I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. - 3. 6.
Czech actor and mime Boleslav Polívka’s 60th birthday (31. 7. 1949) was commemorated by the chamber film festival at Scala cinema in Brno (Czech Republic). Viewers watched films from the 1980s and 90s in which Polívka played the lead role. These films included The Last Trap (Poslední leč, dir. Vladimír Sís, 1981), Calamity (Kalamita, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1981), The Jester and the Queen (Šašek a královna, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1987), Tender Barbarian (Něžný barbar, dir. Petr Koliha, 1989) and Forgotten Light (Zapomenuté světlo, dir. Vladimír Michálek, 1996). Bolek Polívka did not personally attend the festival, but did create a greeting that was screened before each film.
2., 4., 8., 11., 12., 16., 19. and 22. 6.
Ponrepo, the screening hall of the National Film Archive at Bio Konvikt in Prague, held a screening of films of the major Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo entitled On the Island of the Rising Sun. Viewers could see the films Gembaku no ko (1952), Daigo Fukuryu-Maru, 1959), Onibaba (1964), Hadaka no shima (1960), Sei no kigen (1966), Honnó (1967), Kagéro (1969) and Hadaka no jukyu-sai (1970).
3. 6.
The ceremonial premiere of Jiří Chlumský’s Broken Promise (Nedodržený slib/Nedodržaný sľub, 2009, CR – SR) took place at Village Cinemas Anděl in Prague.
3. - 9. 6.
The drama Želary (2003, CR – Austria – SR) by director Ondřej Trojan opened in Paris a screening of Czech films created over the last two decades. The film was personally introduced by actress Aňa Geislerová, who was the film’s leading actress. The films included Czech award winners such as The Return of the Idiot (Návrat idiota, dir. Saša Gedeon, 1999, CR – Germany), Kolya (Kolja, dir. Jan Svěrák, 1996, CR – Great Britain – France), Something Like Happiness (Štěstí, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2005, CR – Germany), Who’s Afraid of the Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál, dir. Maria Procházková, 2008) and Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008) were screened at L’entrêpot cinema in Paris on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
4. - 6. 6.
“Our film stars don’t require caviar” was the motto of the 3rd annual International Film Festival of (Non)actors with Mental and Combined Disabilities – Mental Power Prague that took place at Palace Theatre in Prague. The jury awarded the prize for best film to Articapped (Postiženi uměním, dir. Patrik Henel, David Sychra, 2009) that was created in the company HENDAVER, o. s., in the Protected Workshops of St. Prokop at the Red Maple. The jury’s special award went to ÚSP Těchobuz for the film The Young Prince (Malý princ, dir. Jiří Svoboda, 2009, CR – SR – Poland). The jury awarded the prize for best spoken word to the Green Home of Comfort Hodonín and to the Children’s Home Vřesovice for the film A World with the Scent of Menthol (Svět s vůní mentolu, dir. Kateřina Hornová, 2009). The Award for best leading actor went to Marek Švihovec from Medialog, o. s., for his role as the warlock in the film Hocus Pocus or the Brave Prince (Hokus pokus aneb O statečném princi, dir. Jana Hnilicová, 2009), the award for best lead actress went to Alena Kučerová and Jiřina Čížková from the Home at the Little Well Lanškroun for their roles as the aunt and police woman in the film The Country Aunt (Venkovská tetka, dir. Petr Hubálek, 2009). Awards for best supporting actors went to Láďa Krupa and Radek Kovář from the Home under the Castle Žampach for their roles as sound engineer and cameraman in the film Is Bigfoot here? (Je tu Yetti?, dir. Petra Vinšová, Markéta Novotná, 2009). The award for best supporting actress went to Anna Kasprzyková from ÚSP Těchobuz for the role of the fox in the film Young Prince (Malý princ). The award for best screenplay went to the company Arpida, České Budějovice for the film Jam Blond: A Film about a Film (Džem blond: film o filmu, dir. Jiří Merta, 2009). This film also received the Taťána Kuchařová award. The award for best camera work went to Sociální služby p. o., Prostějov for the film Threshold Passed (Překročený práh, dir. Jakub Jansa, Pavla Sobotová, 2009).
4. 6. - 31. 7.
An exhibition of film posters of Karel Vaca (21. 7. 1919 – 31. 3. 1989), painter, graphic artist, illustrator, and set designer was held at Prague’s Světozor cinema. Karel Vaca created more posters than any other artist devoted to this type of applied art. There were 289 of them and they were created from the end of the 1950s till 1988. The exhibition was the eighth part of the series the Golden Era of Czechoslovak Film Posters.
5. 6.
Artistically designed film clapboards were auctioned in Zlín (Czech Republic) for the twelfth time. The small parlour for film clapboards is part of the The 49th International Festival of Films for Children and Youth ZLÍN 2009 – Competition Screening of Feature and Animated Films. There were a total of 137 clapboards and all of them sold. The most expensive work was Maroš Churý’s clapboard entitled Esto Es Un Robo. It was auctioned for CZK 156,000. As in preceding years the money goes to the Film School Zlín and its students use it for their projects.
5. - 7. 6.
The Atlas and Evald cinemas in Prague hosted the 3rd Non-Competition Festival Psycho Film Praha at which films with themes concerning psychiatry, psychology and sexology were screened. The main theme of the third year of the festival – psychiatric care – related to the 100th year anniversary of the existence of the Psychiatric Treatment Centre in the Bohnice district of Prague. The programme included the Czech films Psychodrama (Psychodráma, dir. Jozef Zachar, 1964), Birdies, Orphans and Fools (Vtáčkovia, siroty a blázni, dir. Juraj Jakubisko, 1969, Czechoslovakia), When the Soul Hurts (Když bolí duše) and Years with the Enemy (Roky s nepřítelem) both by director Dagmar Smržová from 2007, Ow! (Au!, dir. Alena Činčerová, 2007) and Pedophilia: Treatment and Punishment (Pedofilie: Léčba a trest, dir. Dagmar Smržová, Jiří Skála, 2007).
8. 6.
The Pavel Koutecký award for unique documentary work went to director Tomáš Škrdlant for his time-lapse documentary Unwelcome (Nevítaní, 2009). The jury’s special award went to Lukáš Přibyl’s documentary film Forgotten Transport – To Poland (Zapomenuté transporty – Do Polska, 2009). The Pavel Koutecký award was presented in 2009 for the third time.
9. 6.
Czech Literary Fund Foundation awards ceremony for 2008 was held in Prague. In the category of film and TV work Lukáš Přibyl won for his story idea, research, screenplay and directing of the documentary series Forgotten Transports (Zapomenuté transporty) – To Latvia (Do Lotyšska, 2007) – To Belarus (Do Běloruska) and To Estonia (Do Estonska) both from 2008.
10. 6.
The Summer Cinema of Prague's radio station Regina held the ceremonial premiere of the feature film The Case of Unfaithful Klára (Případ nevěrné Kláry/Il caso dell' infedele Klara, dir. Roberto Faenza, 2009, Italy – CR).
10. - 12. 6.
The 12th Videoscreening of Museums of the Czech Republic – MUSAIONFILM was held. The thirty films that the screening offered, mostly coming from the production of the museums themselves, were directed by museum workers. The main screening consisted of six programme blocks: Museum Events of the year, Discoverer’s Trip of the Year, Museums, memorials, techniques, Personalities, Art and tradition and archive photography and films. Among those films shot in 2008 and 2009 were, for instance, the film Bohuslav Martinů (1890 – 1959) (dir. Martin and Marcel Steckerovi, 2008, entered by: The National Museum-Czech Museum of Music), the time-lapse documentary film Digitising Langweil's model of Prague (Digitalizace Langweilova modelu Prahy, dir. KIT digital Czech, 2009, entered by: The City of Prague Museum), the documentary film on blind sculptors Look sculpture (Hele socha, dir. Michal Zábrš, 2009, entered by: Vysočiny Museum), the slide-show Ležáky, the orchard that didn’t shut up (Ležáky, osada, která nemlčela, dir. Václav Hron, 2009, entered by: The Lidice Memorial) and the documentary Stories of Prague’s Tubular Post (Příběhy pražské potrubní pošty, dir. Jaromír Šlápota, 2009 entered by: The National Technical Museum).
10., 17. and 24. 6.
A file festival took place as part of the photography exhibition “Prague from One Spring to the Next 1968 –1969” in Chiesa di S. Francesco in Udine (Italy). The festival featured the screening of the Czech films History 8 (Dějiny na osm, dir. Václav Táborský, 1968), The Joke (Žert, dir. Jaromil Jireš, 1968), , Funeral Ceremonies (Smuteční slavnost, dir. Zdenek Sirový, 1969), Decoy (Pasťák, dir. Hynek Bočan, 1968/1990), The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night (Den sedmý, osmá noc, 1969)and Confusion (Zmatek, 1968/1990) – both directed by Evald Schorm.
11. - 14. 6.
The 11th Summer Film Marathon 2009 – THAT TIME in the Balkans + Slovenia’s Film took place in Vsetín (Czech Republic) at the Vatra cinema. The programme primarily focused on films from Slovenia, but there were also works from Macedonia and Romania. A profile of Slovenia consisted of 7 films shot mainly at the turn of the 21st century, most of them were promising film debuts awarded at many festivals. The most interesting included the low-budget film V leru (1999) by Janez Burger (a FAMU graduate), telling the story of an eternal student at Lublijana dormitories, a surreal comedy on travelling Ekspres, ekspres (dir. Igor Šterk, 1996) and in the independent attempt at a gangster comedy Tu pa tam (dir. Mitja Okorn, 2004). Older Slovenian films were represented by Ples v dežju (dir. Boštjan Hladnik, 1961). An interesting contribution included the silent Czech film with sound added Tonka of the Gallows (Tonka Šibenice, dir. Karel Anton) from 1930 in which the leading role was played by Slovenian film star Ita Rina (real name Ida Kravanja). The summer film marathon was attended by Macedonian director Ivo Trajkov, who lives and works in the Czech Republic. His experimental film The Past (Minulost) from 1998 in a Czech-Macedonian co-production was shown.
12. 6.
Přemysl Šoba from the Association of Cinema Operators became the new chairman of the Board of the State Funds of the Czech Republic for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography. Script editor and teacher Jiří Kubíček and film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková were elected as deputy chairpeople. Other members of the Board are Russian literature expert Tomáš Glanc, the president of The Association of Czech Cinematographers Josef Hanuš, director Ludvík Klega, producer Kateřina Ondřejková, film teacher Milica Pechánková, producer Vladimír Soják and film critic and theoretician Jan Svačina. Three places remain unoccupied. The Board members discussed at the first meeting the concept of cinema digitising and dealt with the individual requests for the fund’s support.
12. - 21. 6.
The 9th Krimifest HB CHODOV was held in Chodov at Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic). The films were screened in the Malá scéna cinema at the Chodov Cultural and Social Centre. Awards ceremony guests included film director Dušan Klein and theatre and film actress Zlata Adamovská. The award for the best film of the 9th Krimifest HB CHODOV went to the coproduction film The (Baader Meinhof Komplex/Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, dir. Uli Edel, 2008, Germany – France – CR), the viewers’ choice award went to the American film Angels & Demons (dir. Hon Howard, 2009). The award for contribution to an original Czech crime thrillers went to film and television director and screenwriter Dušan Klein. Special thanks for cooperation was given to the distribution companies FALCON, SPI International Czech Republik and Special Awards of the ČSOB went to the film Angels Gone (Normal, dir. Julius Ševčík, 2009, CR – Macedonia) distributed by BONTONFILM, a. s.
13. - 17. 6.
The 46th International Television Festival – Golden Prague 2009, a competition festival focussed on television series in the area of music and dance across all genres was held. The two prizes – of the VIZE 97 Foundation of Dagmar and Václav Havel and the festival viewers’ choice award went to the documentary on Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená entitled Magdalena... A Little Film about a Great Singer (Magdalena... menší film o velké zpěvačce, dir. Ondřej Havelka, 2008, CR). The Film was produced in Brno Studïo of CZECH TELEVISION and in co-production with C.E.M.A. Company (Central European Music Agency).
13. - 21. 6.
In the competition of the International Film Festival in Shanghai (China) Czech director Julius Ševčík won the award for best director for the film Angels Gone (Normal, 2009, CR – Macedonia). The category A screening is one of the largest in east Asia.
15. 6.
Soul (South Korea) hosted in conjunction with National Film Archive, Prague a screen of the Czech films Icarus XB 1 (Ikarie XB 1, dir. Jindřich Polák, 1963) and The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (Tajemství hradu v Karpatech, dir. Oldřich Lipský, 1981).
17. 6. - 13. 9.
Prague Public Transport operated a summer cinema in 22 places in Prague and the near vicinity. It was screened from a bus equipped with an inflatable screen for this purpose. The screen stood approximately 25 meters in front of the bus. 180 seats were available. The screening began with the Czech film Shameless (Nestyda, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2008) on Petřín Hill in Prague, followed by the Czech films Cutting It Short (Postřižiny, dir. Jiří Menzel, 1980), Snowdrops and Show-offs (Sněženky a machři, dir. Karel Smyczek, 1982), From Subway with Love (Román pro ženy, dir. Filip Renč, 2005), A Country Teacher (Venkovský učitel, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2008, CR – Germany – France), English Strawberries (Anglické jahody, dir. Vladimír Drha, 2008, CR – SR – The Ukraine), , Thawing Out (Sněženky a machři po 25 letech, dir. Viktor Tauš, 2008), Tobruk (dir. Václav Marhoul, 2008, CR – SR) and Grapes (Bobule, dir. Tomáš Bařina, 2008).
18. 6.
At the Žofín building in Prague a final farewell was bid to the late Czech singer Waldemar Matuška (2. 7. 1932 – 30. 5. 2009). The morning part of the funeral was attended by over 500 guests, family members and friends from the ranks of singers and actors. Among those in attendance was Czech president Václav Klaus. The funeral was commenced with the song Ghost Riders In The Sky and a speech by the president of the Actors’ Association Václav Postránecký. This was followed by speeches by singers Helena Vondráčková, Karel Gott, Jiří Suchý and Matuška’s son Waldemar. After the speeches a performance was made by the group K.T.O., joined by Matuška’s wife, Olga. The funeral was opened to the public around noon. Estimates have around ten thousand people coming to bid farewell to Waldemar Matuška. The artist was laid to rest at Vyšehrad cementary. Waldemar Matuška played numerous roles in Czech films, including in If a Thousand Clarinets (Kdyby tisíc klarinetů, dir. Ján Roháč, Vladimír Svitáček, 1964), The Phantom of Morrisville (Fantom Morrisvillu, dir. Bořivoj Zeman, 1966) and All Good Countrymen (Všichni dobří rodáci, dir. Vojtěch Jasný, 1968).
18. - 20. 6.
Students of three European film schools shot, edited and completed during the course of the 5th International Festival on European Film Arts Telč – Arts&Film 2009 short films on Telč (Czech Republik), where the festival was held. The festival’s organizers established a new tradition and the Telč town hall thus acquired several films on the town for its archive. The 235 films entered from 32 countries were divided into five categories. They covered the area of the fine arts, architecture and design, music, dramatic art, film and literature, folk and naive art and arts and crafts. The new category entitled Film Future 3000 consisted of a screening of experimental student work from art schools from the Czech Republic and abroad. The festival was attended by Czech-Swiss director Bernard Šafařík. Šafařík presented his short film on the fine arts, the feature film on Czech in exile Hunderennen (1983, Switzerland) and the television film Lanďák (1998, CR) on Czech actor Pavel Landovský, who also took part in the festival and discussion on films. Another important guest was director Vojtěch Jasný. He was present during the screening of his Film Desire (Touha) from 1958 and also presented his film Why Havel? (Proč Havel?) shot in 1991 in Canadian-Czech production. The festival was opened by an exhibition of photography of the late director Pavel Koutecký (10. 6. 1956 – 13. 4. 2006), a native of Telč. The jury awarded the Grand Prix – the Vojtěch Jasný Award – to film Jiří Anderle – The Dialogues (Jiří Anderle – Dialogy, dir. Antonín Daňhel, 2004, CR). The film also won first place in category I – The fine arts in all areas and fields. The Czech Inspiration Award for an exceptional work of art went to A Person from Paradise (Člověk z ráje, 2009, CR) by director Jan Loučím. In category III – Music, dramatic art, film and literature 2nd place went to the film Land of Destiny (Krajina osudu, dir. Petr Kolaja, 2009, CR), 3rd place for the film made for television Gentleman Josef Škvorecký (dir. Petr Kaňka, 2009, CR), the jury’s prizes went to the CZECH TELEVISION films Jaroslav Ježek (dir. Aleš Kisil, 2008, CR), the 3rd part of the Three Officers (Tři strážníci) series, The Confessions of Kateryna K. (Zpověď Kateryny K., dir. Miroslav Janek, 2008, CR) and to Jana Štěpánková (dir. Alena Činčerová, 2009, CR) – part from the television series Unusual Lives (Neobyčejné životy). In category V – FILM FUTURE 3000 1st place went to the animated film Radio Kebrle (dir. Zdeněk Durdil, 2006, CR), 2nd place to Old Lady (Bába, dir. Zuzana Špidlová-Kirchnerová, 2008, CR). The jury’s prizes went to the FAMU films Little Lies (Malé lži, dir. William Anthony Lee, 2008, CR) and The Dazzlement (Oslnění, dir. Vladimír Kovář, 2007, CR).
18. - 20. 6.
Poděbrady (Czech Republic) hosted the 8th International Television and Film Festival of Central Bohemia – The Crystal Heart Poděbrady 2009 that presented 76 feature and documentary films from the Czech Republic and abroad to viewers. The various films competed for the festival’s Grand Prix in three categories – modern living, healthy life style and free time. The festival also featured musical performances, fashion shows and the opening of an exhibition of pictures by František Ringo Čech. The Crystal Heart Main Prix went to the following films: in the category of modern living to the film for television Satellites (Satelity, dir. Aleš Kisil, 2007), in the category of healthy life style to the film for television “Healed Scars” – Renata Has Her Own Address („Zahojené jizvy” – Renata má vlastní adresu, dir. Marie Šandová, 2009) produced in the co-production of CZECH TELEVISION and Sanda company from the series Restart, and in the category of free time the CZECH TELEVISION Brno Once a Week to the Hilt (Jednou týdně naplno, dir. Erika Hníková, 2008) from the series Our Czech Nature (Ta naše povaha česká). Honourable Mention went to the cycle of films Diagnosis (Diagnóza) produced by Jaromír Herskovič – HERAFILM, specialising in science and technology programmes on the television and other media, and to Petr Bělík for Concorde and Parkour (Concorde a Parkour, 2008) from TV NOVA and director Petr Hátle of FAMU for the film Heroes/Das Konzept (2008, CR).
19. - 28. 6.
The 31st International Film Festival took place in Moscow. Among the 220 films from around the world organizers included Vladimír Drha’s English Strawberries (Anglické jahody, 2008, CR – SR – The Ukraine). It was screened outside the main competition as part of the screening of films “with a trace of Russian”.
19. - 28. 6.
An International Festival of Independent Films took place in Lille (France). In the section In Honour of Jiří Menzel there were screened in conjunction with the National Film Archive in Prague screens including Capricious Summer (Rozmarné léto, 1967) and Skylarks on the Strings (Skřivánci na niti, 1969).
20. - 27. 6.
The 17th Film Festival Artfilm Fest was held in Trenčianske Teplice and in Trenčín (Slovak Republic). Festival visitors could see over 150 films and fifteen films competed for the Blue Angel award. The Actor’s Mission Award went to Czech actor Jaromír Hanzlík and to British actor Jeremy Irons, who received it in person. Plaques with their names were affixed to the bridge of fame. The bridge, spanning the river in Trenčianske Teplice, also bears plaques of Franco Nero, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif. The film The Power of the Powerless (2009, USA), shot by American documentary filmmaker Cory Taylor and inspired by the events of November 1989 in former Czechoslovakia, had its Slovak premiere here. The film, with commentary spoken by Jeremy Irons, has already been presented at several festivals in America and in Poland. At the close of the festival Czech director Věra Chytilová received a Golden Camera award. Italian director Ettore Scola received the same award.
21. 6.
Seventy-five-year-old Radomír Koutek from Zlín (Czech Republic) can boast of an unusual hobby. The electronic engineer has from childhood been fascinated by optics, photography and film. Over his life he has amassed a unique collection of over a hundred historical film cameras and film projectors, all of which he still maintains in working order. His love of filming eventually set Radomír Koutek’s professional course as well. As a sound master he worked in Zlín Film Studios for nearly three decades and worked with such legends of Czech film as directors Karel Zeman and Hermína Týrlová.
21. - 27. 6.
The 56th annual Festival of Advertisements took place in Cannes (France). The Bronze Lion in the category of film went to the agency Euro RSCG with its ad shot for the National Museum in Prague. Euro RSCG is one of the leading domestic advertising agencies; it placed second in 2009 behind Mark/BBDO in the competition organized by the weekly periodical Strategie in collaboration with the Association of Communication Agencies.
22. - 26. 6.
The horrors of the holocaust and Nazi evil was commemorated by a five-day screening in Prague’s Světozor cinema. The screening was part of the Stories of Injustice organized by People in Need (Člověk v tísni) that acquainted young people with the recent history of Czechoslovakia. The event organized in collaboration with the Forum 2000 Fund was accompanied by the programme of an international conference on the fate of property of holocaust victims that took place on 26. – 30. 6. in Prague. The film programme began with two screenings of the television documentary by Olga Sommerová Seven Lights (Sedm světel, 2008) that revives the memories of Jewish witnesses of the holocaust and of World War II. Another film is About a Bad Dream (O zlém snu) by director Pavel Štingl from 2000, the story of a girl who, thanks to the courage of ordinary people, survived her own death. The life story of Heda Blochová was presented by the documentary Hitler, Stalin and Me (Hitler, Stalin a já, 2001) by Helena Třeštíková, the lives of the Romany during World War II was dealt with by the film by director Břetislav Rychlík Oh, You Little Black Birds (Ó tu kálo čiriklóro/Ó, ty černý ptáčku, 1997). The last work of the festival was the documentary film Forgotten Transports – To Poland (Zapomenuté transporty – Do Polska, dir. Lukáš Přibyl, 2009) that sheds light on the fates of several men and women from Czechoslovakia transported to workcamps in Poland.
23. 6.
Archive representatives presented a DVD called Remembering and Forgetting (Vzpomínky a zapomínání) in the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague. This day was chosen because 65 years had passed since the inspection by the International Red Cross of the Terezín Ghetto. The inspection attested to the Nazi propaganda of a “happy city”. A Swiss member of the delegation had at that time provided proof of his report with the photograph of children playing. Most of the children, however, later ended up in a gas chamber, which goes to show how easy it is to misuse an image for propaganda purposes. The five-language educational project is part of an edition put out by the National Film Archive, Prague and the company Dvanáct opic. It is focused on changes in depicting the holocaust and the possibilities of objective reflections of its events through animated, documentary and feature films. The project will culminate with the release of the DVD and DVD-ROM Remembering and Forgetting (Vzpomínky a zapomínání). The DVD contains three films awarded at the time of their creation at major film festivals. These were the Polish story Pasażerka (dir. Witold Lesiewicz, Andrzej Munk) from 1963, the animated Polish-produced Apel (dir. Ryszard Czekala) from 1971 and the Czech document The Ill-fated Child (Zlopověstné dítě) by director Lucie Králová from 2003. This unique collection of films released for the first time in the Czech Republic on DVD shows how in time recollections of the war have changed in the conscience of European society. This five-language DVD with films in Czech, English, German, Poland and Hungary language versions also contains recordings of interviews with filmmakers, photography from the time, posters and a printed educational brochure with texts of leading experts on the theme of reflecting on the holocaust in cinematography history.
24. 6.
Visitors to The City of Prague Museum could request a virtual journey through historic Prague. In the “torture chamber” there was made accessible a six-minute screening in 3D digital form of the unique Langweil model of Prague from 1826 to 1837. This is the first 3D cinema in Czech museums. The model, containing over 2,000 buildings, of which 960 do not actually exist in Prague, takes up twenty square meters of space. Thanks to the 3D digital form of Antonín Langweil’s model, visitors can enter the paper model. They were able to see places that would not have otherwise seen. According to the creators of the project from the company KIT digital Czech, 3D modelling problems lie mainly in the fact that the model could only be photographed from a certain safe distance. 300,000 photographs were taken that were through mathematical calculations reconstructed to such a form to create the computer graphic model.
24. 6.
More than forty costumes with accessories and several collections of jewels were borrowed from the Barrandov Studio by filmmakers from Ireland. They used them by the end of 2009 in the shooting of the fourth series of the successful narrated historical television series The Tudors (dir. Jeff Bleckner). Previously in 2006 – 2008 the Fundus division of Barrandov Studio lent 360 complete costumes for shooting the first of three series describing the life of English King Henry VIII. The series won the prestigious EMI award for costumes.
24. 6.
The director of the One World film festival, Igor Blaževič, presented in Prague the film Letters to the President (2009, Canada – France) that shed light on the populist practices of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The screening was part of a broader initiative in which Czech activist associated through Facebook protested against the riots in Iran that broke out after Ahmadinejad was re-elected. The film is the work of Canadian director of Czech origin Petr Lom and appeared within the framework of the One World festival.
25. 6.
The awards ceremony of the 6th International Festival of Student Animated Films was held in Hamburg (Germany). Two films from the Czech Republic were awarded: the film Whoops, Mistake! (Chybička se vloudí, dir. Aneta Kýrová, 2008) won the Hamburg viewers’ award and Stanislava Mikušová received for her film About the First Domestic Cat (O první domácí kočce, 2008) the award for the Special Guest – the country which was this year the Czech Republic.
26. 6.
Most (Czech Republic) organized for pupils and their parents a screening of films on large screens located in the municipal building. Viewers saw the animated Czech film Goat Story – Legends of Old Prague (Kozí příběh – Pověsti staré Prahy, dir. Jan Tománek, Jr., 2008) and the American musical Mamma Mia! (dir. Phyllida Loyd, 2008). There was no entry fee and the city’s media partner was Hitrádio FM, which prepared a competition for viewers. Winners could watch the films exclusively from deck chairs.
30. 6.
The Andrej Nikolaj Stankovič Awards were presented at Ponrepo, the screening hall of the National Film Archive at Bio Konvikt in Prague. In the seventh year of the awards presented by the Group of Self-Appointed Critics, i.e. the group of proponents of critical intentions of Andrej Stankovič, to an extraordinary achievement in cinema that was slighted by film critics, the Andrej Nikolaj Stankovič award went to Helena Papírníková Horáčková for her feature debut The Only Thing for Certain Is that It Will All Work Out (Naše jediná jistota je, že všechno dobře dopadne, 2008). Special recognition went to the editors of the CZECH TELEVISION’s current affairs show Unknown Heroes (Neznámí hrdinové, 2008 – 2009) and in memoriam to photographer, film artist, screenwriter and set designer Jiří Toman.