I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 11.
The Brno Cultural Centre in cooperation with National Film Archive in Prague put together a one-day viewer marathon for Russian language speakers and lovers of musical films. The programme of the marathon consisted of five Soviet musical films from 1930 to 1960 in Scala cinema. The programme included the films Vesyoliye rebyata (dir. Grigori Alexandrov, 1934), Volga – Volga (dir. Grigori Alexandrov, 1938), Ya shagayu po Moskve (dir. Georgi Daneliya, 1963) and the musical comedy Cyrk (dir. Grigori Alexandrov, 1936).
3. 11.
The advisory council to the Mayor of Prague proposed fourteen members of a new Grant Commission. Prague cultural grants for 2009 could be evaluated by, among others, artistic director of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Eva Zaoralová, Dean of DAMU Jan Hančil or the director of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jan Simon. The proposal was discussed by the committee for Culture and Leisure Time, and Ondřej Pecha was proposed as chairman of the Grant Commission by the committee. A new grant system should be in effect for 2010. Cultural grants were announced by the representatives of the City of Prague and the deadline for applications was 24. 11. 2008.
3. - 9. 11.
The Czech films Confusion (Zmatek, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969/1990) and Elective Affinities (Spřízněni volbou, dir. Karel Vachek, 1968) were shown as part of the Anuu-ru oboro Film Festival (New Caledonia).
4. 11.
The Embassy of Switzerland in Prague, Czech Television and the National Film Archive organized the world premiere of the documentary film Us and the Matterhorn, The Matterhorn and Us (My a Matterhorn, Matterhorn a my, 2008) with the participation of the director of the film Bernard Šafařík. The screening took place at the screening hall of the National Film Archive, Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt.
4. - 5. 11.
”Echoes” of the International Festival of Documentary Films Jihlava 2008 took place in Pardubice (CR). The organizers also selected Czech documentary films Alt er relativt... (dir. Mikala Krogh, 2008, Denmark), Must Read After My Death (dir. Morgan Dews, 2007, USA) and the film Bye Bye Shanghai (dir. Jana Boková, 2008, CR – Argentina), in which Czech director in exile living in Argentina considers the various aspects of emigration through the fates of several Czech emigrants.
4. - 9. 11.
The Association of Czech Film Clubs (AČFK) organized a seminar on the Visegrad cinema of Central European film, Centropa, dedicated to this area of filmmaking at the Olomouc Metropol cinema and the University of Palacký Olomouc Art Centre. This pilot annual was focused on Magical Realism in current Polish culture (specifically literature and film). A part of the seminar was a presentation of current films continuous with last year’s Central Europe event.
6. 11.
A premiere of the co-production feature film Return of the Storks (Návrat čápů/Návrat bocianov/Rückkher der Störche, dir. Martin Repka, 2007, SR – CR – Germany) took place simultaneously at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům, the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex in Prague and in Hradec Králové and Krnov (CR).
6. 11.
The premiere of the Czech documentary film Poustevna, das ist Paradies (dir. Martin Dušek, Ondřej Provazník, 2007) took place at the Oko cinema in Prague.
6. 11.
Members of the Vlasta Burian Association organized a screening in Prague at the screening hall of the National Film Archive Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the premiere of the film version of Russian dramatist Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1. 4. 1809 – 4. 3. 1852) The Inspector. Czech director Martin Frič at the time cast Vlasta Burian in the role of Khlestakov. The premiere of the film took place 29. 9. 1933 and the Adria and Hvězda cinemas showed the film for an entire three weeks. The film included several songs from ”King of the Comics” Vlasta Burian films as performed by the choir of the Elementary Art School in Blatná near Strakonice (CR). The Liberec brewery, Konrád, prepared special beers for the meeting with names inspired by comedy film titles with Vlasta Burian in the leading role – brews such as, Ten Degree Distress – based on the film You Don’t Know Hadimrška (To neznáte Hadimršku, dir. Karel Lamač, Martin Frič, 1931), Station Master’s Eleven – inspired by the film The Station Master (Přednosta stanice, dir. Jan Sviták, 1941), Undertaker’s Dark – inspired by the film The Undertaker (dir. Karel Lamač, 1932), Burian’s new non-alcoholic yeast beer The Inspector – inspired by the above-mentioned film The Inspector (Revizor, dir. Martin Frič, 1933).
6. - 9. 11.
The 25th Festival of Student Films – FAMUFEST 2008 which evaluates the work of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) took place at Prague’s Archa Theatre. The anchor of the festival consisted of films that were made in this department in 2008. The screenings took place in thirteen 90-minute blocks. The first block was kicked off with a screening of the film On Media Reality (O mediální realitě, dir. Vladimír Turner, 2008), which returned to the art event of the artists group Ztohoven. In June 2008 its members disrupted the broadcast of Czech Television and broadcast instead a montage of a fictional atomic explosion in the Giant Mountains region. This year, for the first time, the organizers decided to give the students the opportunity to present their commercial and extra-curricular work in addition to their school films. The work of students of FAMU departments also included an exhibition of photographs, video art and sound exercises. In addition to student work, the programme included a preview of one segment of a new documentary series The Golden Sixties, which deals with the golden era of Czechoslovak film. Producer Čestmír Kopecký and director Martin Šulík cooperated on its making. In the film Anatomy of the Gag (Anatomie gagu, dir. Josef Abrhám jr., 2008) dramatist and writer Václav Havel, director, screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák and actor Bolek Polívka spoke on this theme. Also shown were films from the documentary festival Jihlava 2008. The Jakub Mejdřický award for the best film of Famufest went to fourth-year student of the Department of Directing Zuzana Špidlová-Kirchnerová for the film Old Lady (Bába, 2008), which also won the feature film Directing Award and the travelling statue of František Skála. Director Rozálie Kohoutová received the Václav Táborský Award for the best documentary film directing and also the all-genre Dagmar Táborská Award for female directors for the film Grand Master (Velmistr, 2008) with the film Mr. Mireček (Pan Mireček, dir. Evženie Brabcová, 2008). The jury awarded the film Five Months and Three Days (Pět měsíců a tři dny, 2008) by Vít Zapletal as the best first-year effort. Honourable mention for best un-produced scripts received Štefan Titka for The Road (Cesta) along with Petra Soukupová for The Flame (Plamen) and Crow (Vrána). Soukupová decided to give up the Honourable mentions. Award for the best cinematography work was given to Marika Pecháčková for A Film about Hops (Film o Chmelu obyčejném, dir. Marika Pecháčková, 2008). Two awards, for sound (David Titěra) and direction of an animated film, went to the film Whoops, Mistake! (Chybička se vloudí, dir. Aneta Kýrová, 2008). The jury awarded the award for best editing to Vladimír Turner for the film On Media Reality (O mediální realitě). The Award for the best film of FAMU International received Rodrigo Santos for Lifetime Guarante (Doživotní záruka, 2008), the Award for the best production was given to Pavlína Kalandrová for Kites (Draci, dir Tomáš Vrána, 2008), the Student jury award received Denisa Abrhámová for Bench-sitters (Lavičkáři, 2007) and Cinepur magazine award was given to Olmo Omerzu for The Second Act (Druhé dějství).
9. 11. - 7. 12.
An exhibition of the puppets of the founder of Czech animated film, Jiří Trnka (24. 2. 1912 – 30. 12. 1969) and the several generations-younger creators, Martin Velíšek and Andrej Klimt took place at the Prague Millennium Gallery. Jiří Trnka began his career by designing and creating sets for the theatre of Czech Josef Skupa (16. 1. 1892 – 8. 1. 1957) in Plzeň. In 1945 he became the co-founder of the Bratři v triku studio. Trnka’s animated films, such as Bajaja (1950), Old Czech Tales (Staré pověsti české, 1953) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sen noci svatojanské, 1959) received international accolade among puppet films. Martin Velíšek graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts and Graphics in Prague 50 years after Jiří Trnka, in the glass art and design studio of professor Stanislav Libenský (27. 3. 1921 – 24. 2. 2002). In addition to his freelance glass art he became known as an artist on the animated films of Aurel Klimt, poster designer and book illustrator. He received two Czech Lion awards for art direction on the Fimfárum films, based on the stories by Jan Werich (6. 2. 1905 – 31. 10. 1980). Aurel Klimt studied at the Department of Animation of FAMU, where he first worked on drawn animation, and later in the video art studio of Radek Pilař (23. 4. 1931 – 7. 2. 1993), and following this he worked in puppet animation under Břetislav Pojar. He went on to receive many awards, including a nomination for a student Oscar, for his student films, which were screened at international festivals.
10. 11. 2008 - 31. 3. 2009
An exhibition to celebrate what would have been the 90th birthday of film historian, publicist and head historian of Czechoslovak Film Institute Myrtil Frída (21. 12. 1919 – 10. 8. 1978), which was opened by actor, singer, dramatist and director of the Semafor Theatre Jiří Suchý, took place at the Prague Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex. The exhibition sought to familiarize visitors with this multi-faceted individual through film stills, posters, period documents and personal and professional correspondence. The exhibition, entitled The Film World of Myrtil Frída, was divided into three thematic segments – portrait, film loves and film friends. Myrtil Frída was a member of the First Czech Republic group, Practical Joke (Recese) and an impassioned lover of film art. For a quarter of a century he was one of the creators of television programmes as a script writer on productions such as Little Film Histories (Malé filmové historie), the series 52 Comedians and Company (52 komiků a spol.), or Shadows of Immortals (Nesmrtelné stíny). As a leading historian of Czechoslovak Film Institute together with Jaroslav Brož he was the author of the book, The History of Czechoslovak Film in Pictures 1898 - 1930 (Orbis 1959) and The History of Czechoslovak Film 1930 – 1945 (Orbis 1966), 666 Profiles of Foreign Directors A – Z (Czechoslovak Film Institute, 1977), a publication about Harold Lloyd (Československý filmový ústav, 1973) and others. The exhibition was accompanied by excerpts from Frída’s writings published in the magazine Kino, among others.
11. - 14. 11.
The 5th Multicultural Festival Spanning Central European Cultures – Crossroads took place in Olomouc (CR), presenting Central European filmmakers. The programme showcased works of Hungarian, Slovak and German cinematography. The festival guest, Hungarian director Gyula Nemes, presented his films. Slovak cinematography was represented by the documentary film Blind Loves (Slepé lásky, dir. Juraj Lehotský, 2008), nominated for an Oscar and the feature film Demons (Démoni, dir. Róbert Švéda, 2008). Together with the Goethe-Institute in Prague the festival also offered a mini-profile of German director Andreas Dresen, from the so-called Berlin School, which included his new film Wolke Neun, Folke 9 (2008, Germany).
11. - 16. 11.
The 18th annual Festival of East European Cinema took place in Cottbus (Germany). Czech cinematography was represented in the competition section by the films A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France) and Night Owls (Děti noci, dir. Michaela Pavlátová, 2008). Other Czech films shown were, in the Specialty section, the film I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, dir. Jiří Menzel, 2006, CR – SR, 2006), in the Spectrum section the film The Sorrow of Mme Shnaider (Smutek paní Šnajderové/Trishtimi i zonjes Shnajder, dir. Piro Milkani, Eno Milkani, 2008, CR – Albania) and in the National Hits section the big budget period film, Bathory (dir. Juraj Jakubisko, 2008, CR – SR – Great Britain – Hungary) and in the Children’s Film section the story The Loveliest Riddle (Nejkrásnější hádanka, dir. Zdeněk Troška, 2008). A special Retrospective section, which is always dedicated to a specific theme, presented a collection of films on the theme of the 1968 Prague Spring and what followed. Among others, the feature films It's Gonna Get Worse (...a bude hůř, dir. Petr Nikolaev, 2007), Cosy Dens (Pelíšky, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 1999), The Party and the Guests (O slavnosti a hostech, dir. Jan Němec, 1966), the vignette film Pearls at the Bottom (Perličky na dně, dir. Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, 1965), the short, feature film The Uninvited Guest (Nezvaný host, dir. Vlastimil Venclík, 1969), which after its release was placed among the vault films. Further the section included the animated films The Hand (Ruka, dir. Jiří Trnka, 1965) and The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (Konec stalinismu v Čechách, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 1990, CR – Great Britain). The Festival finished with a gala ceremonial, at which the Czech film A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel) won the Viewer’s Choice Award.
11. - 16. 11.
A Festival of Army Films took place for the first time in Český Krumlov (CR), which presented feature films, documentaries and even films shot by children on army and security themes. The city took advantage of the tradition that arose thanks to the regular meetings of soldiers from various missions. Veterans met in this city every year and usually brought with them films that they shot or photographed. Local organizers used their work and so showed the public the activities of our soldiers or what they do on foreign missions. The festival was organized by the Czechoslovak Legionnaires Community and the Association of War Veterans of the Czech Republic. The Programme commenced symbolically on War Veteran’s Day (11. 11.) at 11 o’clock at the fallen soldiers memorial in the local park. The film Tobruk (dir. Václav Marhoul, 2008, CR – SR) kicked off the festival. Among others, the period large budget films Sokolovo (dir. Otakar Vávra, 1974), Tank Battalion (Tankový prapor, dir. Vít Olmer, 1991) and No Man’s Land (Zem nikoho/Ničija zemlja, dir. Danis Tanovič, 2001, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Slovenia – Italy – France) were shown. Four of the films presented were made within the framework of the project Fighters Against Totalitarianism Through the Eyes of Children. The accompanying programme included exhibitions, the first of which presented the equipment and apparatus of the American war correspondents that were active in South Bohemia during World War II, and others related to Afghanistan.
12. 11.
The opening ceremony of the feature film English Strawberries (Anglické jahody, dir. Vladimír Drha, 2008, CR – SR – the Ukraine) took place in Prague at the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex.
12. - 16. 11.
The 4th annual Prague Shorts Film Festival 2008, took place in Prague at the Světozor cinema. The event was one of the activities of the International Film Festival Karlovy Vary (MFF Karlovy Vary), whose goal is to contribute to the development of artistic short films and their production. The programme consisted of an international competition of short live-action films under 20 minutes and a non-competition section of informative presentations, retrospectives, portraits and other accompanying events. Czech films shown included Old Lady (Bába, dir. Zuzana Špidlová-Kirchnerová, 2008), In the Mood for Underwear (Prádlo, prádlo, spodní prádlo, dir. Jan Těšitel, 2008) and Bloody Parcel (Krvavá zásilka, dir. Jan Votýpka, 2008). The Main festival award went to the Australian film by director Rene Hernandez, The Ground Beneath (2008).
13. - 26. 11.
The Velký Špalíček Palace Film Festival took place in Prague at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům and in the second week in Brno at the Palace Cinemas, offering filmgoers 160 screenings in four sections. In addition to the best offerings of domestic film distribution, preview screenings were also held. The festival was opened with Czech preview screenings of the films Body of Lies (dir. Ridley Scott, 2008, USA), the horror film Twilight, (dir. Catherine Hardwicke, 2008, USA) and a remake of the film Sniper from Bangkok, entitled Bangkok Dangerous (dir. Danny Pang, Oxide Pang, 2008, USA). The main section of the festival, Best of 2008, presented the best films of the year, among them No Country for Old Men (dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2007, USA), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (dir. Sidney Lumet, 2007, USA) and the works of Czech directors, A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France), The Karamazovs (Bratři Karamazovi/Bracia Karamazow, dir. Petr Zelenka, 2008, CR – Poland) and On Parents and Children (O rodičích a dětech, dir. Vladimír Michálek, 2008). The citizen’s association, iShorts, which supports domestic short-film productions, presented a series of short films by talented filmmakers at the festival. The Cult Movies section was subtitled What Our Parents Couldn’t Take. This section consisted of films that were shocking at the time of their release and have not lost any of their effect to date. The films were Natural Born Killers (dir. Oliver Stone, 1994, USA) for its violence, Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo Tango a Parigi, dir. Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972, Italy – France) for its sex scenes, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (dir. Stephan Elliott, 1994, Australia ) for its break from convention, and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (dir. Trey Parker, 1999, USA) for its very politically-incorrect humour. Also shown in connection with these were the films Reservoir Dogs (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 1992, USA) and Lost Highway (dir. David Lynch, 1997, France – USA).
14. 11.
The International Festival of Documentary Films CPH:DOX, concluded in Copenhagen, at which Czech director Helena Třeštíková presented her documentary film René (2008), for which she received the award of the European Film Academy, the Prix Arte 2008. The Czech embassy in Copenhagen presented another of her successful films, Marcela (2007), during her visit, which received the Giraldilo 2007 award for best European documentary at the 4th annual International Film Festival in Seville (Spain). Also shown at the CPH:DOX festival, was the documentary Občan Havel (Citizen Havel), dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008). Uffe Elleman-Jensen, the former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Niels Barfoed, the former chairman of the PEN Club were present at the premiere screening at the Danish Film Institute (Cinemateket). The Danish translation of the book Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala, with notes and various documents (published by Gallery, 2008), which was published in Denmark on 31. 10. 2008 by the prestigious Gyldendal publishing house.
15. - 23. 11.
The International Film Festival CineFest, which, in keeping with a morethan twenty-year long tradition, is organized, by a group of film historians associated with the CineGraph independent research centre, took place in Hamburg. A part of the CineFest international film festival was the presentation of the Reinhold Schünzel Award to the director of the National Film Archive in Prague, Vladimir Opěla for his many years long contribution in the international field of preservation and promotion of cinematic heritage.
17. 11.
Světozor cinema in Prague hosted a premiere of the Czech documentary Ivette and Mountain (Ivetka a hora, dir. Vít Janeček, 2008).
19. 11.
The opening premiere of the Czech feature film Same to You, Boss! (Vy nám taky, šéfe!, dir. Martin Kotík, 2008) took place in Prague at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům.
19. - 20. 11.
The 4th annual International Film Festival Water, Seas, Oceans took place in Ústí nad Labem (CR). The festival presented 35 competing films from 11 countries. The Science Library of North Bohemia in Ústí nad Labem prepared an exhibition of photographs by diver Josef Habrovec in its exhibition space, and at the hall in the Palace Villa of Hans Weinmann along with the photographs of Libor Sváček, photographer of the face of the festival – yachtsman David Křížek. He participated in a forum with visitors of the festival, who had the opportunity to discuss the film, Alone Across the Atlantic with Him (Sólo přes Atlantik, dir. Václav Žmolík, 2008) on which he participated with cinematographer Jaroslav Bouček and expedition photographer Libor Sváček. At the same time visitors could also see his book Day and Night Across the Atlantic (published in České Budějovice, MCU, 2008). Czech films did not receive any of the festival awards.
19. - 21. 11.
The Dark Side of Childhood film festival took place at the Atlas cinema in Prague. This event took place in connection with the World Day of Prevention of Child Abuse, which fell on 19. 11. The mission of the festival, organized by the Children’s Crisis Centre, was not, according to the organizers, to just draw attention to the problem of child abuse, but also to show potential solutions. In addition to showings of live-action films, such as Kunsten at graede i kor (dir. Peter Schonau, 2006, Denmark), L'Enfant (dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenn, Luc Dardenn, 2005, Belgium – France) and documentary films, the Children’s Crisis Centre organized a discussion with childhood and youth experts from elementary and middle schools.
20. - 22. 11.
took place in Prague in MAT Club the 16th Screening of Czech and Slovak Documentary and Animated Films 2008 organized by FITES – Czech Film and Television Union and the Union of Slovak Television Artists. The purpose of the presentation was to gather important audiovisual documentary and animated productions and present them to the professional and lay public. Among others, the presentation screened the films Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008), Stories of Houses (Příběhy domů), a Czech Television series, the documentary by Pavel Barabáš Bhutan – Searching for Happiness (Bhután – Hľadanie šťastia, 2008, CR –SR) and one of the first parts of the new Evening Fairy Tale, Three Little Pigs (Tři prasátka, dir. Michal Žabka, 2008) created using electronic 3D animation technology and the documentary film by screenwriter and director Jana Hádková The Liberec Testimony – Other Destinies (Liberecká svědectví – jiné osudy, 2008) about the course of August 1968 days in this North Bohemian city.
20. - 26. 11.
The 11th annual Festival of French Film took place at the Světozor cinema in Prague. In addition to Prague, the event also took place in Brno, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Olomouc, Ostrava, Pardubice and Plzeň and its mission was to support the distribution of French films in Czech cinemas. In the competing section, audiences were the most enthused by the film by director Lorraine Lévy, Mes amis, mes amours (2008).
21. - 22. 11.
Echoes of the 34th International Film Festival on the Environment, Natural and Cultural Heritage – EKOFILM 2008 took place in Prague at the MAT Club. Among others, the winning documentary film by director Steve Lichtag and ethnologist Tomáš Ryšek Prisoners of the White God (Zajatci bílého boha, 2008) was shown, along with A Living Picture of a Better World (Živý obraz lepšího světa, dir. Marián Polák, 2006) and the film A Military Rider – Miloslav Příhoda (Jezdec military – Miloslav Příhoda, 2008) by director Hana Pinkavová from the Czech Television series Don`t Put It Out! I`m On Fire! (Nehasit! Hořím!). Student films were represented by the film Fish'n Pills (Hormonální akvárium, dir. Tereza Tara, 2007), the film Plastic People (dir. Pavel Koutský, 2007) and Story of a Demolition (Příběh jedné asanace, dir. Josef Císařovský, 2007).
24. 11. - 3. 12.
The Escapades presentation, which mainly presented Czech films for young viewers, took place at the MAT Club, Aero and Oko cinemas, at the Municipal Library, the Cross and Unijazz clubs, and at the bookshop and gallery of Gregor Samsa in Prague. All of the films had English subtitles making them accessible to viewers from foreign communities in Prague as well. The Escapades presentation was organized by the Citizen’s Association of the Meandr Cultural Centre. The Programme was divided into five sections. The Film and Ideology section was kicked off with the screening of the film Sokolovo (dir. Otakar Vávra, 1974). Other titles shown in this section included the films An Enemy Is at the Wheel (Za volantem nepřítel, dir. Karel Steklý, 1974) and The Bell Will Not Tell for You (Tobě hrana zvonit nebude, dir. Vojtěch Trapl, 1975). In the Film and Literature section the films screened were The Joke (Žert, dir. Jaromil Jireš, 1968) based on the novel by Milan Kundera, Nobody Gets the Last Laugh (Nikdo se nebude smát, dir. Hynek Bočan, 1965) based on a story by Milan Kundera, the film The End of a Priest (Farářův konec, dir. Evald Schorm, 1968) based on a story by Josef Škvorecký, Death Is Called Engelchen (Smrt si říká Engelchen, dir. Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos, 1963) based on the novel by Ladislav Mňačko and Oil Lamps (Petrolejové lampy, dir. Juraj Herz, 1971) based on the novel by Jaroslav Havlíček. Also appearing on the silver screen was the first version of the film Watchman No. 47 (Hlídač č. 47, dir. Josef Rovenský, 1937) based on the novel by legionnaire writer Josef Kopta and Trailer Folk (Lidé z maringotek, dir. Martin Frič, 1966) based on motifs from the work of Eduard Bass. From the Czechoslovak Army film production company viewers saw a film based on a story by Pavel Juráček The End of August at the Ozone Hotel (Konec srpna v hotelu Ozon, dir. Jan Schmidt, 1966). The Film and Youth section offered the film Left with Five Girls (Pět holek na krku, dir. Evald Schorm, 1967) based on the book by Iva Hercíková, Juice Novel (Džusový román, dir. Fero Fenič, 1984) and the Czech-German relations section presented a co-production film The Figure Skater and Fidelity (Strašná žena/Eine schreckliche Frau, dir. Jindřich Polák, 1965, Czechoslovakia – GDR). A new addition in cooperation with the Goethe Institute in Prague was the showing of two films by German director Reiner Werner Fassbinder (31. 5. 1945 – 10. 6. 1982), and those were Götter der pest (1969, Germany), and Die Ehe der Maria Braun, (1978, Germany), whose screenings were introduced by film publicist Vladimír Hendrich. Part of the presentation was also the showing of the Czech silent film, The Man Who Built the Cathedral (Stavitel chrámu, dir. Karel Degl, Antonín Novotný, 1919) with live musical accompaniment by Bob Saint Clair and his groupand an auteur documentary, Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe (Praha – Neklidné srdce Evropy, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1984). The presentation was financially supported by the Magistrate of the City of Prague together with the Czech-German Future Fund.
24. - 30. 11.
The 33rd International Competition of Amateur and Professional Films and Video Based on Ecological Themes It`s Up to You, Too 2008 – TSTTT, took place in Uherské Hradiště and in Uherský Brod (CR). Various exhibitions also made up a part of the festival. One of the most interesting of these was a presentation of photographs by Slovak nature scientist, zoologist, publicist, photographer and diver Peter Áč. The exhibition, From The Other Side of the Surface – Along the Danube – opened at Reduta on 27. 11. The mission of the festival was to make the public aware of film and television projects that comment on the ecological side of human existence in today’s world. The Josef Velek Award, the Main festival award, went to the film Prisoners of the White God (Zajatci bílého boha, dir. Steve Lichtag, 2008, CR) from the professional category. The Viewers award and Zlín Region Mayor’s award received television film A Living Picture of a Better World (Živý obraz lepšího světa, dir. Marián Polák, 2008). Trade Union of Employers of Cultural Organizations award received title From Confidental Letters (Z listů důvěrných, dir. Eduard Mocek, 2008).
25. 11.
25. 11. The opening ceremony of the feature film Watchman No. 47 (Hlídač č. 47, dir. Filip Renč, 2008) took place at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex in Prague.
25. 11. - 13. 12.
An unconventional exhibition that was dedicated to Swedish director, screenwriter, dramatist and writer Ingmar Bergman (14. 7. 1918 – 30. 7. 2007) took place in the foyer of Prague’s Laterna Magika, coinciding with the presentation of Bergman’s films taking place in Prague. The exhibition, entitled The Man That Posed Difficult Questions, was conceived for the ninetieth birthday Bergman did not live to see. Special installations created by the Swedish Institute allowed visitors to look into the world of this legendary filmmaker. The main axis was an artificial tree, the individual branches of which were composed of five projection screens. Onto these were simultaneously projected various audiovisual materials: clips from Bergman’s films, footage from the film shoots, clips from documentaries, book quotes and reviews. Film critics, actors and co-workers thus spoke to viewers through the medium of the silver screen. AXMAN PRODUCTION participated in the project on behalf of the Czech side.
26. 11.
The gala ceremony of the first feature film about Czech hip hop, Czech RAPublic (Česká RAPublika, dir. Pavel Abrahám, 2008) took place at the Lucerna cinema in Prague.
28. 11.
The cinema at Blansko (Czech Republic) hosted the premiere of the two-part documentary of the film Karolina Meineke (1768 – 1815), about the woman who became the queen of England. The film follows her life, which ended in Blansko where she was buried. The first part was shot by Jan Popelka and is entitled A Royal Portrait without the Gilded Frame (Královský portrét bez zlaceného rámu), the director of the second part Castles in the Sky (Vzdušné zámky) is Radek Popelka. The film from 2008 was financed by the city with the plan to use it to present and educate on the history of Blansko and its famous figures.