I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2. - 31. 5.
Stadt Cinema in Basel in cooperation with National Film Archive, Prague held two film events: Prague Spring’68 and Czech Films of the 1960s, whih presented some titles of that period.
7. - 13. 5.
The 7th International Festival of Animated Films, AniFest 2008, took place in Třeboň (Czech Republic). The director of AniFest was Petr Slavík. In the international festival competition section, 320 of the newest animated films from around the world were presented. The ProfiForum presented workshops and seminars with film professionals. Its new feature was a project entitled the Symposium on the Visegrad Schools of Animation, which presented two traditional Czech universities dedicated to animated film – The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design of Prague and the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts Prague. Part of the programme called “Produced by” which presented notable studios and production companies throughout the world, was a screening of films and commercials by the studio Acme Filmworks (USA), which was personally presented by its founder Ron Diamond. Another project was the Pitching Zone, a meeting of filmmakers with international professionals in the audio-visual field. The Animazoo company demonstrated its IGS-190 system, which launches a new generation of gyroscopic systems for motion capture. An exhibition of the work of the foremost creators of Czech animated film – director and animator Václav Bedřich (28. 8. 1918) and artist and caricaturist Vladimír Jiránek (6. 6. 1938), approaching their 90th and 70th birthdays, respectively, took place in the Palace Gallery. In seven competition categories 13 awards were presented. Of Czech filmmakers, artist and director Jaromír Plachý, received an award for the two-minute film The Clod (Hrouda, 2008) for best Internet animation and also won the Viewer’s choice award.
8. - 11. 5.
The 10th annual Seminar of Archive Films, the Faces of Comedy took place in Uherské Hradiště (CR). The Seminar was dedicated, for the first time, to a global theme, ”Comedy” which has been a part of cinematography from its beginnings. The organizers of the seminars were the City Cinemas of Uherské Hradiště company, together with the Association of Czech Film Clubs, the Slovak Film Institute in Bratislava, the National Film Archive in Prague, the Filmoteca Narodowa Warszawa (Poland), the Association of Slovak Film Clubs and the city of Uherské Hradiště. The seminar programs included the work of the classic American comedies and their European colleagues, along with the work of filmmakers that drew heavily on the methods of the classic comedies for inspiration. A part of the programme was also a series of lectures by Czech film historians, whose work has long been dedicated to the comedy and its relationships to other genres. These were, among others, Petr Král, Pavel Taussig and Věroslav Hába including representatives of comedic poetry in the films, for example, of director Juraj Herz and Ctibor Turba the mime and film director Tomáš Vorel. The tradition of the Seminars Archive Film came about in the 1980s in Litomyšl. Later it was interrupted and in the year 1998 the organizers, on the basis of experiences gleaned during the organization of the British Film Seminars in Uherské Hradiště, renewed the tradition.
11. - 18. 5.
The Czech Centre in Moscow and the National Film Archive in Prague organized the film events Prague Spring’68 and The Golden 60s (Zlatá 60. léta), at the Moscow Centralny dom khudozhnika (Centre of Artists). During the course of the programmes the Czech films Marketa Lazarová (dir. František Vláčil, 1967), Firemen’s Ball (Hoří, má panenko/La Fiesta de bomberos, dir. Miloš Forman, 1967, Czechoslovakia – Italy), Capricious Summer (Rozmarné léto, dir. Jiří Menzel, 1967), The Nun’s Night (Noc nevěsty, dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1967), The End of a Priest (Farářův konec, dir. Evald Schorm, 1968), Crime in the Night-Club (Zločin v šantánu, dir. Jiří Menzel, 1968) were screened, along with others.
12. - 15. 5.
The 45. International Festival of Films about Science, Technology and Art – TECHFILM 2008 took place in Prague along with the 3rd International Conference EMTECH 2008. Among the Czech films, the award for best educational programme went to the film Spinal Cord Damage/Return to Another World (Poškození míchy/Návrat do jiného světa, 2007) by director Vít Hájek from the series Diagnosis (Diagnóza), and an award in the area of prestigious films, the creators of the TV series, Stories of Houses (Příběhy domů, 2008), the prize for best artistic contribution went to the animated film of Pavel Koutský, Plastic People (2007), the Mayor’s award for Prague 6 was given to Before We Tear It All Down (Než to všechno zbouráme, dir. Jaroslav Večeřa, 2008) from the series Our Czech Nature (Ta naše povaha česká) and the Josef, Marie and Zdeňka Hlávkas Talent award for young filmmakers went to director Václav Hanuš for the film United Colours of Dobšiná (Dobšinské romaneto, 2007).
12. - 17. 5.
The 14. International Festival of Films about the Environment, ENVIROFILM 2008 took place in Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Banská Šťiavnica and Kremnica (SR). The Special festival director’s award was given to the film with the most critical message Prisoners of the White God (Zajatci bílého boha, dir. Steve Lichtag, 2008). Of the participating Czech filmmakers, awards were received: The Banská Šťiavnica Mayor’s award went to director Ljuba Václavová for the film Tree-Lined Paths as Part of Our Countryside (Aleje jako součást naší krajiny, 2007) and The Kremnica Mayor’s award went to director Miloslav Novák for the Czech-Italian film Peace with Seals (Mír s tuleni/Alieni sulla spiaggia, 2007).
14. 5.
The opening ceremony of the Czech feature film I Am All Good (U mě dobrý, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2008) took place in Prague on all screens of the Village Cinemas Anděl multiplex.
14. 5.
The Warsaw Film School (Poland) of director Maciej Slesicki and actor Bogusław Linda initiated co-operation with the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek (CR). Within the framework of this co-operation the students of Directing and Cinematography could participate in exchange programmes. The goal is to make contacts and be able to glimpse into film workshops of other domestic filmmakers. Thanks to the co-operation with the Písek Academy, graduates of the Warsaw school, who up until now only received certification of completion of a two-year post-graduate study programme, could receive a European diploma which the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek is authorized to issue.
14. 5. - 21. 9.
The exhibition entitled The Brussels Dream – Czechoslovak Participation in the World Exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels and the Early 1960s Lifestyle took place in Gallery of the City of Prague in the Municipal Library in Prague. The exhibition was put on by the Arbor Vitae Societas company, the Gallery of the City of Prague, the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague, and the Moravian Gallery in Brno in co-operation with the National Technical Museum in Prague. The curators Vanda Skálová and Daniela Kramerová gave tours with commentary. The exhibition had two parts. Following an introduction that brought closer the climate of the period, the first part – the actual EXPO, whose ballast consisted of archival materials, photographs and even authentic exhibition pieces that documented the look and standard of the Czechoslovak exhibition pavilion. The second part focused on the lifestyle of the first half of the 1960s – the mass expansion of television and the influence of the media, emancipation, household items and new ways of spending free time and everything that changed the face of the period on a base level. Top examples of applied art and industrial design, including samples of mass production, were shown at the exhibition. The so-called “Brussels Style” seeped into architecture, exhibition work, commercial creation, furniture making and graphic and industrial design. The exhibition was accompanied by a presentation of films (29. 5. – 4. 6.) at Prague‘s Světozor cinema, which were in distribution in Czech, and Slovak cinemas at the time of the World Expo 58. The programme included, among others, the films Desire (Touha, dir. Vojtěch Jasný, 1958), Today for the Last Time (Dnes naposled, dir. Martin Frič, 1958) and Five in a Million (Pět z milionu, dir. Zbyněk Brynych, 1959). Director Martin Řezníček also put together a documentary film consisting of interviews with participants and contemporaries of EXPO 58. As part of the exhibition, a premiere of a new Laterna Magika project took place in Prague 13. 5. For the 50th anniversary of the first performance of the Prague group Laterna Magika at the world exhibition EXPO 58 in Brussels this theatre group prepared a revue with the title Code 58.08. The programme for the world exhibition was created under the leadership of director Alfréd Radok (17. 12. 1914 – 22. 4. 1976), who put together a team that gave the future theatre its face. Among its personalities were Josef Svoboda (10. 5. 1920 – 8. 4. 2002) as architect of the show schedule, Miloš Forman (18. 2. 1932) as screenwriter, film directors Vladimír Svitáček (17. 2. 1921 – 23. 8. 2002) and Ján Roháč (18. 6. 1932 – 5. 10. 1980) and choreographer Jiří Němeček (6. 5. 1923 – 15. 1. 1996). The central idea was born of the co-operation between Alfréd Radok and Josef Svoboda. The spaces of the former Moskva cinema in the Palác Adria in Prague were refurbished for the Laterna Magika, which officially commenced its performances on 9. 5. 1959 with the programme that made it successful in Brussels. Alfréd Radok became the art director of Laterna Magika.
14. - 25. 5.
The 61st annual International Film Festival in Cannes took place. The only Czech representation in the official sections of the festival was the animated short baccalaureate film of Lukáš Glaser, a student at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, entitled Naus (2007), which was shown in the Cinéfondation section, which is dedicated to short and mid-length films. Two Czech films – Václav (dir. Jiří Vejdělek, 2007) and a feature documentary, Jan Saudek – Trapped by His Passions, No Hope for Rescue (Jan Saudek – V pekle svých vášní, ráj v nedohlednu, dir. Adolf Zika, 2007, CR – USA) were shown within the framework of the international film market. As in previous years, the Czech Republic shared a pavilion with the Slovak Republic.
15. - 29. 5.
An exhibition of film slates took place at the Zlín gallery Pod Radnicí (CR). In this pilot project, the organizers of the festival approached 26 Czech artists, actors and personages of the artistic world. Currently the number of slates has reached almost 130 with slates created by artists from Slovakia, France, Italy, Austria and the United States. After being exhibited in the gallery, the show was moved to the spaces of the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín. The presentation of individual slates culminated with an auction at6. 6. on the 11th Minisalon. The proceeds traditionally went to beginning filmmakers of the Film School Zlín.
15. 5. - 15. 6.
The Festival of Children’s Film took place in Banja Luka, Zenica, Sarajevo and Mostar (Bosnia-Hercegovina). It was organized by local authorities in Sarajevo with co-operation by the National Film Archive in Prague, which loaned, among others, the following films: the animated Billy the Tough and the Cheeky Hares (Kamenáč Bill a drzí zajíci, dir. Václav Bedřich, 1964), Inspiration (Inspirace, dir. Karel Zeman, 1949), The Lion and the Song (Lev a písnička, dir. Břetislav Pojar, 1959), The Devil’s Mill (Čertův mlýn, dir. Jiří Trnka, 1951) and the feature film The Fun-Fair Is Here (Přijela k nám pouť, dir. Věra Šimková-Plívová, 1973).
20. 5.
The Gallery of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (GAMU) was opened in the Hartigovský palace in the Lesser Town area of Prague. The gallery will show work by the students of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), the Drama Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU) and Music Faculty of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU). The gallery was opened by the exhibition entitled Game, the theme of which is play as a key principle of creation. Students of the Department of Still Photography of FAMU Martin Vosáhlo, Jáchym Kliment, Ladislav Babuščák, Vladimír Šigut, Kateřina Držková and Daniela Matějková exhibited both colour and black and white photographs. Computer enhanced works were exhibited by Martin Mlynarič, Tereza Příhodová and Kateřina Smiková. Vojtěch Frölich and Jáchym Kliment created videos.
20. 5.
The Moravian city of Zlín (CR) was presented in New York as a city with a rich tradition and present in fashion, design, architecture, business and film. The main event of the project Zlin in New York (ZLINY) was a gala evening at the Museum of Art and Design. The highlight of the gala evening was a fashion show by designer Šárka Šišková, the founder and head pedagogue of the fashion design studio of the Faculty of Multimedia Communications at the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín. Guests of the evening were able to get to know the lives of well-known personalities born in Zlín – such as British dramatist Tom Stoppard, American businesswoman Ivana Trump or British journalist John Tusa. Famous Zlín natives present in person were Tomáš Baťa and architect Eva Jiřičná. An exhibition of period photographs of Zlín took place in the Gallery of Prague together with a screening of the film Picturesque Zlín (dir. Radovan Lipus, 1999) with actor and architect David Vávra from the television series Picturesque Cities. The Czech Centre, City of Zlín and the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín participated on the project ZLINY.
20. - 22. 5.
The Literary Academy (The Private College of Josef Škvorecký) organized an international conference at the Prague City Library entitled Prague Spring 1968: Literature – Film – Media, which commemorated the Prague Spring as a notable cultural and media phenomenon. Alongside reports on the literature, film and media of the time, the contributions focused on cultural phenomenona and their role back in the day – animated and documentary film, the book market and the work of Czech folksingers. Also covered were film and television criticism, with eye witness account on individual aspects – the role of the Czechoslovakia Writers Association, Army Film, the magazine Film and the Times, Literary Newspapers, the poetic wine bar Viola, about the change in Czech-Russian and Czech-Polish relations. More than fifty experts and contemporaries attended the conference from Poland, Russia, Sweden, Slovakia and representatives of the foremost Czech cultural, scientific and educational institutions.
22. 5.
The Film Festival Several Views of 1968 started at the Czech Centre in Paris with the participation of the cultural institutes of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Germany. During the presentation 12 documentary and feature films were shown that directly or indirectly related to the events of the 1960s in central Europe. The theme of the opening evening was, ”Prague Spring 1968” and its echoes in neighbouring countries. The director of the Parisian Institute of Slavic Studies of Antoine Mares moderated a round-table discussion. Czech cinematography was represented by the films It's Gonna Get Worse (...a bude hůř, dir. Petr Nikolaev, 2007) and The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night (Den sedmý, osmá noc, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969).
22. 5. - 29. 6.
The Plzeň City Gallery (CR) hosted an exhibition entitled, Aurel Klimt: Puppets in Films. Visitors were able to see puppets from the films Mashkin Killed Koshkin (Maškin zabil Koškina, 1996) and The Fall (Pád, 1999). The largest part of the exhibit consisted of puppets from the fairytale collection film Fimfarum, made from the book of the same name by Czech writer and actor Jan Werich (6. 2. 1905 – 31. 10. 1980), and whose puppets and sets were created by Martin Velíšek, Petr Poš and Igor Kitzberger. The exhibition took place in cooperation with the 27th Skupa’s Plzeň Festival (15. – 19. 6.) in Plzeň.
23. - 25. 5.
The 30th International Festival of Underwater Photography and Videos – PAF Tachov 2008, took place i Tachov (CR), which included a screening of competition films, exhibitions and professional lectures on diving themed subjects. The Czech Republic Divers Association, which announces the viewer’s choice film by a Czech filmmaker awarded the documentary film by Hugo Habrman How a River Is Born (Jak se rodí řeka, 2008).
24. 5.
The 10th Jubilee Meeting of the Friends and Fans of Author Bohumil Hrabal (28. 3. 1914 – 3. 2. 1997) took place in Kersko (CR) and was dedicated to the film Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky, r. Jiří Menzel, 1966). Prior to the start of the programme, participants went on a hike along places the author loved, at the end of which they planted a pine tree named Comely Maryška, after a female character in the novel Postřižiny (Cutting It Short). After planting the tree the programme moved to the traditional venue of the Forest Studio, where Nymburk theatre actors put on a presentation of Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky) to which actors Václav Neckář, Jitka Zelenohorská and Josef Somr from the film version were also invited.
24. 5.
A premiere of the twenty-five minute film Bloody Parcel (Krvavá zásilka, 2008) by beginning director and graduate of the Film School Zlín, Ltd., Jan Votýpka, took place at Prague’s cinema Aero. After shooting his private film, he began negotiating in person with cinema programme directors about screening his film without asking for any kind of financial compensation. Some of them accepted his offer saying they would show the film as an opening short within a block of films or a festival. Among them were the cinemas Art and Fléda in Brno, Beseda in Plzeň, Portyč in Písek, Střelnice in Jindřichův Hradec, Družba in Chotěboř and in Prague, in addition to the cinema Aero, it was Rock café and Kaštan cinema. The film Bloody Parcel (Krvavá zásilka), moves through genres from gangster films to westerns, musicals and the new “kill style”, with references to American directors Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino.
26. 5.
A documentary film by director Pavel Štingl entitled A Ghetto Called Baluty (Ghetto jménem Baluty, 2008) went into distribution in Czech cinemas. The film was accompanied by an exhibition of photographs by Karel Cudlín (28. 6. 1960), which were taken during shooting of the film.
26. 5.
A christening of the film works of Czech documentary filmmaker Karel Vachek, which which issued on four DVDs, took place in Prague at the National Film Archive Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt. The DVDs contain all seven of Vachek’s ”film novels”. Also at this time there was a presentation of the memoir by film theoretician Martin Švoma entitled Karel Vachek, etc. This publishing project received support from the State Fund of the Czech Republic for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography. Also co-operating on the project were Czech Television, Krátký Film Praha, the Negativ company, the National Film Archive and the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
26. - 27. 5.
For the occasion of the EU presidency in the second half of 2008 year, France in the Czech Republic organized over 50 cultural events. Under the heading The French Cultural Season, a series of discussions began at Charles University about the future of the Union, which were participated in by politicians and intellectuals from both nations, lasting into mid-January 2009. Up to that time, notable French artists of the current art scene were presented in Prague such as the groups Les arts Florissants and the Ballet Preljocaj, which were hosted by the National Theatre in Prague and a presentation of Comédie Française in January 2009. Among the numerous events were included exhibition of the work of photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and the 11th annual Festival of French Film (20. – 26. 11.), which took place in eight Czech cities.
28. 5.
The opening ceremony of the Czech-Albanian co-production feature film The Sorrow of Mme Shnaider (Smutek paní Šnajderové/Trishtimi i zonjes Shnajder, dir. Piro Milkani, Eno Milkani, 2008) took place in the Prague cinema Lucerna.
28. 5.
The local branch of the Czech living abroad of the Society for Art and Science in Prague gave awards to ten notable people among whom was actor Jan Tříska. The awards for artistic and scientific achievement and promotion of Czech culture and science abroad were presented for the seventh year running. Jan Tříska received an award for his work in the National Theatre in Prague, and further for his acting work in Czech film after 1989 and for his current roles on the Czech theatre stages for roles such as that of the Chancellor in the play Leaving (Odcházení) by Václav Havel, who was one of the first laureates of these awards and is still the honorary chairman of the organization. Among this year’s laureates were two other Czech actors, Luděk Munzar, who received an award for his work on the stage of the National Theatre and for acting in the popularizing programmes of Czech Television and Bořivoj Navrátil, who was awarded for his theatre acting, film work and pedagogical activity. Dramatist and prose writer Milan Uhde was also awarded for his work in theatre and broadcasting.
30. 5.
The Evald Schorm's film Confusion (Zmatek, 1969/1990, Czechoslovakia) was screened at the Week of Documentary Films in Leipzig as part of the event Crossing 68/89.