening outside of Prague. The main cycles of this year’s festival were Man and Old Age, Brazilian Film and Caucasian Film. The Man and Old Age cycle was divided into sub-sections Old Versus Young, the End of a Day (Old Age and Death), Ups and Downs of Old Age, Stop the Time!, and Wisdom of Old Age. The guest of the cycle was the Slovak director Dušan Hanák, who presented his film Images of an Old World (Obrazy starého sveta, 1972). A festival novelty was a section featuring films that were awarded the French film prize Jean Vigo Prize named after French director Jean Vigo (26. 4. 1905 – 5. 10. 1934). The prize has been awarded since 1951 mostly to young directors with an independent approach. Luce Vigo, the director’s daughter and a co-founder of the Jean Vigo Prize took part in the press conference. The cycle’s selection included films from the mid 20th century to the present. In the traditional cycles the viewers were able to see a selection of ten films “that shook the world of cinema” as well as a cross-section of films by important figures of world and Czech cinematography, including Polish actor and director Jerzy Stuhr, Slovak director Dušan Hanák and Czech actor Josef Somr. The cycle New Czech and Slovak Films presented the most recent Czech and Slovak films. Among the guests of the festival were Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki, Indian chief and advisor to Brazilian president Ailton Krenak, linguist David Crystal and former Czech president Václav Havel. Havel together with director Andrej Krob acquainted the viewers with life in Hrádeček near Trutnov (Havel’s week-end house) through the film The Hrádeček Phenomenon or The Spirits under Břečtejn (Fenomén Hrádeček aneb Duchové pod Břečtejnem, 2006). A discussion with both authors followed after the screening. Other films devoted to Václav Havel featured in the programme included documentaries Citizen Havel Goes on Vacation (Občan Havel jede na dovolenou, dir. Jan Novák, 2006, CR – USA) and Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, 2007), a time-lapse documentary initiated by director Pavel Koutecký (10. 6. 1956 – 14. 4. 2006). After Koutecký’s premature death the film was completed by Miroslav Janek. Cycles Brazilian Film and Caucasian Film (Armenian, Azerbaijan, Georgia) presented retrospectives of Brazilian director Glauber Rocha (14. 3. 1938 – 22. 8. 1981) and Georgian director Sergei Paradjanov. Among the main guests in Uherské Hradiště was the founder of Brazilian New Cinema Nelson Pereira dos Santos, who was a leading personality of Brazilian cinematography especially in the 1950s and 60s. The following film of his were shown: Rio, 40 graus (1955), Rio zona norte (1957), Vidas secas (1963) and Memórias do cárcere (1984). Caucasian Film cycle featured silent as well as contemporary films, taking note also of Caucasian directors working abroad. The selection included films by directors Eldar Nikolayevich Shengelaya, Lana Gogoberidze, Nana Dzhordzadze, and Henrik Malyan. The festival hosted the Czech preview of the first feature film The Simpsons Movie (dir. David Silverman, 2007, USA), which is the follow-up to the successful TV series, the world’s longest running cartoon series. The Simpsons series first appeared on Czech TV in 1992 in a dubbed version directed by Zdeněk Štěpán. Before the screening of the film, Czech actors who lent their voices to the yellow figures were introduced to the audience – Josef Carda, Jiří Lábus and Helena Štáchová. The accompanying programme featured a number of exhibitions. Gallery train of the company Leica Gallery used three historical wagons situated in the town’s railway station as a space to display photographs by Wim Wenders and his wife Donata Wenders. Slovácké Museum and its Gallery held an exhibition of Petr Jedinák’s photographs capturing the prominent Brazilian architect Oscar Niemayer and his buildings. Another section of the Museum was devoted to the artist Boris Jirků (born in Zlín, CR) and his picture memories of his stay in Brazil, together with his illustrations to novels by the Columbian writer Gabriel García Márquez. Opening on 24. 7. was an exhibition of photographs of Slovak artists Martin Martinček (30. 1. 1913 – 2. 5. 2004) and director Dušan Hanák entitled The Worlds of Today and Yesterday. The Hvězda Cinema foyer staged an exhibition of Jindřich Štreit’s photographs inspired by the festival’s main theme Man and Old Age. At the closing ceremony of the Summer Film School the Award for personal artistic contribution to world cinematography was presented to Argentine artist Hector Babenco and Georgian director Eldar Nikolayevich Shengelaya, Polish actor and director Jerzy Stuhr was awarded the Award for artistic contribution to European and world cinematography, and Slovak director Dušan Hanák received the Award for personal contribution to Czechoslovakian and Slovak cinematography. An ACFC Award (Award of Association of the Czech Film Clubs) for the best film of 2006 was awarded to Rules of Lies (Pravidla lži, dir. Robert Sedláček, 2006, CR) at the Finále Plzeň 2007 festival. An ACFC Award for personal contribution to ACFC was given to Rudolf Fiedler, former director of ACFC. Film publicist Jan Lukeš was given the Award for his years of help at SFS. Special awards of the SFS (for many years of assistance in organizing the Summer Film School) were given to Dana Hábová, Zbyněk Holub, Richard Kováčik, Vladimír Lešek, Pavel Rajčan, Eva Rubalová and Zora Rynešová.
27. 7. - 31. 10.
The Kroměříž Archbishop’s Palace (Czech Republic) hosted an exhibition of the Czech graphic artist, draftsman and illustrator Adolf Born. As part of the exhibition there were video screenings of the artist’s films including the popular bedtime cartoon Mach and Šebestová made in collaboration with Jaroslav Doubrava and Miloš Macourek. The artist personally attended the opening of the exhibition of his works, which included his signing autographs. From mid July Born’s works were also on display in Holešov gallery.
28. 7.
An old-fashioned train pulled by steam locomotive Litovel manufactured in the year 1913, departed from the city of Liberec on its journey to Kryštofovo Údolí town and from there to its final stop Křižany (Czech Republic). The locomotive with its three wagons is operated by the Friends of the Czech Paradise Railways Club. The steam engine was used in shooting Jiří Menzel’s film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR). The locomotive appeared on screen first in 2004 in the film Bonds of Blood (Krev zmizelého, dir. Milan Cieslar, 2005). Friends of the Czech Paradise Railways Club is made up of employees of Czech Railway company and was founded in 1994 in order to preserve and renovated early rail cars. In the 1970s Czechoslovak State Railways company put the Litovel locomotive out of operation, and the club decided in 1993 to revive it. After nine years the locomotive, which is almost nine meters long and weighs more than 30 tons, started off again.
31. 7. - 4. 8.
The town of Rabí (Czech Republic) in the Klatovy region hosted the 5th Festival of Films on History, opened by the film The Witness of a Dying Era (Svědek umírajícího času, dir. Miloslav Luther, 1990, ČR). Other films featured in the programme were The Strolling Player (Komediant, dir. Otakar Vávra, 1984), Honour and Glory (Čest a sláva, dir. Hynek Bočan, 1968) and A Jester’s Tale (Bláznova kronika, dir. Karel Zeman, 1964). The festival closed with the French film Cyrano de Bergerac (dir. Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990, France) starring Gérard Depardieu.