I. A Calendar»
January
February
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April
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August
September
October
November
December
1. - 8. 6.
The 48th annual International Festival of Films for Children and Youth took place in Zlín (CR). The festival offered 570 films from 53 countries. For the first time it was dedicated to British cinematography and British films were represented in the competition categories as well as in others. Older films dating from the 1940s to the 1980s were also screened. The programme also included a seminar on British film, at which the new wave of British Free Cinema was presented. As always, a presentation of student films was included along with the creative workshops of Zlín Dog (Zlínský pes, 2. – 6. 6.), organized for the fifth year by the Film School Zlín in cooperation with the Filmfest Company. Its organizers focused on animated film this year. The best student film of the international festival the Zlín Dog was the film I Am Bigger and Better (2007), by Martin Duda, who received the Grand Prix and simultaneously the Main award in the combined films competition. The special jury award went to the Czech film Zlín Soup (Zlínská polévka, dir. Akile Nazli Kaya, 2007). Within the frame work of the presentation, the International Competition of Commercials Aimed at Children, the Little Rainbow Ball (Duhová kulička), took place, along with a professional conference. The Little Rainbow Ball also honoured the work of the Euro RSCG agency, which produced a spot for UNICEF – Freeze (dir. Dragan Vekić, 2008), for first place was awarded by the Ajp Production agency, Awake to English (dir. Štěpán Vodrážka, 2008). The professionals and also received a Little Rainbow Ball for first place in the category of television commercials with a children's social theme. For the first time a children's jury voted independently. In the category of television commercials, it awarded the IKEA – "Surprise" (IKEA – „Překvapení”, dir. Mike Bigelow, 2007) commercial by the rmg:connect agency 1st place and professional jury awarded 3rd place. In the children's social sphere, they awarded the Czech Television spot Little Chicken's 10 Year Anniversary – Help the Children (Kuře slaví 10 let Pomozte dětem, dir. Uroš Trefalt, 2008). The professional jury presented the representatives of the agencies with the sculpture from the workshop of Radim Hanke and the children's jury presented its winners with a statuette crafted by mentally handicapped people in the protected workshop of the integrated Sunflower Centre in Zlín. Czech actress Iva Janžurová received a recognition award for her life work in children's and youth films. Three names were added to the child stars walk of fame in front of Zlín's Velké cinema: actress and singer Lucie Vondráčková, actor Jan Čenský and actress and choreographer Dana Morávková. All were honoured for their notable contributions to children's cinematography. The 11th annual Mini-Salon, an auction of film slates that took place 6. 6., brought in CZK 2, 539, 500. Just as in previous years, the proceeds went to the student body of the Film School Zlín that will use the money for shooting their projects. Participants in the festival included Vojtěch Jasný, a Czech director living in the U.S., who sat in on the main jury, screenwriter and actor Randal Kleiser, British director Christopher Miles, American actor Daniel Clark, Child actress Dakota Blue Richards, American composer Michael Jay and composer and singer Sukie Smith.
4. 6.
The opening ceremony of the Czech film Womanizer (František je děvkař, dir. Jan Prušinovský, 2008), took place at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex in Prague.
4. 6.
The 2007 Czech Literary Fund Foundation Award in the film and television category was presented to Diviš Marek in Prague for cinematography on the film It's Gonna Get Worse (... a bude hůř, dir. Petr Nikolaev, 2007).
4. - 6. 6.
A 70-member orchestra conducted by David Snell at the Smečky studio in Prague, a part of the Barrandov Studios a. s., recorded music for the film The Duchess (dir. Saul Ding, 2008, Great Britain), featuring Keira Knightly in the leading role. The music was composed by Rachel Portman, the only female Oscar winner for film music, which she received for the film Emma (dir. Douglas McGrath, 1996, Great Britain – USA).
4. - 8. 6.
A presentation of thirteen music films took place at the Czech Museum of Music in Prague as an additional programme to the Ethnicity and Music exhibition. The small presentation ushered in the 5th non-competitive International Festival of Music Films 2008 – Music on Film/Film on Music [MOFFOM] that took place from 16. – 20. 10. in Prague cinemas. Viewers had the opportunity to see, among others, the films The Pied Piper of Hützovina (dir. Pavla Fleischer, 2006, Great Britain) and Nomadak TX (dir. Raul de la Fuente, 2007, Spain).
4. 6. a 9. 6. 2008
A presentation of the films of director and theoretician, primarily of film composition, Jan Kučera (8. 7. 1908 – 5. 9. 1977) took place at the screening hall of the National Film Archive, Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt in Prague, to commemorate 100 years since his birth on July 8, 1908. The presentation included Kučera’s films from the years 1928 – 1940 and 1944 – 1948, The film Film Through All Fields (Film všemi obory, 1928), Prague (King’s Road) (Praha (Cesta královská) dir. J. K., co-dir. Karel Šourek, 1930), Burleska (Burlesque, 1932), Manufacture of Broadcast Receivers (Výroby rozhlasových přijímačů, dir. J. K., co-dir. Milan Weigert, 1935), Prague Castle (Pražský hrad, dir. J. K., cinematography Alexander Hackenschmied, 1936), In the Shadow of Strakonice Castle (Ve stínu strakonického hradu, dir. J. K., cinematography Čeněk Zahradníček, 1940), Prague Castle (Pražský hrad, dir. J. K., completed by Elmar Klos, 1944 – 1947) and Mr. President in Topolčianky (Pan president v Topolčiankách, 1947). The National Film Archive published a book entitled Composition and Order – Czech Film and Television Theoretician Jan Kučera, by Dr. Jan Svoboda in 2008.
4. - 6. 6.
The 11th Screening of Video Films of Museums of the Czech Republic – MUSAIONFILM – was held in Uherský Brod (CR). The organizers were the Comenius Museum and the House of Culture in Uherský Brod.
6. - 8. 6.
The second annual film festival Psycho Film took place at the Atlas cinema under the auspices of the Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital together with the partner project, the Between Fences festival. One of the goals of the presentation, which was financed by a grant from the European Union, was to shed light on mental illnesses. The festival themes were euthanasia and suicide and the ethical questions associated with them. The film presentations in two cinema halls of the Karlín cinema supplemented by commentary by psychiatrists, psychologists and filmmakers. International productions screened included Mar Adentro (dir. Alejandro Amenábar, 2004, Spain – France – Italy), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (dir. Lone Scherfig, Denmark – Great Britain – Sweden – France) and Kunsten å tenke negativt (dir. Bard Breien, 2006, Norway). Local production was represented by the films Conspirators of Delight (Spiklenci slasti, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 1996, CR – Switzerland – Great Britain) and A Squandered Sunday (Zabitá neděle, dir. Drahomíra Vihanová, 1969). Documentary work was represented by, among others, film by director Tomáš Škrdlant Searching for Good Death (Hledání dobré smrti, 2006). Documentary films from the archive of KRÁTKÝ FILM PRAHA a. s. company presented a filmmaker’s perspective on alcohol and hard drug dependence in Czechoslovakia from the 1950s through the 1980s.
7. 6.
Czech director Jiří Menzel received a Starfish Award, the main award, for best film for his comedic film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR) in Peníscola (Spain) at the 20th annual International Comedy Film Festival. He accepted the award in person at a gala evening celebration.
9. 6.
A christening party for the DVD release of The Emperor’s Baker – The Baker’s Emperor (Císařův pekař – Pekařův císař, dir. Martin Frič, 1951) officially opened the Palace Adria Film Club on Národní třída in Prague. The club is located on the first floor of the building, exactly where a traditional film club frequented by filmmakers existed for decades up until the end of the 1990s and where also a section of the Czechoslovak Film Institute now Nationale Film Archive had its headquarters for a number of years. The club is open only to members and their guests. The club has a full set of facilities including a restaurant, bar, lounge and a kitchen. Participating in the grand re-opening were the Adria Film Club, Filmexport Home Video, Metropolitan Film and the National Film Archive.
10. 6.
The Pavel Koutecký Award for best original documentary work was presented at Prague’s Archa theatre. The award winners were the creators of the documentary film entitled The Tadpole, the Rabbit and the Holy Ghost (Pulec, králík a Duch svatý, 2007) – screenwriter Richard Komárek and director Filip Remunda.
10. 6.
The Czech Film and Television Academy nominated films for the 2008 European Film Awards, the feature film The Karamazovs (Karamazovi/Bracia Karamazow, dir. Petr Zelenka, 2008, CR – Poland) and the documentary film Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008). A further three Czech titles were recommended for nomination by the international jury. These were the feature film On Parents and Children (O rodičích a dětech, dir. Vladimír Michálek, 2008) Václav (dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2007) and A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France). Another twenty films appeared representing individual countries in the so-call direct nominations. The winners were announced 6. 12. in Copenhagen (Denmark).
12. - 14. 6.
The second annual, this time International Film Festival of (Non)actors with Mental and Combined Disabilities, called Mental Power took place at the Prague Palace Theatre. The films screenings were supplemented by concert performances by singers Ida Kelarová and Lenka Dusilová. The festival jury included director Jan Hřebejk, publicist and lyricist Michal Horáček and chairman of the National Board of Persons with Health Problems Václav Krása. The main award of the festival went to Charlie Red (Karlička červená, dir. Kateřina Hornová; Mateřská škola speciální, Základní škola speciální, Praktická škola a Dětský domov Vřesovice, 2008), the award for best film went to Really Scary Stories (Věru strašidelné historky, dir. Jiří Merta; Arpida, 2007), The award for best screenplay went to In the Footsteps of Zikmund and Hanzelka (Po stopách Zikmunda a Hanzelky, dir. Kateřina Vacková; Základní škola speciální a Základní škola praktická Starostrašnická, 2008), the best cinematography award went to the film Good and Evil (Dobro a zlo, dir. Jana Hnilicová; AČV Medialog, 2003 ), the award for best male actor in a leading role was awarded to Jiří Šedý in the film Just Like That (Přesně tak, dir. David Čálek; Portus Praha, o. s., 2007), the award for best female actor in a leading role went to Věra Nováková for her role in the film The Beloved of Seven Bandits (Milá sedmi loupežníků, dir. Robert Tschorn; Studio Oáza, 2007), Awards for best female actor in a supporting role were won by Marie Tauchmanová in the film Surprise (Překvapení, dir. Eva Kunová; o. s. Stéblo, 2008), the awards for best male actor in a supporting role were won by Stanislav Skalický in the film Jožin (dir. Markéta Novotná, Petra Vinšová; Domov pod hradem Žampach, 2008). The best spoken word award went to the film A Chateau Story (Zámecký příběh, dir. Petr Škranc; Sdružení Veleta, o. s., 2008) and best set decoration went to the film Hombredo (dir. Hendaver o. s. and Chráněná dílna sv. Prokopa U Červeného javoru, 2006).
13. 6.
The Czech film Beauty in Trouble (Kráska v nesnázích, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2006) was screened in Greenwich Village in New York at the Angelika Cinema and at the largest art cinema, the Landmark Theatre in Washington. Five prints of the film then travelled through other American cities. The Menemsha Films distribution company, represented by Neil A. Friedman, distributed the film in American cinemas. The company shared in the marketing of the film and the active cooperation with the Czech community in both cities where the film premiered.
13. 6.
The Czech Centre together with The Goethe-Institute organized a presentation of films by Czech documentary filmmaker-director Jan Šikl in London. The presentation screened three of his films from the series The Private Century (Soukromé století, 2007) – Daddy and Lilli Marlene (Tatíček a Lili Marlén), See You in Denver (Sejdeme se v Denveru), and A Low-level Flight (Nízký let). Jan Šikl participated in discussions with viewers following the screenings.
14. - 18. 6.
The 45th annual International Television Festival – Golden Prague 2008 (Zlatá Praha 2008), focusing on dance and music, took place at Prague’s Žofín palace. Participating shows competed in three categories and those were music on the screen, documentary shows on music and dance and musical drama. The notable media expert, German producer Reiner Moritz, chaired the festival jury. The prologue to the festival was the Day of Czech Television, which was dedicated above all to children. The Viewer’s Choice award for bel canto art was presented to Edita Gruberová at the closing ceremonial evening. The Vision 97 foundation (Vize 97) of Dagmar and Václav Havel Award went to the Czech Television documentary film Daria Klimentová, Around the World on Tiptoes (Daria Klimentová, po světě po špičkách, dir. Martin Kubala, 2008). The traditional Czech Crystals were awarded to foreign films.
14. - 22. 6.
The 11th International festival in Shanghai, at which the Czech film Václav (dir. Jiří Vejdělek) was popular, came to a close. The film received two awards – A Gold Cup Award went to Emília Vášáryová for best actress and an award for best screenplay for the script by Marek Epstein. The film was represented at the festival by actor Jan Budař and producer Jaroslav Bouček (BUC film).
16. 6.
The Czech feature documentary film Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008) placed among ten films that competed for the Lux (Light) prize awarded by the European parliament.
18. - 20. 6.
A presentation of films about modern and contemporary architecture and its creators took place at the Veletržní Palace in Prague. The organizers were inspired by similar events that take place annually in European cities and whose goal it is to present architecture in an engaging way. Another goal of the event was to contribute to urban development in Prague and present current projects relating to the capital city. Through the films, veiwers were able to familiarize themselves for example with the works of famous architects Frank Lloyd Wright (8. 6. 1867 – 9. 4. 1959), Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Charles Eames (17. 6. 1907 – 21. 8. 1978), who worked with his wife Ray or the progressive works of the members of Bauhaus. Succinct notes in Czech were prepared to accompany the films, which were screened in their original language. The Czech documentary selected for the presentation was the television series Picturesque Towns (Šumná města) by director Radovan Lipus and actor David Vávra.
19. 6.
Filmmakers and moviegoers marked the 110th anniversary of the opening of the Pavilion of Czech Cinematography (1898) by Jan Kříženecký (20. 3. 1868 – 9. 2. 1921) and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Viktor Ponrepo (given name Dismas Šlambor, 6. 6. 1858 – 4. 12. 1926) at the screening hall of the National Film Archive, Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt. The programme included documentaries about the pioneers of Czech cinematography Jan Kříženecký, Josef Šváb-Malostranský (16. 3. 1860 – 30. 10. 1932), who acted in the film loops An Assignation in the Mill /Šváb’s Thwarted Assignation (Dostaveníčko ve mlýnici /Švábovo zmařené dostaveníčko, 1898), The Exhibition Sausage Seller and the Bill-poster/Sausage Seller’s Mishap at the Pub U Nesmysla (Výstavní párkař a lepič plakátů /Biřtlánova nehoda U Nemysla, 1898) and Laughter and Tears /The Face of Šváb-Malostranský/ (Smích a pláč /Tvář Švába-Malostranského, 1898), and Viktor Ponrepo, who established the first permanent cinema in the Czech lands on15. 9. 1907 at the house of the Blue Pike (U Modré štiky) in Karlova street in Prague. Three series of short films reminiscent of the above-mentioned anniversary were presented, such as Jan Kříženecký (dir. Bohumil Veselý, 1968, Czechoslovakia), The First Lumière Films (První Lumièrovy filmy, 1895, France), The Magic of Ponrepo (Ponrepovo kouzelnictví, 1911, Rakousko-Uhersko), The Famous Courtyard Gallery (Slavná pavlač, dir. Jaroslav Soukup, 1976, Czechoslovakia) and How People Captured Sound (Jak lidé zajali zvuk, dir. Bohumil Vošahlík, 1957, Czechoslovakia).
19. - 21. 6.
The 4th International Festival of European Films on Art, ARTS&FILM 2008 took place in Telč (Czech Republic). Czech directors living abroad Ivan Passer and Vojtěch Jasný participated in the festival in person. The festival opened with an exhibition of film posters from the 1960s. A new aspect was the opening of a cinema in the main town square where, among others, the film Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvětlení, dir. Ivan Passer, 1965) was shown. The films were separated into five categories and covered the areas of fine art, architecture, design, music, theatrical arts, film and literature, folk and naive art and arts and crafts. The fifth category entitled New Generation was a presentation of the work of students from art schools in the Czech Republic and abroad. The Vojtěch Jasný Grand Prix went to director Olga Špátová for the film A Walk Worthwhile (Dobře placená procházka, 2007). The jury honoured her for her sensitive approach in the film version of the play by Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr (15. 2. 1924 – 26. 12. 1969) directed by Miloš Forman at the National Theatre in Prague. The second highest award of the festival – the Prize for Czech Inspiration in a Work of Art – went to the Czech Television Brno film entitled At One Hundred Broms (U sta Bromů, dir. Pavel Jirásek, 2008) about the Czech Jazz conductor Gustav Brom (22. 5. 1921 – 25. 9. 1995). Czech work won first place in the fourth category (folk art and craft, arts and crafts and naive art) and it went to the film The Book as Destiny (Kniha jako osud, dir. Ladislav Moulis, 2008), first place in the fifth category (New Generation) went to the film How Does a Man Sound? (Jak dělá člověk?, dir. Jan Látal, 2007). The jury award in category IV was given to film The Obsession of the Šechtl Family (Posedlost rodu Šechtlů, dir. Zdeněk Flídr, 2008) and the Jury award in category V – New Generation received Jan Chramosta for his film The Magic Bridge (Kouzelný most, 2008). Czech Culture Minister awarded the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friends of Czech Art) medal to director Ivan Passer for lifelong systematic promotion of Czech Republic’s reputation over the world.
20. 6.
The Research and Development Council (R&D Council) approved the National Film Archive’s request to include the review Iluminace (Illuminations) to the register of scientific journals of the R&D Council. Iluminace is on the List of reviewed non-impacted periodicals published in the Czech Republic.
21. 6.
The announcement of the results of the Czech Television survey on favourite Czech film actress and favourite Czech film actor took place at the Vinohrady theatre in Prague. These were Libuše Šafránková and Vladimír Menšík (9. 10. 1929 – 29. 5. 1988).
23. 6.
Janis Sidovský, the PR and Marketing director and spokesperson for the new Barrandov Studios digital television Barrandov TV in Prague to date became a new member and simultaneously vice-chairman of the board of the company that owns the new Barrandov Television Studio.
24. - 27. 6.
A presentation of current Russian films took place at the Světozor cinema in Prague and was organized by Sovexportfilm, a. s. and the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography in the Russian Federation. During the course of four days, viewers saw Russian films shot in recent years. Films screened were: Pityer FM (dir. Oksana Bychkovova, 2006), Puteshestvie s domashnimi zhivotnymi (dir.Vera Storozheva, 2007), Kacheli (dir. Anton Sivers, 2008), Slushaya tishinu (dir. Alexandr Kasatkin, 2007), Nostalgiya po budushemu (dir. Sergei Tarasov, 2008) and Izobrazhaya zhertvu (dir. Kirill Serebrennikov, 2006). A delegation of filmmakers and managers came to Prague.
26. 6.
The Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Václav Jehlička, presented Jiří Krejčík, a classic Czech film director, with the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friends of Czech Art) medal on the day of his 90th birthday (26. 6. 1918).
26. 6.
Czech director Jiří Krejčík (26. 6. 1918) celebrated his 90th birthday at the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in. Among those who came to wish him well were playwright and former Czech president Václav Havel, director Miloš Forman and his wife, actors Petr Kostka with his wife and actress Carmen Mayerová, Josef Abrhám, Jiří Schmitzer and many colleagues – filmmakers. Also attending were actresses from Krejčík’s films, Jana Brejchová who played a role in the film The Higher Principle (Vyšší princip, 1960), Iva Janžurová, who had one of the leading roles in the comedy The Unfortunate Bridegroom (Svatba jako řemen, 1967) and the art director of the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, Eva Zaoralová. Film historians put together a screening that included, for example, unused scenes for the documentary FEBIO – Jiří Krejčík through the Eyes of Alena Činčerová (1992) from the series GEN, a segment from the bonus on the DVD double film The Emperor’s Baker – The Baker’s Emperor (Císařův pekař – Pekařův císař, 1951) about how the director did not shoot the film in the early 1950s and was replaced by director Martin Frič (29. 3. 1902 – 26. 8. 1968) and a story from his film The Chintanami Carpet and a Swindler (Čintamani a podvodník 1964).
26. 6.
Canadian singer Celine Dion performed for the first time in Prague at the O2 Arena. The Prague concert was a part of the world tour for the album Taking Chances. The Quebec native and multiple Grammy and Juno Award winner also has a star in the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California (USA). In 1997 she recorded the theme for the film Titanic (dir. James Cameron, 1997) entitled My Heart Will Go On, composed for the film by composer James Horner.
27. 6. - 6. 7.
The 16th International Film Festival Artfilm took place in Trenčianský Teplice and in Trenčín, at which Czech Cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček received the Golden Camera award.
27. 6.
Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer awarded to National Film Archive director Vladimír Opěla the Medal of Merit for Services to Czech Archiving.
30. 6. - 3. 8.
An exhibition of work by Czech film photographer Karel Ješátko (16. 5. 1923) entitled Film Photography and Something More was installed in the foyer café of the Lucerna cinema. Karel Ješátko worked as a stills photographer on films from the 1950s – starting on the film Confession (Přiznání, dir. Jiří Lehovec, 1950) and his last project was a cooperation on the film by Jan Němec The Flames of Royal Love (V žáru královské lásky) in the year 1990. He worked with big-name directors such as Martin Frič, Otakar Vávra, Jiří Weiss, Vojtěch Jasný, Jiří Krejčík, Evald Schorm, Juraj Herz and many others.