I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 3.
The 15th annual awards ceremony of the Czech Film and Television Academy, Czech Lion 2007, took place in the Large Hall of the Lucerna in Prague. The award for longstanding artistic contribution was presented to director Vojtěch Jasný. The Award for best film went to the film Little Girl Blue (Tajnosti, dir. Alice Nellis, produced by Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – SR). From among its other nominations, the film also received the Critic’s award and the film’s director of photography, Ramūnas Greičius, received the Award for Best cinematography. In the Best director category, Jan Svěrák received the Award for the film Empties (Vratné lahve, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark), which was also selected as most successful Viewer’s Choice film. The Award for Best screenplay went to Zdeněk Svěrák for the script to the film Empties (Vratné lahve); for Best actor and actress in a lead role, Ivan Trojan was awarded for his title role in the film Václav (dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2007) and French actress Marion Cotillard for the lead role in the film La Môme/Edith Piaf (dir. Olivier Dahan, 2007, France – Great Britain – CR). Awards for best male and female actor in a supporting role were won by Jan Budař for his character of František in the film Václav and Zuzana Bydžovská for her role of Petra's mother in the film The Can (Gympl, dir. Tomáš Vorel, 2007). The award for Best film music was received by: Becky Bentham, Edouard Dubois and Christopher Gunning in the film La Môme/Edith Piaf; best editing went to Jiří Brožek for the film It’s Gonna Get Worse (...a bude hůř, dir. Petr Nikolaev, 2007); Laurent Zeilig, sound designer on the film La Môme/Edith Piaf, received the award for best sound; the best artistic work award went to Jan Balej, creator of the animated feature film One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, 2007). The Sazka award (1st place) went to Zdeněk Mahler for the best unmade screenplay, Nocturno.
3. 3.
Renovation of the Cinema Dukla in Jihlava, site of the annual International Festival of Documentary Film, commenced.The renovation, costing more than CZK 50 million, had to be completed before the start of the next annual festival (24. – 29. 10. 2008). The renovation did not change the art nouveau building from the outside, however, as the major changes were carried out in the interior of the cinema. Instead of one screening hall there will now be two, with capacities of 160 and 60 seats. These cinemas will be equipped with modern screens, sound equipment and translation technology. For professional research work a video library of documentary films was created in the building. The entrance hall and restrooms were also renovated. Cinema Dukla, originally named Reform, was designed by an Italian architect in the art nouveau style and opened in the year 1914. Back then sound was not planned for, nor was widescreen projection. The cinema was last renovated in 1976, when the name was changed to Stalingrad and subsequently to Dukla.
3. - 25. 3.
A screening of the work of notable British director David Lean took place at the screening hall of the National Film Archive Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt, where, among others, the films Pygmalion (dir. Anthony Asquith; David Lean coproduced the film, 1938), This Happy Breed (1944), Blithe Spirit (1944), Brief Encounter (1945), Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1947) and A Passage to India (1984) were screened.
4. - 26. 3.
In the screening hall of the National Film Archive Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt in Prague hosted a presentation of the major films from the work of Polish classic director Jerzy Kawalerowicz. The presentation included the films Prawdziwy koniec wielkiej wojny (1957), Matka Joanna od Aniołów (1960), Faraon (1965) and Austeria (1982).
4. - 29. 3.
An exhibition entitled A Day in the Life of the Czech Republic took place at the Mánes Gallery. The exhibition covered a period of time from noon October 28, 2007 to noon on October 29, 2007 and consisted of photographs taken during that time by professional photographers, photography students and amateurs. They took pictures not only within the Czech Republic, but also around the world wherever Czech minority communities, Czech soldiers or Czech workers were to be found. The exhibit included photos from the set of the film Tobruk (dir. Václav Marhoul, 2008, CR – SR), shooting on location in Africa. Over 300 photographs by 135 photographers were on display. A publication and a documentary film with a soundtrack by singer Radůza ensued from the project. The photographs will be archived and the exhibition will have a reprise in thirty years.
5. 3.
opening ceremony of the Czech feature film On Parents and Children (O rodičích a dětech, dir. Vladimír Michálek, 2008) took place in Prague at the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex.
5. - 13. 3.
The 10th International Festival Documentary Films on Human Rights – One World 2008 took place in Prague at the Lucerna, Světozor, Evald and Atlas cinemas, the Municipal Library, The French Institute in Prague, and at the screening hall of the National Film Archive, Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt. Part of the programme was an exhibition at the Langhans Gallery. The festival opened with a screening of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (dir. Lisa F. Jackson, 2007, USA) at the Lucerna and Světozor cinemas and the presentation of the Homo Homini award for contribution in human rights for last year presentation at the Prague Crossroads cultural centre. The year 2008, according to the People in Need organization (Člověk v tísni), was dedicated to Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma (Union of Myanmar), where human rights are oppressed by the military regime. The Homo Homini award was awarded to three citizen activists from Burma, Su Su Nway, Phyu Phyu Thin and Nuilar Thein. In light of the fact that two of the winning women are currently forced to be in hiding, and the third is in prison, the award presented by one-time dissident and later president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, was accepted on their behalf by Burmese opposition activist and former political prisoner Lae Lae Nwei. In connection with this a discussion took place (5. 3.) between Václav Havel and dissidents from countries that currently have the worst dictatorships. Václav Havel called for the creation of an initiative called The World Against Violence, directly consisting of victims of rights deprivation that would monitor human rights violations in the world. In addition to films selected in the competition categories, films in thematic sections were also presented: Focus on Dictatorships, Why Do We Need Democracy? (a series of ten films that were also shown on Czech Television), Asian Panorama (coinciding with the Olympic Games in Peking, Films That Changed the World, In the Company of Reporters (current British documentary filmmaking), Current French Documentary, Putin’s Russia and Silenced Witnesses (Czech and German ”vault” films of the 1960s). The festival also featured a series of accompanying events including concerts, seminars and a photography exhibition called United Colours of Revolution that captured moments of victory over dictatorships in various parts of the world. In the area of Czech film, the time transgressing documentary Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008), received a Special mention and Viewer’s prize (Plzeňský Prazdroj prize). The Festival took place in 28 locations in the Czech Republic.
7. 3.
In Plzeň at the Inwest Cultural Building, the Czech-Slovak music survey Žebřík 2007 Loap Awards were given out. In Addition to awards presented in the music categories, the Report Reader’s choice award for best film went to Vratné lahve (dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark). Among the winners present was Oscar winning singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová, co-author of the song Falling Slowly from the film Once (dir. John Carney, 2006, Ireland – USA), who won the award for Discovery of the Year.
7. - 16. 3.
The Festival for Tibet took place in Prague, a part of which was a series of concerts, film screenings and eventheatre presentations and a literary evening. Earnings from the charity cultural events were donated by the organizers of the festival to programmes supporting education and improvement of living standards for Tibetans. The festival included screenings of documentary and feature films at the Aero cinema. The theatre group Buchty a Loutky put on a show at the Švanda theatre studio entitled Tibet – The Mystery of the Red Box (Tibet – tajemství červené krabičky), based on the book of the same name by Petr Sís. At the Karavanseraj Traveler’s Club the documentary film Mustang (dir. Heather Rae, 2008, USA) was shown together with other documentaries and photographs from Tibet.
7. - 18. 3.
The Centre Pompidou in Paris hosted the 30th Cinéma du Réel, in which Czech films were presented. Among these were the films A Journey into Primeval Times (Cesta do pravěku, dir. Karel Zeman, 1955), Confusion (Zmatek, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969/1990) and Elective Affinities (Spřízněni volbou, dir. Karel Vachek, 1968).
10. 3.
Construction began on the sets for the big budget film G. I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (dir. Stephen Sommers, 2009, USA), which is based on an animated series and comis book, on the Barrandov Studios back lot in Prague. The shooting continued on 14. – 16. 5. in the centre of Prague around the Haštal square area. Actor Brendan Fraser played the lead role and his partner was actress Sienna Miller. Some Czech actors will also appear in the film along with Czech model Karolina Kurková, who lives in the United States. Stillking Films is cooperating on the Czech side of the production.
12. 3.
The presentation of an audio-visual project entitled Daughter of the Enemy was presented in Prague atthe Langhans Gallery as part of the One World Festival. The Centre of Oral History of the Institute for Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Czech Association of Oral History cooperated on the project with daughters of political prisoners of the 1950s. Under the supervision of director Helena Třeštíková ten FAMU students (Viera Čakányová, Petr Hátle, Klára Tasovská, Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Veronika Janečková, Honza Foukal, Andrea Slováková, Viola Ježková, Jana Počtová and Tomáš Polenský) committed to film the testimony of these women. This material became the basis for the documentary series of the same title.
12. 3. - 15. 11.
An exhibition of the film-character photographs of actor Rudolf Hrušínský (17. 10. 1920 - 13. 4. 1994), took place at the Divadlo Na Jezerce theatre in Prague. This was the fourth in a series of exhibitions titled The Memory of Theatre and Film. Director Juraj Herz together with film publicist Jan Foll officially opened the exhibition.
14. 3.
Films that were successful at the 33rd International Film Festival Ekofilm in České Budějovice and in Český Krumlov (CR) were presented in Vancouver at the Globe 2008 Festival. This marked the first time that films included in the Echoes of Ekofilm symbolically crossed the Atlantic. This took place within the framework of the International Trade Fair tradeshow and conference. The one-day presentation was organized by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa and took place at the Vancouver Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. The organizers selected award-winning Czech and foreign films focusing on environmental issues, not only from the point of view of nature, but also from the point of view of social changes and their effects on the development of economy and culture. The oldest film presented was the fictional documentary Oil Gobblers (Ropáci, 1988, Czechoslovakia), by director and screenwriter Jan Svěrák, who received a Student Oscar for the film. Other Czech films shown were Damned Sad Chicken (Proklatě smutné kuře, dir. Ivo Bystřičan, 2005) and My Homeland (Má vlast, dir. Alena Hynková, 2002). The Foreign film section included the films Crude Impact (dir. James Wood, 2005, USA), A Killer Bargain, (dir. Tom Heinemann, 2006, Denmark) and The End of the Glacier (dir. Uwe Müller, Germany, 2005).
14. 3.
Andrea Prenghyová, director of the Prague Institute of Documentary Film (IDF), accepted the prestigious EDN award at the International Documentary Film Festival in Thessaloniki, for her contribution to the discipline in Central and Eastern Europe. The award is presented annually and sponsored by the European Documentary Network (EDN) to an organization, group or individual that has contributed to the development of European documentary film in some unique way.
14. - 16. 3.
The Film Club in Veselí nad Moravou (CR) organized, in cooperation with the Embassy of Indonesia, the Association of Czech Film Clubs, Association of Slovak Film Clubs and the Slovak Film Institute, a Seminar of Japanese and Indonesian Films. The programme consisted primarily of Indonesian films such as, among others, Gie (dir. Riri Riza, 2005). Japanese films were represented by Eijanaika (1980) and Narayama Bushi-ko (1983) by director Shohei Imamura. Also presented was the film Se, jie (2007, USA – China – Taiwan – Hong Kong) directed by Ang Lee. Czech film work was represented by the films Operation Kalimantan (Akce Kalimantan/Aksi Kalimantán, dir. Vladimír Sís, 1962, Czechoslovakia – Indonesia) and Indonesia (Indonésie, dir. Vladimír Kabelík, 1978). In addition to film screenings, a concert performance by an Indonesian group and a lecture and exhibition on Indonesian culture took place during the seminar.
14. - 24. 3.
The International Film Festival in Ales (France) took place. Among the films screened were the Czech short films Grandpa Planted a Beet (Zasadil dědek řepu, dir. Jiří Trnka, 1945), An Airship and Love (Vzducholoď a láska, dir. Jiří Brdečka, 1948), The Lion and the Song (Lev a písnička, dir. Břetislav Pojar, 1959) and The Three Pals (Tři kumpáni, dir. Jan Karpaš, 1972).
17. - 27. 3.
The 11th Francophone Days 2008 were held in Prague and other Czech region. The presentation focused on the cultures of French-speaking countries. The goal of the International Francophone Organization is to support the cultural diversity and natural partnership of these countries. In the cinema of the French Institute in Prague the Francophile Days festival commenced with the film Three Little Pigs (dir. Darrell Rooney, 1999, Canada), and further continued with the showing of twenty short and feature films and documentaries. The films were the work of African, Belgian, French, Luxembourgian, Canadian and Swiss filmmakers. Swiss director Pierre-Yves Borgeaud visited the presentation in Prague and introduced his musical film Retour à Gorée (2007) with Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour. African nations were represented as well thanks to the affiliated festival Creative Africa. The National Film Archive also participated in the presentation and on 18. 3. commenced screenings in its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in conjuntion with the Francophone Days. A part of the programme was dedicated to French director Germaine Dulac. Her films La souriante Madame Beudet (France, 1922) and Coquille et le clergyman (France, 1927) were shown along with screenings of the films Kean (dir. Alexander Volkov, France, 1923) and Tarakanova (dir. Raymond Bernard, France, 1929).
17. 3. - 6. 4.
The 32nd International Film Festival took place in Hong Kong. The programme included older Czech feature and animated films, among which were An Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy, 1958) and Baron Munchhausen (Baron Prášil, 1961) by Karel Zeman, The Mole and the Green Star (Krtek a zelená hvězda, 1969), The Mole as a Painter (Krtek malířem, 1972) and The Mole and the Lollipop (Krtek a lízátko, 1970) by director Zdeněk Miler.
18. 3.
The officials of the city of Valašské Meziříčí (Czech Republik) presented the Valašské Meziříčí Mayor’s award to Oscar-winning pianist and singer Markéta Irglová, who thus became the first holder of this new award. The award, which consists of a print and a commemorative scroll, was accepted by the locally born Irglová as a declaration of recognition for her exceptional success in the film and musical arts.
18. 3.
A series of film presentations entitled Film Dialogues commenced in Prague at the multi-cultural space La Fabrika. This series of screenings offered an opportunity to meet notable personalities who presented their favourite film every second Tuesday. The programme included a meeting with director Jiří Menzel and the director of the Semafor Theatre, the poet, dramatist and actor Jiří Suchý. Together they presented films that hold special meaning for them: Une partie de campagne (dir. Jean Renoir, 1936, France) and Sunnyside (dir. Charles Chaplin, 1919, USA).
18. 3.
was launched into distribution Czech documentary film To Belarus (Do Běloruska, dir. Lukáš Přibyl, 2008) from the cycle Forgotten Transports (Zapomenuté transporty).
19. 3.
The premiere of the co-produced feature film A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France) took place at the Lucerna and Světozor cinemas in Prague.
19. 3. - 26. 5.
A retrospective exhibition of the American photographer Gregory Crewsdon took place in the Prague Rudolfinum gallery. Crewsdon captured life in the USA from the 1990s to the present. Although the photographs at first glance seem to be documentary style, they are all posed. Crewsdon, working as a professor of photography at Yale University (USA) created a new reality using a Hollywood approach, meticulous to the last detail. Shooting his photographs required an entire crew of co-workers and a large production support team, similar to a film crew. The exhibition presented five of Crewsdon’s photography series. For his series entitled Dream House, the photographer hired a number of famous American actors such as Gwyneth Paltrow, William Macy, Julianne Moore and Phillip Seymour Hoffmann. He shot them in situations that may strike the viewer as similar to their familiar film roles. The organizers of the exhibition also put together a supplementary programme within the scope of which the films Lost Highway (dir. David Lynch, 1997, France – USA) and Mulholland Drive (Mulholland Dr., dir. David Lynch, 2001, France – USA), whose atmosphere corresponded with that of the exhibition photographs, were screened.
22. 3.
At the International Film Festival in Tiburon (California, USA) the animated feature film by director Jan Balej One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, 2007) received the Golden Reel award. The film was awarded in the category of best animation and became the first Czech film to receive an award at the Tiburon Festival. Also presented at the festival were the feature films Little Girl Blue (Tajnosti, dir. Alice Nellis, 2007, CR – SR), Roming (dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2007, CR – SR), Bitch's Diary (Bestiář, dir. Irena Pavlásková, 2007) and the feature-length documentary film Marcela (dir. Helena Třeštíková, 2006).
26. 3.
The opening premiere of the Czech feature film Grapes (Bobule, dir. Tomáš Bařina, 2008), took place in four theatres of the Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex in Prague.
27. 3.
Representatives of the citizen’s collective Songster (Písničkář), stated that Czech musical performer and actor Karel Hašler (31. 10. 1879 – 22. 12. 1941) will have a monument on the Old Castle Steps. The Magistrate of the City of Prague approved the placement and the monument will be unveiled in October 2009. Academy Sculptor Stanislav Hanzlík and architect Pavel Kupka designed the monument.
27. 3. - 2. 4.
A Week of Czech Film took place in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The presentation of current Czech cinematography was organized by the Czech Film Centre together with the Czech Centre in Buenos Aires, whichcommenced itswork there with this presentation. In addition to screenings for the general public, specialscreeningswere held for local distributors and other film professionals. The presentation was opened at the Gaumont Cinema with the film Little Girl Blue (Tajnosti 2007, CR–SR), withthe personal attendance of Czech director Alice Nellis. Also presented, among others, were the feature films Empties (Vratné lahve, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2007, CR – Great Britain – Denmark), Lunacy (Šílení, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 2005, CR – SR), Grand Hotel (dir. David Ondříček, 2006), Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství, dir. Petr Zelenka, 2005, CR – SR – Germany), The Imp (Skřítek, dir. Tomáš Vorel, 2005) and the animated feature film One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, dir. Jan Balej, 2007).
27. 3. - 4. 4.
FEBIO s. r. o. put on the 15th International Screening of Film, Television and Video – FEBIOFEST in Prague, from 7. – 19. 4. in Liberec, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava and Doksy and from 31. 3. – 30. 4. in eight cities in Slovakia. While that year’s festival programme came together in a new collective of co-workers under the leadership of Hana Cielová and Štefan Uhrík, its organization and integral idea maintained its continuity. The festival primarily focused on feature films. In keeping with festival tradition, there were meetings with notable personages in the Cinema of Personality section (Swedish director Roy Andersson, Slovak politician and actress Magda Vášáryová). The festival programme included sections such as Asian Panorama, Cinema of Latin America, American Independent Film and Cinema of European Masters. The Northern Cinema section presented a retrospective of current Norwegian Cinema and a mini-portrait of the Estonian Explosion. The Experimental Film section presented the cinema of Extremes and the Other Shore section was dedicated to Gay and Lesbian film. The British-American panorama presented the newest Anglo-Saxon films. Viewers had the chance to get acquainted with eastern European filmmaking in the New Europe presentation. Simultaneously taking place were the FEBIOFEST Junior and FEBIOFEST Music Festival. The centre of the Prague part of the festival was the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex. For the third time FEBIOFEST was connected with the presentation of the Jaromil Jireš award by the Association of Directors and Screenwriters. The People in Need organization received the Award for support and dissemination of creative works for their project One World (Jeden svět) in schools, which provides documentaries concerning modern Czechoslovak history. The Jaromil Jireš award in the category of personality went to the founder and director of this programme Karel Strachota. At the opening evening, guest of honour of the festival, Alan Parker, presented his film The Commitments (1991, Ireland – Great Britain – USA) and received the Kristián award for his contribution to world cinematography. In the Cinema of Personality section he presented his other films Fame (1980, USA) and Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982, Great Britain). Among other festival guests were American independent producer Jim Stark, Romanian director Nae Caranfil, French director and actress Isild Le Besco and American director Nina Menkes. Within the framework of the festival several films with the unusual environment of the Municipal Court in Prague were screened. Among these were the Karel Smyczek film Why? (Proč? 1987, Czechoslovakia), The People vs. Larry Flint (dir. Miloš Forman, 1996, Canada – USA), The Determined Lady (Odvážná slečna, dir. František Filip, 1969, Czechoslovakia), shot on location at the building of the Municipal Court, and The Rabbit Case (Causa Králík, dir. Jaromil Jireš, 1979, Czechoslovakia). The Grand Prize of Febiofest 2008 went to the film Magnus (2007, Estonia – Great Britain) by Estonian director Kadri Kõusaar. The Annual Czech Film Critic’s awards, Kristián were given to director Petr Nikolaev for the film It’s Gonna Get Worse (...a bude hůř, 2007) and in the category of work for Cinemas, Television or Video for the year 2007, to director Jan Balej for his animated film One Night, One City (Jedné noci v jednom městě, 2007). In the documentary and publicity work, director Jan Šikl received the Kristián award for his documentary series of eight films Private Century (Soukromé století, 2007). Slovak director Juraj Lehotský received The Zentiva award, presented in cooperation with the Slovak Film Institute and the Association of Slovak Film Clubs, for his feature debut – the documentary film Blind Loves (Slepé lásky, 2008). The ČSOB award was given to Slovak producer Marko Škop. 13. 4. At the close of the festival in Pardubice an unusual screening of the Czech film Dark Blue World (Tmavomodrý svět, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2001) was held with participation by actors Kryštof Hádek and Ondřej Vetchý together with the film’s director Jan Svěrák. The cinema was an airplane hangar, one of those built in the Czech Republic at military airfields in the 1970s and 1980s. This was the third time that the organizers of the Pardubice part of the Febiofest proposed an unusual venue for a film screening. In 2007 the film Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky, dir. Jiří Menzel, 1966, Czechoslovakia) was presented at Prague’s Main Train Station and in the year 2006 moviegoers had the opportunity to see the film The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, dir. Juraj Herz, 1968, Czechoslovakia) at the crematorium in Pardubice, where the film was shot.
28. 3. - 4. 4.
A screening entitled Prague Spring 68 took place at the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt, in which the feature film Nobody Gets the Last Laugh (Nikdo se nebude smát, dir. Hynek Bočan, 1964) was shown, along with a series of documentary films reflecting the cultural, social and political situation of that era. The films were confronted with displays of period Soviet propaganda, previously unseen here, which was supposed to provide an ideological key to the Soviet viewer for the correct understanding of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armies of the Warsaw pact. The documentary series included newsreels, reports and essays on film.
31. 3.
Actor and anchorman Jan Kraus once again became the Chairman of the executive committee of FITES – Czech Film and Television Union, defending his current post. Other leaders elected were the current deputy chairmen director and screenwriter Martin Skyba and screenwriter and producer Jan Štern.