I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
5. 8.
Tomáš Salov, spokesman for the ”Czech Switzerland” national park, announced that park management wants to restore the area surrounding Dolský Mill (Dolský mlýn), a popular filming location near Jetřichovice in the Děčín region (CR), to its natural character. Together with the Citizen’s Association for the Preservation of the Dolský Mill Cultural Heritage Monument, the park is also trying to preserve the mill building, the first written mention of which is in the year 1515. The most well-known shots of the mill are from the fairytale The Proud Princess (Pyšná princezna, dir. Bořivoj Zeman, 1952, Czechoslovakia). During the shooting of a new fairytale, Troubles with the Princess (Peklo s princeznou, 2009), shot here by a film crew from the Bio Illusion company, under the leadership of producer, screenwriter and director Miloslav Šmídmajer, a new mill wheel was installed at the mill, which will help to renew the operation of the old mill race with the original water flow.
6. - 18. 8.
The 61st International Film Festival took place in Locarn. The Czech film Loves of Blonde (Lásky jedné plavovlásky, dir. Miloš Forman, l965, Czechoslovakia), was screened at the festival.
7. - 31. 8.
To coincide with the commencement of the Olympic Games in Pekin, cinema Aero in Prague organized a screening of films about Tibet along with an exhibition of photographs from Tibet by Zuzana Ondomišiová and Petr Kuneš, entitled, Olympic Shames. The exhibition of photographs was organized by the Potala Association and was on display in the cinema Aero foyer until the end of August. The documentary films Undercover in Tibet (dir. Jezza Neumann, 2008, Great Britain) and Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion (dir. Tom Pinzet, 2002, USA), were shown.
10. - 13. 8.
The Lucania International Film Festival took place in Pisticcia (Italy), where Czech screenwriter Pavel Sobek won the Main prize in the category for films with on ecological subject matter, for the Czech animated short film The Fridge (Lednice, 2007, CR), which was shot from his screenplay by director Lucie Štamfestová.
15. 8.
Polish filmmakers resumed production on the film The True History of Juraj Jánošík and Tomáš Uhorčík (Pravdivá história o Jurajovi Jánošíkovi a Tomáši Uhorčíkovi/Prawdziwa historia Janosika), directed by Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik (SR – Poland – CR). The Polish company Apple Film Productions, working in co-operation with Poland Public Television (Telewizja Polska – Agencja Filmowa), along with co-financing by the Polish Film Institute (Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej), became the new producer on the film, the shooting of which was suspended in 2003 due to financial problems. HBO Television, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian companies also participated in the project.
16. - 24. 8.
The Orlík nad Humpolcem castle hosted the 7th film festival and specialised seminar Film and History 2008: Mythology in Historical Films. Czech films screened included The Lantern (Lucerna dir. František Filip, 1967), Dalibor (dir. Václav Krška, 1956), The Pied Piper (Krysař, dir. Jiří Barta, 1985), Oldřich and Božena (Oldřich a Božena, dir. Otakar Vávra, 1974) and A Mid-Summer’s Night Dream (Sen noci svatojanské, dir. Jiří Trnka, 1959). The theme of the 7th annual festival is the relationship between history and mythology.
17. - 23. 8.
As part of the Festival of Documentary Films in Lussas (France) the film Confusion (Zmatek, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969/1990) and others were presented within the programme ”Doc route: Czech Republic”.
19. 8.
The opening premiere of the Czech feature film May (Máj, dir. F. A. Brabec, 2008) took place at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex in Prague.
20. 8. - 1. 9.
Organizers of the International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava put on an event in Prague, which, under the title Live Cinema or Film Screenings in Public Places has been taking place in Jihlava for five years now. The first year of the project Prague had a programme of six film screenings. The goal of the event was to make the city itself a cinema. For that reason, individual films were shown in environments from which they arose or with which they are interconnected. Live Cinema presented, for example, the television film of director Jan Gogola Jr. Situation of the Street or The Czech Sea in Eighteen Tidal Waves (Národ sobě aneb České moře v osmnácti přílivech, 2003) on National Street, specifically in the arcade of the New Scene (Nová scéna) of the Prague National Theatre. The documentary of director Erika Hníková, The Beauty Exchange (Ženy pro měny, 2004) became an installation in front of the Kotva department store. A documentary film Dust Games (Hry prachu, 2001) by director Martin Mareček about the Prague meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was screened at its shooting location – in front of the Congress Centre Prague. The Live Cinema programme was kicked off at Rašínovo embankment 78, with a screening of the feature-length documentary by Pavel Koutecký (10. 6. 1956 – 13. 4. 2006) and Miroslav Janek Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, 2008). The screening venue related to the building in which the playwright and former president Václav Havel lived back then. The programme also included the fictional documentary by Filip Remunda and Vít Klusák, Czech Dream (Český sen, 2004) and Desk-based Assassination (Papírový atentát, 2007) by director Radim Procházka. These films were projected on Wenceslaus square and Wallenstein square.
21. 8.
The Czech documentary films Confusion (Zmatek, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969/1990), Ten Points (Deset bodů, dir. Milan Maryška, 1969), Quiet (Ticho, dir. Milan Peer, 1969) and Jan 69 (dir. Stanislav Milota, Jaromír Kallista, cinematography Stanislav Milota, 1969) were screened in Helsinki as part of the Doc Point Helsinki Festival.
21. 8.
Director Jiří Menzel’s film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, 2006, CR – SR) began showing in German cinemas. It became the second Czech film, after director Jan Svěrák’s Empties (Vratné lahve 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark) that went into general distribution in Germany.
22. 8.
In Jihlava (CR) the first official supplemental event of the 12th annual International Festival of Documentary Film, Jihlava 2008 (24. – 29. 10.) started off the festival. Live Cinema brought a series of screenings to public venues, selecting documentary films functioning at various levels of meaning that were in some way connected with or directly arising from the screening venue. The city of Jihlava became a unique cinema hall. The carefully selected screening venues not only enlivened and intensified the film-viewing experience, but also gave the viewer an entirely different perspective on film screening. Among other films shown was the Belgian documentary about the destitute conditions of agricultural workers in the European Union, El Ejido, la loi du profil (dir. Jawad Khalib, 2006, Belgium), which was shown near the Tesco department store. The documentary film Lost Holiday (Ztracená dovolená, dir. Lucie Králová, 2006) about the search for a group of Chinese tourists pictured in a bundle of lost photographs was screened at Freedom square (Náměstí svobody) and the Jihlava town hall became a screen for the projection of a look at today’s political organizations for the young, Forward Left, Forward Right (Kupředu levá, kupředu pravá, dir. Linda Jablonská, 2006).
22. 8.
French actor Pierre Brice, who brought the character of Apache Indian Chief Vinnetou, created by German author Karel May (25. 2. 1842 – 30. 3. 1912), to life on the silver screen appeared on the main stage of the International Open Air Music Festival in Trutnov (CR). While meeting with festival-goers at the close of the festival, the actor accepted a large Indian headdress from the organizers.
23. - 24. 8.
The 9th Music Festival Okoř 2008 took place below the ruins of the Okoř castle. The festival was opened by singer and guitarist Tomáš Klus with his original compositions Malchik (Malčik), I Miss You (Chybíš mi) and Forever (Navěky), which appear as part of the soundtrack for the new Czech film English Strawberries (Anglické jahody, dir. Vladimír Drha, 2008).
27. 8.
According to a statement by Ondřej Černý, director of the National Theatre in Prague, director Miloš Forman, together with his son Petr, began shooting a film version of the play A Walk Worthwhile (Dobře placená procházka) in Prague, which they had prepared together for the National Theatre in 2007. Authors of the jazz Opera buffa were Czech composer, singer, actor and artist Jiří Šlitr (15. 2. 1924 – 26. 12. 1969) and theatre man, lyricist, poet, writer and composer Jiří Suchý. The show was created in 1965 and a year later Miloš Forman and Ján Roháč made it into the film version. The reason for the new film version was, above all, an effort at preserving the production on film. The directorial tandem was supplemented by the second of Forman’s sons, Matěj, who designed the sets for the production. A Walk Worthwhile had its premiere at the National Theatre 22. 4. 2007. Miloš, Petr and Matěj Forman were awarded the Sazka and Theatre News Awards. Matěj Forman moreover received the Alfréd Radok Award for best set design in 2007.
27. - 31. 8.
The 5th International Film Festival of Student Films a Debuts, Fresh Film Fest (FFF) Karlovy Vary 2008 took place in Karlovy Vary. Part of the opening event of the festival was a preview screening in the Hotel Thermal of the working version of a new film by director Jan Němec, Ferrari Dino Girl (Holka Ferrari Dino, 2009). Fifty-one films competed in five sections, including nine Czech films. The main competition section consisted of 16 films, two of which were by filmmakers from Prague’s Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts – 7 Wonders of Bratislava (7 divov Bratislavy, dir. Alexandra Gojdičová, 2008) and the graduate film of a student direction, Olmo Omerzu’s The Second Act (Druhé dějství, 2008). Czech filmmakers accepted to other competing sections were directors Lukáš Glaser with the film Naus (2007), Martin Duda with the film I Am Bigger and Better (2007) and Šimon Hájek and his Diary of Karolina H (Deník Karolíny H., 2007). In a new section of the festival, the international competition of feature-length debuts, The Czech Republic was represented by the film of a graduate of the Documentary Film Department of Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague Radek Tůma, entitled Plani di giardini ideali (2008), shown as a preview screening. FFF actually began with a head start from 23. 8., with a presentation of a classic of Czech films by director, puppeteer and animator Karel Zeman (3. 11. 1910 – 5. 4. 1989), at the Panasonic Cinema in Drahovice. Viewers were presented with a unique collection of the majority of films by Karel Zeman, which he created between the years 1946 – 1980. One of his most famous films, An Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy, 1958), celebrated the 50th anniversary of its shooting. Czech films receiving awards were: Bags (Tašky, dir. Miloš Tomić, 2007) which won the Theatre Optique Award in the competition of animated and experimental films, Playing (Hraní si, dir. Michal Reichstäter, 2007) received the Kontakt Award in the competition of Czech independent films, The Second Act (Druhé dějství, dir. Olmo Omerzu, 2008) received the special Jury Prize in the main competition. At the close of the festival the Conference of Film School Deans took place, attended by 15 representatives from across Europe.
27. 8. - 6. 9.
The 65th annual festival Mostra Internazionale d‘Arte Cinematografica di Venezia (International Film Festival in Venice), took place in Venice, at which 60 films from a number of countries were presented. Outside of the festival competition, the film A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France), which was selected, together with another twelve films, for the section Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori – Author Days), had its world premiere screening. This adjoining section was established in 2004 as an independent part of the festival. Czech actor Pavel Liška appeared twice in selected films, in addition to the leading role in A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel), he also had one of the principal roles in the film Muukalainen (dir. Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, 2008, Finland).
28. - 31. 8.
The 25th International Mountaineering Film Festival 2008 took place in Teplice nad Metují (CR). The festival programme was opened with a viewing of photographs by Vítek Ludvík, after which the ceremonial commencement and a screening of the tribute film to the New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (20. 7. 1919 – 11. 1. 2008), who on 29. 5. 1953 became the first person to reach the top of Mount Everest (8848 m) together with the cordon of Tenzing Norgay. The festival of mountaineering films in Teplice nad Metují was founded in 1981 by mountain climber and photographer Miroslav Šmíd (11. 5. 1952 – 11. 9. 1993), who died tragically during an ascent of Lost Arrow in Yosemite National Park in California (USA). Czech films that received awards were: China Trip (Čajnatrip, dir. Jaroslav Ježek, 2008), which received the Viwer’s Choice Award and The Falling of St. Petersburg 2007(Petrohradské PADdání 2007, dir. Ondřej Smrž, 2008) received the Hudy Sport (General Partner) Award.
28. 8. - 3. 9.
A preview screening of the Slovak documentary film Blind Loves (Slepé lásky, 2008) by director Juraj Lehotský took place at the Evald cinema in Prague. Proceeds from ticket sales for the screening were presented to the Blink of an Eye Citizen’s Association (Občanské sdružení Okamžik), which helps the visually impaired. The association wants to use the funds for a project of socially conscious photographs that would be led by photographer Jindřich Štreit. The film distribution company Artcam gave 30 Czech Crowns from the sale of each ticket during a week of charitable screenings. In his documentary film Blind Loves, which premiered at the Evald cinema 1. 9., Juraj Lehotský presented emotive descriptions of the intimate experiences of visually-impaired people. The organizers also screened a special DVD with commentary for the visually impaired, recorded for the film by actress Emílie Vášáryová. A discussion with the film’s protagonists and people from the Blink of an Eye Association took place after the screening.
29. 8.
The film by Czech director Jiří Menzel I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, CR – SR, 2006) began to be shown in the United States. The film was shown in cinemas in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to film historian Irena Kovářová working in New York, 15 Czech films have gone into distribution in the United States in the past 12 years.