I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 7.
European distributors divided a total of EUR 5,788,000 for the distribution of 34 European films in the third round of the 22/2008 MEDIA Distribution – Selective Support call. Czech distributors received a total of EUR 75,000 for the distribution of 8 films. The largest amount – EUR 15,000 went to Atlantis Entertainment for the distribution of the French film Partir (dir. Catherine Corsini, 2009). From Czech films, MEDIA supported the distribution of Who’s Afraid of the Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál, dir. Maria Procházková, 2008) in 6 European countries with the amount of EUR 104,000.
3. - 11. 7.
The 44th International Film Festival took place in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic). The opening in the Grand Hall of the Termal hotel was attended by, in addition to festival director Jiří Bartoška and art director Eva Zaoralová, important official guests led by Czech president Václav Klaus and his wife. The first honour was presented right during the opening – Czech Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch presented the ministry’s award to festival art director Eva Zaoralová for development of Czech culture for 2009. Films competed in the international competition of feature films and in the international competition of documentary film (in the categories up to thirty minutes and over thirty minutes). The feature films jury led by famous French producer Claudie Ossard included for the Czech Republic the successful ad director Ivan Zachariáš. Fourteen films were included in the main competition including the coproduction Slovak – Czech film Peace in the Soul (Pokoj v duši, 2009) directed by Vladimír Balko with screenplay by Czech screenwriter Jiří Křižan. No Czech film got to the main competition. Another competition section was entitled From East to West, mapping the current production of films of Central and Eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union. Zdeněk Tyc’s film Not a Chance (El Paso, 2009, CR) was selected for this competition and the jury included Czech director Maria Procházková. Film in the Forum of Independents competed for the Independent Camera award given in conjunction with CZECH TELEVISION. The programme featured honours to American independent screenwriter and director Alan Rudolph and to French filmmaker Patrice Chéreau. The Open Eyes section present exceptional film works and the Horizons informative section offered films awarded at various “large” festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice). The collection of films Another View focused on auteur films, unique films both formally and content-wise and allowed viewers to become acquainted with unknown films. The screening entitled Variet Critics’ Choice offered films of European production selected by reviewers of the renowned magazine. The prestigious group of films selected by Variety’s critics included Maria Procházková’s Who’s Afraid of the Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál, 2008, CR). The screening Russia in Feminine presented films of Russian, female directors and the section Tokyo FilmeX offered three films made by Japanese independent director Sion Sono. The Musical Odyssey section presented an interesting gathering of musicians and filmmakers. A selection of Czech films 2008 – 2009 presented Czech films from this period. The Crystal Globe Grand Prix went to the film of Belgian-Canadian productions Un Ange à la mer (dir. Fréderic Dumont, 2009), the award for best documentary film (up to 30 minutes) to the film Wagah (dir. Supriyo Sen, 2009, Germany – India – Pakistan), the award for best documentary film (over 30 minutes) to the film Osadné (dir. Marko Škop, 2009, SR – CR). The Main Prize in the From East to West section went to Russian director Andrei Khrzhanovski for the film Poltori komnaty ili sentimentalnoye putyeshestviye na rodinu (2008, Russia), while the CZECH TELEVISIOM Independent Camera award in the Forum of Independents section went to Margaret Corkery, director of Eamon (2008, Ireland). The FIPRESCI award went to Nize kraj (dir. Vinko Brešan, 2008, Croatia – Serbia), the award of the ecumenical jury to Bist (dir. Abdolreza Kahani, 2009, Iran) and NETPAC award to Ddongpari (dir. Yang Ik–june, 2009, Korea). The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was attended by several famous figures of film from all over the world: director Miloš Forman was on hand to introduce the premiere of his film A Well Paid Walk (Dobře placená procházka, 2009, CR), before the screening of the French competition film Villa Amalia (dir. Benoît Jacquot, 2009) in which she played French film and theatre director Isabelle Hupert was presented with a Crystal Globe for exceptional artistic contribution to world cinema. The same award was presented to American actor, director and producer John Malkovich and Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer. The award of the festival president was personally presented to Spanish-American actor Antonio Banderas.
7. 7.
As part of The 44th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary the premiere of Juraj Herz's film T.M.A (2009, ČR – SR) wal held.
8., 13., 15. 7. and 3., 7., 8., 10., 17., 22., 24. and 30. 9.
On the occasion of receiving a special award of the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for extraordinary contribution to world film and on his 75th birthday, which Jan Švankmajer celebrated on 4. 9. 2009, the National Film Archive organized at its screening hall Ponrepo at Bio Konvikt in Prague, an extensive retrospective of the work of this director and artist. The screening presented not only all of Švankmajer’s feature and short films, but also films of filmmakers sharing with Švankmajer a common outlook, or by artists that inspired or anticipated his work. These individuals are Jean Epstein, Miloš Forman, Charles Bowers, Georges Franju, Karel Vachek and surrealistic filmmakers from the 1960s such as Ado Kyrou, Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk.
9. 7.
The film A Well Paid Walk (Dobře placená procházka, 2009, CR) started its path through Czech cinemas. It was shot by director Miloš Forman on the stage of the National Theatre in Prague, according to the production prepared by his sons Petr and Matěj. Right before that the film had its premier at the 44th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary which the director personally presented.
10. - 12. 7.
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival included the Czech film by Gustav Machatý Eroticon (Erotikon, 1929). The Film was lent by National Film Archive, Prague.
11. - 12. 7.
Seventieth birthday of Czech singer Karel Gott (14. 7. 1939) was commemorated by a screening at the Scala cinema in Brno (CR) of little know documentary films from 1967 – 1986. These are films that capture Karel Gott at the start and peak of his career. The first film of the mini-festival was the 12-minute film On (He, dir. Vladimír Drha) from 1968, a light-hearted documentary on the young singer’s female fans. The next film was Karel Gott or I'll Follow Happiness (Karel Gott aneb Jdi za štěstím) that was shot in 1970 by leading Czech documentary filmmaker Jan Špáta. Fourty years later Špáta’s daughter Olga shot a documentary length entitled The Gott Phenomenon (Fenomén Gott, 2009). The programme also features the short animated film Dorothy and the Singer (Dorotka a zpěvák, dir. Božena Možíšová) from 1972 in which Gott’s voice plays an indispensable role. The festival’s longest film was simply titled Karel Gott. It was created in 1977 – 1986 using footage from dozens of live performances, unofficial interviews and documentary shots to the private life of the greatest Czech post-war pop star. The then director of Čs. filmexport Jiří Janoušek worked on it together with cinematographers Jan Malíř, Jan Spála and editor Alois Fišárek.
13. - 18. 7.
The Festival of Sci-fi Films was held in Bohumín (Czech Republic). The viewers themselves chose the sci-fi genre for this film festival. In the poll taken by the municipal agency K3 Bohumín over 1,000 people of roughly 1,400 voted for it. Other possible genres included famous war or crime films, art films, old Czech comedies or films based on comics. Sci-fi fans had the chance to see THX 1138 (dir. George Lucas, 1971, USA), Solaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972, USSR), Icarus XB 1 (Ikarie XB 1, dir. Jindřich Polák, 1963, CR), The Day the Earth Stood Still (dir. Scott Derrickson, 2008 USA), X-Men origins: Wolverine (dir. Gavin Hood, 2009, USA) and Star Trek (dir. J. J. Abrams, 2009, USA – Germany).
14. 7. and 2., 7., 9., 15., 18. and 23. 9.
Under the title Mozzhukhin – The Flaming Gaze a screening of films, in which the great Russian actor Ivan Mozzhukhin (26. 9. 1889 – 18. 1. 1939) played, was held. The screening at the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague followed Mozzhukhin’s development in the films of Jakov Protazanov: Pikovaya dama (1916, Russia), Satana likuyushchi (1917, Russia), Bogatyr duhka (1918, USSR), Otyec Sergei (1918, USSR), of Pyotr Chardynin: Domik v Kolomnye (1913, Russia), of Alexander Volkov: La maison du mystère (1922, France), , of Marcel L’Herbier: Feu Mathias Pascal (1925, France), Casanova (1926, France) and Vyacheslav Turzhansky: Michel Strogoff (1926, France). On the film L’enfant du carnaval (1921, France) Mozzhukhin worked with Alexandre Volkoff – he wrote the screenplay for himself and partner Natalya Lisenko.
16. 7.
American composer and pianist Philip Glass performed at the Congress Centre in Prague. This leading representative of minimalism in contemporary classical music and award-winning composer of film and theatre music came to present a chamber aspect of his work to the Czech audience. Before the performance Glass shared his recollection of his first and at that time only performance in 1966 at Archa theatre (former of Theatre E. F. Burian) where he had invited Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg as a guest. The programme also featured violoncellist Wendy Sutter performing. She peformed works from the project Songs and Poems for Solo Cello written by Glass especially for her. Sutter was then replaced by percussionist Mick Rossi, who accompanied Glass. Only in the ensuing composition entitled Tissues known from the film Naqoyqatsi (2002) directed by Godfrey Reggio did the three musicians all share the stage. The seventy-two-year-old Philip Glass is, in addition to Naqoyqatsi, the composer of music for another three non-traditionally conceived films by Reggio. He was nominated for an Oscar for his music to Martin Scorsese’s film Kundun (1997) and his musical accompaniment to Peter Weir’s film Truman Show (1998) won a Golden Globe.
16. - 19. 7.
The 17th Festival for the Jewish Quarter – Boskovice 2009 – Multicultural Festival of Music, Theatre, Film and Exhibitions was held in Boskovice (Czech Republic). It is geared toward promoting the unique urban monument in this South Moravian town and also presents points of interest such as from the music, theatre and film scene, exhibitions, author readings and plenty of other events. The festival has been organized by the Unijazz association for cultural activities since 1993. For 2009 there was prepared, among other things, a film profile of Slovak director Dušan Hanák and also films concerning the theme of war and violence. The screening included the Czech film A Short Long Journey (Krátká dlouhá cesta, dir. Martin Hanzlíček, 2009), the CZECH TELEVISION film Jan Palach’s Message (Poselství Jana Palacha, dir. Kristina Vlachová, 2009), Gustáv Husák Centre Stage (V hlavní roli Gustáv Husák, dir. Robert Sedláček, Michal Kubal, 2008), the film from the Ostrava studio of CZECH TELEVISION Letters from the Condemnet Cell (Dopisy z cely smrti, dir. Marcel Petrov, 2008), The Kulak Operation (Akce Kulak, dir. Ján Novák, 2008) from the CZECH TELEVISION documentary series Secret Acts of the Czech Secret Police, The Lone Soldier in the Field (Sám voják v poli, dir. Jiří Fiedor, 2008) from the CZECH TELEVISION series Unknown Heroes – Unsettled Lives (Neznámí hrdinové – Pohnuté osudy), the television documentary Jazz Section (Jazzová sekce, dir. Aleš Kisil, 2008), mapping the activities of this organization and the film The Fateless Person (Člověk bez osudu, dir. Lájos Koltai, 2005, Hungary – Germany – Great Britain).
17. 7. - 2. 8.
The 5th International Music Festival – Prague Proms was held in Prague which offered jazz and classical music concerts aimed at a broad audience. The organizers were inspired by the famous London festival BBC Proms. The festival was concluded with a flight into space. The concert entitled Space Night was dominated by a screening of the film of scientist and astronaut José Francisko Salgado, which was accompanied by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Libor Pešek. The film was created as a visual accompaniment to the seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets by British composer Gustav Holst. The hour-long film shown on a large screen over the orchestra dominated the entire concert and held the audience’s attention. It showed historical illustrations, shots of the satellits and Moon and animation of the solar system acquired by NASA instruments or created by the Salgado himself.
21. 7.
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům in Prague held the ceremonial premiere of the Polish-Czech co-production The Danube Operation (Operace Dunaj/Operacja Dunaj, 2009) by director Jacek Głomb.
21. 7.
The annual report of the Czech Ministry of Culture showed that, of the organizations receiving contributions, the National Institute for the Care of Monuments has the highest profit share at thirty percent. In second place is the National Film Archive with a twenty-two percent share, followed by the Moravian Gallery in Brno with eleven percent. The share of other organization is just under five percent.
21. - 25. 7.
A festival of films shot in the Litoměřice region (Czech Republik) was held at the Litoměřice Summer Cinema. The organizers prepared for viewers a screening of Czech films that included The Star Called Wormwood (Hvězda zvaná Pelyněk, dir. Martin Frič, 1964), the Czech-German film Dog Overboard (Dobrodružství na Labi/Hund über Bord, dir. Thomas Kuschel, 1971), Boys Will Be Boys (Páni kluci, dir. Věra Plívová-Šimková, 1975) and Magus (Mág., dir. František Vláčil, 1987). The festival included a screening of the portrait of a comic actor of Czech origins Felix Holzmann.
23. - 25. 7.
The Orlická Gate cultural festival was held in Žamberk (Czech Republic). Screened during the week-long festival of theatre, dance and other cultural programmes were the films Old Lady (Bába, dir. Zuzana Špidlová-Kirchnerová, 2008) and Cooking History (Jak se vaří dějiny/Ako sa varia dejiny, 2009, SR – Austria – CR) by director Peter Kerekes.
24. 7. - 2. 8.
The 35th Summer Film School 2009 in Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republik) was held. The main themes were Austrian and Belgian film. The screening of Belgian films entitled A Different Belgium presented Surrealistic filmmakers, as well as, for instance, the work of Raoul Servais and Joc van Dormael. The Fokus Austria cycle included silent films and contemporary film. Silent film was represented by the work of Johann Schwarzer, the first Austrian female director Luis Fleck and Sascha Kolowrat, the first major Austrian producer. Another cycle was Across Europe: migration as a syndrom. It presents the life of nomadic Gypsies and those Hollywood filmmakers that, due to political reasons, work outside the “factory of dreams”. The cycle Frozen Image was devoted to the relation between comics and film and the artists from both sides whose work concerned both comics and films. Comics in Czech film was represented by Václav Vorlíček, namely his collaboration with Miloš Macourek. The Visegrad Horizon presented the work from Central Europe, i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia; the cycle Retrospectives of a Central European Film Space commemorated the documentary films of Věra Chytilová (2. 2. 1929) upon the occasion of the her 80th birthday. In addition to significant works of contemporary Polish film, an actor profile of Zbigniew Cybulski and of director Jerzy Skolimowski was screened as part of the programme 100 Years of Polish film. Slovak films were screened on figures celebrating jubilee years – director Peter Solan (25. 4. 1929) and screenwriter and teacher Ondrej Šulaj (26. 9. 1949). The work of director Peter Bacsó (6. 1. 1928 – 11. 3. 2009) and the enfant terrible of Hungarian film György Pálfi was screened from Hungary. Rewriting the Past – films on the edge (1989) was a cycle that focussed on films twenty years ago succumbed to social changes and were never released into Czech distribution or appeared only marginally in it. The Film Reader cycle: French Neo-Baroque presented the auteur trend in French film that was the first to contest the legacy of the French new wave and made use of so-called advertising aesthetics (cinéma du look) and documented it in the works of Leos Carax, Jean Jacques Beineix, Luc Besson and others. Film and Live Music was a cycle that presented restored or rare copies of films accompanied by invited musicians from the Czech Republic and abroad. A number of domestic and foreign music ensembles were present on this occasion in Uherské Hradiště. Musical guest of the festival Suzanne Vega, a singer-songwriter from New York, performed at a separate concert. The Association of Czech Film Clubs awarded several annual awards at the Summer Film School: to Belgian director Joc van Dormael, to Slovak filmmaker and teacher Ondrej Šulaj, to Czech director Václav Vorlíček, to Belgian animated filmmaker Raoul Sevais and to member of the Association of Czech Film Clubs Jaromíra Pilařová.
31. 7. - 9. 8.
Kutná Hora (Czech Republik) opened during ten summer days its gates to the “zeroeth” annual GASK Artfest. Fans of the alternative music scene and of film and contemporary art attended. The three evening film screenings included the films Lasso (2001) and Thriller (2002), directed by Finnish filmmaker Salla Tykkä, the film Rock My Religion (1984) by director Dan Graham and an experimental film classic by French director Chris Marker, La jetée (1962).
31. 7. - 9. 8.
Písek (Czech Republic) hosted The 1st River Film Fest. The festival’s programme offered a total of 170 feature films and 150 short films. The programme was divided into several cycles: The greatest adaptations of Kafka’s works made up the cycle The World of Josef K., Czechoslovak films of the 1960s comprised the series of the Golden Sixties, the series Figures and Anniversaries overlapped with the series Ten Films that Shook the World, where as both set out to capture historically and technically major film works or to bring to light Czech and foreign figures celebrating major anniversaries. The main star of the cycle Figures and Anniversaries was present in Písek American director Terry Gilliam director of e.g. The Fisher King (1991, USA) and 12 Monkeys (1995, USA). The most interesting current films were included in the cycles Visegrad Novelties and Echoes of Festivals. The latter presented works from Cannes, Berlin and Venice and from amateur festivals. The series of Argentine films offered older and contemporary films from this South American country. The festival featured a number of accompanying events such as the 70th anniversary of the Film Review (Filmový přehled) published by the National Film Archive in Prague, music concerts, theatre performances and poetry evenings. The Miroslav Ondříček Award was presented to American director and screenwriter Terry Gilliam, Czech director Věra Chytilová and film critic A. J. Liehm.