I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. - 30. 11.
The ceremonial opening of the 6th annual project Stories of Injustice – a month of film in schools was begun on 1. 11. at the Světozor cinema in Prague. Guests included former political prisoners, documentary filmmakers, teachers and students. The opening featured the announcement of the Stories of Injustice Awards decided by the student jury, the christening of the book Myths of Socialist Times and a screening of the film The Plastic People of the Universe (dir. Jana Chytilová, 2001). The 2nd annual Stories of Injustice Awards for courageous stances and acts during the communist regime went in memoriam to Ivan Medek (13. 7. 1925 – 6. 1. 2010), signatory of the Charter 77, publicist and former chancellor to President Václav Havel. Awards also went to the following activists against communist injustice: Julie Hrušková (18. 5. 1928), Jiřina Minaříková-Slámová (1927) and Pavel Wonka (23. 1. 1953 – 26. 4. 1988). The project Stories of Injustice – a month of film in schools is organized as part of the One World programme at schools by People in Need (Člověk v tísni, o. p. s.). It was created as a reaction to the insufficient teaching of modern history at basic and secondary schools. Through film – i.e. the medium the most attractive for young people – and ensuing debates with guests, students learned about Czech history. Six films were selected for the 6th annual festival. These included four short films from the cycle The Lost Soul of a Nation (Ztracená duše národa, 2001) by director Olga Sommerová, a film by Ivan Biel entitled Offsides (Postavení mimo hru, 2010) and the documentary The Plastic People of the Universe (2001). Stories of Injustice is a year-long project, during which schools are offered documentary and featured films and various aids for teaching history in more 1,600 schools. The project organizers prepared an educational packet in five languages for foreign schools. The packet was distributed via partner organizations in Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Sweden.
1. - 30. 11.
Films by French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard (3. 12. 1930), who celebrated his eightieth birthday on 3. 12., were screened at the National Film Archive’s (Národní filmový archiv) Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague under the title God 80 Art. Six older films were supplemented by his latest work Film socialisme (2010, France – Swiss) that was screened in its Prague premiere on 2. 11. after first being screened in the Czech Republic at the 14th International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava (14. mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů) (26. – 30. 10.). Another premiere at Ponrepo was the documentary film entitled Deux de la Vague (dir. Emmanuel Laurent, 2010, France), on the complicated friendship of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Part of the honour to the great internationally renowned director was the screening of the french feature-length documentary Morceaux de conversations avec Jean-Luc Godard shot by Alain Fleischer in 2007. In addition to the Venice Golden Lion and many other festival trophies, Godard received in 2002 the Præmium imperiale, traditionally regarded as the “Nobel Prize of Art”. He did personally accept this award in Tokyo (Japan), but he has since refused to personally receive any other awards.
2. - 7. 11.
The 20th annual FilmFestival Cottbus featuring Central and Eastern European films took place in the German town of Cottbus. Over 140 films from over forty countries were presented at it. Czech cinematography was represented by seven films: Petr Jákl Jr.s’ film Kajínek (2010) vied for the main prize; included in the Spectrum section were the films Dreamers (Zoufalci, dir. Jitka Rudolfová, 2009) and Walking Too Fast (Pouta, dir. Radim Špaček, 2010). Czech film was mostly featured in the section of short films, in which four films were screened including I Like Nora (Nora sa mi páči, 2009) from a Slovak student of Prague’s FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) whose artist name is Aramisova.
2. - 28. 11.
The exhibition entitled Light! Camera! Action! devoted to the history of film figures and enthusiasts and with a special focus on the town of Chrudim and the Chrudim region was held in Chrudim (Czech Republic). A two-volume publication was published to accompany the exhibition.
3. 11.
Světozor and Lucerna cinemas in Prague held the ceremonial premiere of the Czech-Slovak co-production film Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, 2010) by director Jan Švankmajer.
3. 11.
The Czech Centre in Munich (Germany) organized the film event A Picture of Germans in Czech Film. The National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) sent to Karel Kachyňa’s A Carriage Going to Vienna (Kočár do Vídně, 1966, Czechoslovakia).
3. - 14. 11.
The Starz Denver Film Festival began in Denver (USA) at which nine films from the Czech Republic were presented, including Paradise for the Eyes (Zemský ráj to napohled, dir. Irena Pavlásková, 2009), Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, Jan Hřebejk, 2009) and Men in Rut (Muži v říji, dir. Robert Sedláček, 2009). Those attending the festival could also see Czech documentaries – the complete four-part cycle Forgotten Transports (Zapomenuté transporty, 2007 – 2009) by director Lukáš Přibyl and Cinema Therapy (Cinematerapie, 2010) by director Ivan Vojnár.
4. 11.
The Prague theatre Divadlo Archa presented the Czech documentary film For Semafor (dir. Miroslav Janek, 2010).
4. - 6. 11.
Ponrepo, the screening hall of the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) at Bio Konvikt in Prague hosted the 1st annual International Festival of Independent Film and New Media Art – the Anemic Independent Film & New Media Art. The festival, organized by the M77 Organization for Art, Digital Creation and Training, presented over sixty films. Screenings from the area of free art as interactive installations and video installations, video art, animation, documentary and animated films were held also at Bio Oko cinema and in the Globe Café in Prague. In addition to Czech artists, the festival showed the works of those from Germany, Serbia, France, Italy, USA, Brazil, Venezuela, Russia and China. The Czech works shown included the animated films Closed Garden (Zahrada uzavřená, dir. Magdalena Bartáková, 2006), film and 3-D animation SPY (dir. Josef Lepša, 2010), video work Pigeon Feather (Holubí letka, dir. Karolina Kohoutková, 2010), the video animation work Rahova (dir. David Možný, 2010) and video arts Purge (dir. Ilona Janáčková, 2010) and Beautiful (dir. Lenka Klimešová, 2010). The festival also featured an exhibition of audiovisual and interactive installations Immerse Me! that opened in the AVU Gallery (9. – 16. 11.).
4. - 11. 11.
Prague’s Slovanský dům Palace Cinemas held the 7th Palace Film Festival 2010, whose objective was to show that the Palace Cinemas multiplex network also includes artistic films, and not just commercial works in its programme. The festival continued on 11. – 17. 11. at Brno’s Velký Špalíček Palace Cinemas and, for the first time, in Bratislava (Slovak Republic) at the Eurovea Palace Cinemas 18. – 24. 11. The festival opened in Prague and in Brno (Czech Republic) with classic internationally renowned films, including Le voyage sur la lune (dir. Georges Méliès, 1902, France) and the German film Sunrise (1927) shot by Friedrich W. Murnau. Live music performed by the Brno Philharmonics directed by Jakub Klecker accompanied the screening. The music was composed by British composer Duncan Hendy especially for this performance. Over 200 performances were held in 9 screening rooms over three weeks. The festival was divided into several sections: Millennium trilogy, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Back in Action and Best of 2010. Czech films included Katka (2010) by Helena Třeštíková, the feature film Walking Too Fast (Pouta, 2010) by Radim Špaček and the animated film Kooky (Kuky se vrací, 2010, CR – Denmark) by Jan Svěrák.
4. - 12. 11.
The Polish city of Łodž hosted the 15th European Film Forum. The programme included the following films Little Foxes (Lištičky, dir. Mira Fornayová, 2009, CR – SR – Ireland), Peace in the Soul (Pokoj v duši, dir. Vladimír Balko, 2009, SR – CR), Broken Promise (Nedodržený slib/Nedodržaný sľub, dir. Jiří Chlumský, 2009, SR – CR), Heaven, Hell... Earth (Nebe, peklo... zem/Nebo, peklo... zem, dir. Laura Siváková, 2009, SR – CR) and Cooking History (Jak se vaří dějiny/Ako sa varia dejiny, dir. Peter Kerekes, 2009, CR – SR – Austria).
4. - 16. 11.
Brno (4. – 9. 11.), Prague (11. –16. 11.) and other cities in the Czech Republic hosted the Queer Film Festival Mezzanine (11. Queer filmový festival Mezipatra). This year’s festival thematically focused on “high art”, intending to balance on the borders of genres that were considered high and low art. The festival of 72 films was divided into several programme sections: a competition of feature films, a competition of short films, non-competition feature films, a retrospective, documentaries and midnight punk-pop. The sidebar featured a chamber concert by opera singer Josef Škarka with a recital from works by classic authors who had to come to terms with their sexual orientation, an exhibition of the experimental works of American filmmaker Barbara Hammer, Petr Jandera’s collection of photograps, exhibition of the pictures by Veronika Pražanová, Karel Gregor, the painter and graphic artist André, and multimedia student Martina Kutálková entitled Four Artists and Four Views on “High Art”, and installation by Canadian artist Jim Verbung, a collective exhibition of artists from the Czech and Slovak Republic, lectures and panel discussions. The jury judging the feature films gave the prize for best film to the Basque film 80 Egunean (2010, Spain) shot by director Jon Garaño and José Mari Goenaga. No Czech film was awarded at the festival.
4. – 9. 11. and 27. 11.
The 11th Festival of Czech films took place in New York (USA). The Czech Centre in Manhattan opened the festival with a screening of a recording of the present-day operation presentation on the trial from 1950’ of Czech politician Milada Horáková named Tomorrow There Will Be… (Zítra se bude..., 2010) directed by Jan Hřebejk. The festival’s previous ten years were held in Brooklyn’s BAMcinématek, which is part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The BAMcinématek screened from the festival the film Three Seasons in Hell (3 sezóny v pekle, 2009, CR – Germany – SR) by director Tomáš Mašín, who personally attended the screening. Director Jan Hřebejk also came to New York to attend the screening of his film Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, 2009). In addition to these films, viewers also saw the feature films Dreamers (Zoufalci, dir. Jitka Rudolfová, 2009), Lukáš Přibyl’s documentary Forgotten Transports – To Poland (Zapomenuté transporty – Do Polska, 2009) and the two short films Roma Boys – The Love Story (Roma Boys – Příběh lásky, dir. Rozálie Kohoutová, 2009) and Alda (dir. Viera Čákanyová, 2009).
4. 11. - 31. 12.
There continued in the Světozor cinema in Prague the series of exhibitions entitled The Golden Era of Czech Film Posters with a showing of the work of Czech artist Josef Vyleťal (18. 6. 1940 – 3. 2. 1989), who in 2010 would have celebrated his 70th birthday. Over his life, Vyleťal created roughly 115 film posters, of which half were exhibited at Světozor. He studied at the Technical University in Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and at the Academy of Applied Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze) under Adolf Hoffmeister. In 1962 he became the set-design artist for the Prague’s theatre Divadlo Na zábradlí. In 1979 he received in Chicago (USA) at an International Film Festival the Silver Plaque for his poster to Juraj Herz’s film The Virgin and the Monster (Panna a netvor, 1978, Czechoslovakia).
5. 11.
Mostecké theatre in Most (Czech Republic) presented the premiere of the play Breaking the Waves based on the film shot in 1996 in Danish-Swedish-French-Netherlands-Norway coproduction by the Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. The staging was directed by Radoslav Tcherniradev, a director of Bulgarian origin living in Freiberg, Germany. The Rokoko theatre in Prague and Petr Bezruč theatre in Ostrava (Czech Republic) accepted the emotional play into their respective repertoires.
5. - 6. 11.
The International Festival of Animated Films – ANIFEST (ANIFEST 2010 – 9. mezinárodní festival animovaných filmů) in collaboration with the French Institute in Prague joined the celebrations of the World Day of Animation. The tradition’s celebration created in 2002 when the Internationale Association of Animated Films – ASIFA decided to declare 28 October to be the World Day of Animation upon the occasion of the anniversary of the first public presentation of Émile Reynaud’s “Pantomimes Lumineuses” that was given on 28 October 1892 in Paris’s Grévin Museum. The French Institute in Prague screened French animated films including La carte (dir. Stéfan Le Lay, 2009), La grande migration (dir. Iouri Tcherenkov, 1995) and Stretching (dir. François Vogel, 2009).
5. - 11. 11.
Czech film director Jan Švankmajer received at the 12th International Film Festival Bratislava 2010 (Slovak Republic) the award for artistic excellence in world cinema. His most recent film was entitled Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, 2010, CR – SR). Another Czech guest of the Bratislava festival was artistic director of the Karlovy Vary festival Eva Zaoralová, who was a jury member.
6. 11.
Czech musical composer and musicologist Aleš Březina was nominated the award of the European Film Academy 2010 for the film music to the film Kawasaki's Rose (Kawasakiho růže, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2009). In the past he had already composed the music for the Czech films Buttoners (Knoflíkáři, dir. Petr Zelenka, 1997), Divided We Fall (Musíme si pomáhat, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2000) and I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, dir. Jiří Menzel, 2006, CR – SR).
6. 11.
The Divadlo rozmanitostí theatre in Most (Czech Republic) held the premiere of the play Saxana – The Girl on the Broom (Saxana – Dívka na koštěti) based on the film The Girl on the Broom (Dívka na koštěti) by Czech direcor Václav Vorlíček shot in 1971.
6. - 27. 11.
The Tale of John and Mary (Pohádka o Honzíkovi a Mařence, 1980) by Czech director Karel Zeman (3. 11. 1910 – 5. 4. 1989), whose 100th birth anniversary is included on the UNESCO list, was viewed by spectators in Sofia (Bulgaria) as part of the Day of Animation where it opened a screening of films and an exhibition entitled The Film Magician Karel Zeman.
7. - 10. 11.
Horšovský Týn (Czech Republic) hosted the 3rd International Film Festival Juniorfest 2010. This is a non-competition film festival divided by age category from preschoolers to youth. The Juniorfest was freely linked to the former Filmák festival organized in Plzeň and later in Dobřany. In 2010, in addition to Horšovský Týn, it first returned with part of the programme to Plzeň as well. Czech films screened included the premiere of the film Bastards (Bastardi, dir. Petr Šícha, 2010). Czech actress Jiřina Bohdalová received the Golden Pointer viewers’ award. The festival featured a visit from Swedish actress Inger Nilsson, who played Pippi Longstocking, and a large exhibition of the work by Czech director Jindřich Polák and a gathering of actors from his films.
8. 11.
Helena Třeštíková’s film Katka (2010) came out on DVD. Helena Třeštíková began shooting this unique time-lapse documentary, which maps fourteen years in the life of drug-addict Katka, in 1996 in the Sananim therapy group in Němčice (Czech Republic). The film has already been seen in cinemas by 110,000 viewers and in 2010 was the second most highly viewed Czech documentary (following Pavel Koutecký’s and Miroslav Janek’s Citizen Havel (Občan Havel, 2008). The documentary film Katka on DVD features Czech subtitles for the hearing-impaired and subtitles in Slovak, English, French and Spanish. Bonuses include the filmography of Helena Třeštíková, photographs taken during the film shooting and a trailer.
8. 11.
The Czech feature-length film HEAD-ARMS-HEART (HLAVA-RUCE-SRDCE, 2010) by theatre and film director and screenwriter David Jařab had its ceremonial premiere at Světozor cinemas in Prague.
8. - 12. 11.
The 4th International Festival of Visegrad Countries in Student Films – OSTRAVA PICTURE (4. mezinárodní festival studentských filmů Visegrádu – OSTRAVA PICTURE) was held in Ostrava (Czech Republic). This festival is striving to become the representative festival of student work of three countries: the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovak Republic. Entered film competed in the following categories: genre feature film, cinema stylo – auteur film and documentary, video clips, experimental film, film on the edge (local works for the Ostrava regions, Jelenia Góra and Žilina). In addition to workshops and other accompanying actions the organizers announced the FilMŮJ Biják! competition on the best story idea for a short film, documentary or experimental film. This competition was designed for novice and amateur filmmakers. A similar competition was announced as part of the associated Polish festival ZOOM. The story idea that contestants entered into the competition was not to exceed the possibilities of a five-day shoot – in length, number of actors or locations. The festival spot OSTRAVA PICTURE won in the category of Audio-visual advertisement at Circulator – the Slovak festival of marketing communication. On 4. – 6. 11. the festival took place in Žilina in Slovakia and on 4. – 5. 11. at Jelenia Góra in Poland. For the awarding of Czech films – see The 4. mezinárodní festival studentských filmů Visegrádu – OSTRAVA PICTURE.
10. 11.
Prague’s Cinestar Anděl multiplex hosted the ceremonial premiere of the Czech feature film One Way Ticket? (Piko, dir. Tomáš Řehořek, 2010).
10. - 21. 11.
The 13th International Film Festival of Documentary Films took place in Montreal (Canada). Helena Třeštíková’s time-lapse documentary Katka (2010) won an award in the DocTape competition section in the competition with another eighteen documentary films. The film’s editor, Jakub Hejna, received the award for best editing from the Montreal festival.
10. 11. - 10. 12.
The Vysoké trámy of malting-house (sladovny) cultural space in Písek (Czech Republic) held the exhibition Karel Zeman: Posters and Memories. The exhibition was transferred from Ostroměř (Czech Republic), Zeman’s hometown. The fifty exhibits, including photographs from his family archives and posters to his films, offered a closer look at the life and work of this important Czech film director and artist Zeman (3. 11. 1910 – 5. 4. 1989). The exhibition was prepared by his daughter Ludmila and granddaughter Linda along with the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic) and Pavel Rajčan, a collector of film posters. The exhibition offered, among other things, the valuable originals of the posters of Zeman’s films such as A Journey into the Primeval Times (Cesta do pravěku, 1955) On the Comet (Na kometě, 1970), The Stolen Airship (Ukradená vzducholoď, 1966), An Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy, 1958) and others, as well as rarely seen photographs from his private life and from work on his films. The event was in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the director’s birth. Organizers presented visitors with a commemorative silver coin and postal stamp, issued upon the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. The opening featured a screening of the documentary film Fantasy in the Name of Zeman (Fantazie jménem Zeman, 2010) by Ludmila Zemanová and Linda Zemanová.
10. 11. - 31. 12.
An exhibition of the work of Zuzana Mináčová (24. 9. 1931) was held in the vestibule café of Platýz in Prague and represented a cross-section of the work of the photographer, who is a major figure in Slovak and Czech photography. She graduated from the photography department at a Secondary Art School in Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and for many years worked as a photographer at film studios. Zuzana Mináčová is a representative of the new wave of Slovak artists, who at the end of the 1960s expanded the possibilities of photographic expressions through conceptually conceived cycles, time and motion sequences and special technical finesse. Her work has been frequently exhibited abroad as well. In 1993 in reaction to the breakup of Czechoslovakia, she moved to Prague. She takes part in the films of her son, the director Matej Mináč, and has taken photographs for over forty years at the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic). In Platýz she presented artistic photographs of landscapes and stylised portraits of Czech actresses.
11. 11.
Ponrepo, the screening hall of the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) at Bio Konvikt hosted the 10th anniversary VideoCulture Fest – “It Need More Time.” This was a competition film festival of non-professional filmmakers from home and abroad. In category A – over 18 years, first prize for feature and experimental film went to the film Somnipathia (2010) by director Dominik Dušek from Hradec Králové (Czech Republic). This film also won the best screenplay in category A – technical. In category A – up to 18 years of age the winning film was Jakub Kadera’s The Little Cottager and the Radio (Chalupníček a rádio, 2010). This film also received the award for best sound. The award for best director went to Jiří Hnilica for his film The Story of the Lector, a Person of Our Century (Příběh lekcionáře, člověka našeho století, 2010). The 1. award for best documentary went to Every Third One (Každá třetí, 2010) by director Tereza Hronová. Her film also received the jury’s award with the sponsor gift. The award for best camera work went to Uninterrupted Song (Nepřerušená píseň, dir. Pavel Bárta, 2010).
11. - 13. 11.
The non-competition 3rd Festival of Army Film (3. festival vojenských filmů) was held in Český Krumlov (Czech Republik). Its programme focussed on film works with military and security themes and also offered the space for the public to become acquainted with the reality of several conflicts around the world. The festival opened on the date on which we remember soldiers who have fallen in all wars. Czech films screened included The Assassination (Atentát, dir. Jiří Sequens, 1964), A Carriage Going to Vienna (Kočár do Vídně, dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1966) and Riders of the Sky (Nebeští jezdci, dir. Jindřich Polák, 1968), while foreign films included Hotel Rwanda (dir. Terry George, 2004, Great Britain – USA – Italy – South Africa), Inglorious Basterds (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2009, USA – Germany), and documentary films predominantly from the One World Festival (12. mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů o lidských právech – Jeden svět 2010). Not long after its Czech premiere (26. 10.) the documentary film Accidental Army: The Amazing True Story of the Czechoslovak Legion (dir. Bruce Bendinger, 2010, USA) on the Czechoslovak Legion in 1914 – 1920 was screened at the festival. The film was created by a Czech movement in the USA. The screening of the documentary film Czech Aid under Hindu Kush (Česká pomoc pod Hindúkušem, dir. Lukáš Roganský, 2010) made by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerstvo zahraničních věcí České republiky) corresponded to the Afghanistan exhibition at the Mint of the Český Krumlov castle and chateau.
11. - 13. 11.
The 10th Festival of Documentary Films on Social Issues – Within Reach (10. festival dokumentární tvorby se sociální tematikou – NADOTEK, held in Ústí nad Orlicí (Czech Republic), awarded the work of Czech and Slovak director and producer Fero Fenič. The festival presented visitors with some thirty Czech and Slovak documentary films. Screened works by Fero Fenič included his first professional film Diadem (Diadém) from 1978 and There and Back (Tam a späť) from 1980 that wasn’t screened during the communist regime. The festival closed with the world premiere of the Martin Štoll’s documentary for television entitled Journey to East (Cesta na vostok, 2011) that documents with historical footage a journey to Antarctica. For the awarding – see 10. festival dokumentární tvorby se sociální tematikou – NADOTEK.
11. - 14. 11.
M77, the civic association for art, digital creation and training presented a selection of Czech and Slovak video art and audio-visual work (from the programme of the Prague’s Anemic fiestival) as part of the Czech-Argentine Days in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The screening was held as part of the eGolem project of the European Union to support the use of new technologies, media and cybernetics. The project’s main partner from the Czech Republic is CIANT – the International Centre for Art and New Technology in Prague (CIANT - Mezinárodní centrum pro umění a nové technologie v Praze). Works and presentation of artists was exhibited in the San Martín cultural centre in Buenos Aires.
11. - 14. 11.
The 27th annual festival of student films – FAMUFEST 2010 (27. festival studentských filmů – FAMUFEST 2010 Rozmanitý) was held in Prague (Czech Republic). This year’s festival saw a change in the screening halls. Instead of Archa theatre the venue was shifted to Bio Oko at Letná quater and to the experimental space NoD on Dlouhá street in Prague. Eighty-five student films vied in fifteen categories and the 27th annual festival also offered a number of sidebars, namely lectures and discussions. For the awarding – see 27. festival studentských filmů – FAMUFEST 2010 Rozmanitý.
11. - 26. 11.
Four London cinemas hosted the New Czech Film 2010 festival. Leading off was a screening of Marek Najbrt’s Protector (Protektor 2009), followed by Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 2010, CR – SR), Foxes (Lištičky/Líštičky, dir. Mira Fornay, 2009, CR –SR – Ireland), a recording of the opera on the trial with Milada Horáková Tomorrow There Will Be... (Zítra se bude..., dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2010), Three Seasons in Hell (3 sezóny v pekle, dir. Tomáš Mašín, 2009, CR – SR – Germany), Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2009), Who’s Afraid of the Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál, dir. Maria Procházková, 2008) and the documentary by Tomáš Doležal and Marta Svobodová entitled Czechin’ London (2010, Great Britain). The 200th anniversary of the birth of Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha (16. 11. 1810 – 6. 11. 1836), was commemorated with a screening of the silent film Gypsies (Cikáni) shot by director Karel Anton in 1921 and newly restored by the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv), Prague. The Czech films were accompanied by an exhibition at Riverside Studios in London entitled Lost in Translation that captured the experience of artists living abroad. It presented the work of Czech artists working in Great Britain and Brits living and working in the Czech Republic.
12. 11.
A master class on practical dramaturgy was held in the spaces of Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) as part of the MIDPOINT workshop. It was designed mainly for those attending The 27th Festival of Student Films – FANUFEST 2010 Miscellaneous (27. festival studentských filmů – FAMUFEST 2010 Rozmanitý) and for the professional public. The workshop was led by FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) dean Pavel Jech together with the screenwriter and script editor Jan Fleischer, a former teacher of the British film school in Beaconsfield. The miniMIDPOINT workshop focussed on screenplay development and those attending had the chance to consult with experienced script editors and screenwriters over their works. The workshop was organized by FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) in conjunction with MEDIA Desk Czech Republic (MEDIA Desk) and the RWE & Barrandov Studio film foundation (Filmová nadace RWE & Barrandov Studio). The workshop offered script editing for 9 projects. In addition to Jan Fleischer, instructors included script editor-in-chief of Czech Television’s Centre for Educational Programmes (Centrum vzdělávacích pořadů) Alena Müllerová and director, screenwriter and FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) teacher Ivo Trajkov.
12. 11.
The Academy of Science of the Czech Republic bestowed upon documentary film director Vladimír Kunz the honorary medal of Vojtěch Náprstek. Kunz has shot in past years professional medical films such as Artificial Heart Valve (Plastika srdeční chlopně), Sudden Cardiac Death (Náhlá srdeční smrt), Treating Brain Aaneurysms (Léčba mozkových výdutí) (all 2006).
12. - 14. 11.
Veselí nad Moravou (Czech Republic) held its 17th Seminar of Russian Cinema (17. seminář ruských filmů), this time focussed on Russian lyrical film. The seminar featured a Teatr novogo fronta performance with the play Dybbuk and a performance by the choir Bolschoi Don Kosaken including its dance section. The programme included films by directors Alexander Askoldov, Nikolai Gubenko, Elem Klimov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Kira Muratova, Eldar Ryazanov, Sergei Solovyov, Igor Talankin and Petr Todorovsky. The films was accmpampanied by a lecture of Galina Kopaneva.
12. 11. and 21. 11. 2010
On the occasion of the 60th years of the Swiss cinematheque there was held a screening at its centre in Lausanne that included the Czech animated film The Springer and the SS (Pérák a SS, dir. Jiří Trnka, 1946) and the feature film The Long Journey (Daleká cesta, dir. Alfréd Radok, 1949), lent by the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague.
14. - 21. 11.
The Fondazione Cineteca Italiana in Milan (Italy) hosted the 3rd edition of the Kid Film Festival “Great Little Cinema” where the screened films included Czech director Karel Zeman’s The Treasure of Bird Island (Poklad Ptačího ostrova, 1952) and A Journey into the Primeval Times (Cesta do pravěku, 1955).
15. 11.
the documentary Saving Edwards (Zachraňte Edwardse, 2010, CR) by director Dagmar Smržová had its premiere at Cinestar Anděl in Prague.
16. 11.
The Brno museum exposition Pavilon Anthropos devoted to man prepared for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of its founder, archaeologist and cave explorer Karel Absolon (16. 6. 1877 – 6. 10. 1960) a screening of the documentary film The Secret of Macocha (Tajemství Macochy). The film shows how the team led by Professor Absolon discovered Macocha Gorge and Punkevní Cave. The film was shot according to Absolon’s script in 1934 by director Josef Lachmann, and premiered in 1942. An exhibition on historical photographs and a cycle of lectures on his scientific research was also prepared by Anthropos for the explorer’s anniversary. Absolon earned renown not only as the founder of modern speleology, but also for the discovery in 1925 of the Palaeolithic Venus of Dolní Věstonice (Czech Republic) in an ancient settlement of mammoth hunters.
16. - 17. 11.
The Centrál art cinema in Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) hosted the 1st annual of screening CinemaOpen. The organizers wanted to use the festival to open the cinema’s doors to new Czech creators of short feature films. Presented at the festival were the best films that were non-commercial, independent and amateur feature works over the past two decades. The screened films had already received numerous of awards, and some of them were personally introduced by their creators. The main guest of the festival was Czech director and screenwriter Tomáš Vorel. The festival began with the Czech film The Grandmother: The True Story (Babička aneb jak to bylo doopravdy, dir. Pjeer Van Eck, 2010), this was followed by the Czech film HEAD-ARMS-HEART (HLAVA-RUCE-SRDCE, 2010) by director David Jařab.
17. 11.
Lucerna cinema in Prague hosted a retrospective of all films based on a novel The Grandmother (Babička) by Czech writer Božena Němcová (4. 2. 1820 – 21. 1. 1862) and on 24. 11. was showen the new film on this theme entitled The Grandmother: The True Story (Babička aneb jak to bylo doopravdy, dir. Pjeer Van Eck, 2009, CR). Amateurs associated in the Blues film company of producer Martin Procházka shot it. A parody on this Czech classic is a somewhat different take on the story, and the main objective is to entertain the viewer. The film retrospective is accompanied by an exhibition of costumes, stands with arts and crafts and a concert of the Prague Film Orchestra. At the start there was screened more than half-hour silent film Grandmother (Babička) shot in 1921 by director Thea Červenková, followed by Grandmother (Babička) shot by František Čáp with Terezie Brzková from 1940 and the two-part film Granny (Babička I., II.) by Antonín Moskalyk from 1971, in which the grandmother was played by Jarmila Kurandová.
17. - 20. 11.
Art and work with the mentally disabled was presented via films, theatre and music of The 5th Normal Festival (5. normální festival) at Prague’s Aero and Světozor cinemas, in the experimental space Roxy/NoD and the Meet Factory. Screened in its Prague premiere was the Czech documentary Earthlings, Who Are You Voting For? (Pozemšťané, koho budete volit?) that was shot during the parliament elections campaign in 2010 by students of the film workshop led by documentary filmmaker Linda Jablonská. Viewers were also treated to the following films: Vähän kunnioitusta (dir. Pekka Karjalainen, 2010, Finland), Yo, también (dir. Álvaro Pastor, Antonio Naharro, 2009, Spain), Idioterne (dir. Lars von Trier, 1998, Denmark – France – Italy – Netherlands), Refrigerator Mothers (dir. David E. Simpson, 2003, USA) and Der Rote Teppich (dir. Andrea Asch, 2006, Germany). Czech film was only represented in the opening documentary and later in the premiere of the film by Kateřina Mikulcová entitled A Filmmaker, a Fan, a Freak (Filmař, fanoušek, podivín, 2010) on Josef F., a young animated filmmaker with a slight mental disability who lives on the edge of two worlds. He often meets with famous people from film and theatre, but he currently lives a rather solitary and confused life with his caretaker in a home without running water. The artistic part of the festival presented Austrian art brut maestro Josef Hofer and the Polish artist Justyna Matysiak. The festival’s echoes could be seen in Hradec Králové, Plzeň (Czech Republic), Košice (Slovak Republic) and Bucharest (Romania).
17. - 20. 11.
The 7th Mixer multimedia festival was held in Zlín (7. multimediální festival MIXER) Czech Republic). This is a project by students of the Faculty of Multimedia Communication of the University of Tomáš Baťa in Zlín (Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně - Fakulta multimediálních komunikací) which they worked on as part of a communication agency theme. They presented in an interesting form not only the work of the Zlín studios (animated and audiovisual work, advertising photography, graphic and industrial design and spatial creation, clothes and shoe design), but also the work of students from other universities. The seventh annual festival was interesting in that part of the artistic competition was the theme of Art Therapy that began on 13. 5. The competition consisted of four categories: video & new media, photo, graphics and 3-D & design. The festival also featured workshops, lectures, concerts and performances, as well as an exhibition of architect Eva Jiřičná entitled 15 or Why I Didn’t Begin to Study Chemistry. For the festival awards – see 7. multimediální festival MIXER.
17. - 23. 11.
The 5th International Festival of European Film was held in Segovia (Spain) where Czech director, screenwriter and artist Jan Švankmajer received a lifetime achievement award. His latest film Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, 2010, CR – SR) and other films of his were screened and there was an exhibition of his art work. In January 2011 the exhibition moved to Madrid. The festival’s programme featured also the Czech films Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2009), Protector (Protektor, dir. Marek Najbrt, 2009) and Miloš Forman’s Goya’s Ghosts (Goyovy přízraky, 2006, USA – Spain).
17. - 24. 11.
The 7th annual Escapades Film Festival focussing on older, predominantly Czech films was held in Prague. The selected films were divided into several blocks. “The Forgotten Sixties” were recalled with the films The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night (Den sedmý – osmá noc, dir. Evald Schorm, 1969), The Defendant (Obžalovaný, dir. Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos, 1964), Murder Czech Style (Vražda po našem, dir. Jiří Weiss, 1966), A Squandered Sunday (Zabitá neděle, dir. Drahomíra Vihanová, 1969), Vertigo (Závrať, dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1962). The “Film and music" block offered film versions of the operas Dalibor (dir. Václav Krška, 1956, Czechoslovakia) and Water Nymph (Rusalka, dir. Václav Kašlík, 1962) and films Drums (Bubny, dir. Ivo Novák, 1964), Lemonade Joe (Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera, dir. Oldřich Lipský, 1964) and the silent science-fiction film The Arrival from the Darkness (Příchozí z temnot, dir. Jan S. Kolár) from 1921, that was accompanied in the Cross club by live music by the Bob Saint-Claire band. The “Hits from the Totalitarian Era” section, screened in the MAT cinema, presented the Czech films Roads of Men (Cesty mužů, dir. Ivo Toman, 1972), The Hippo (Hroch, dir. Karel Steklý, 1973) and Report from the Gallows (Reportáž psaná na oprátce, dir. Jaroslav Balík, 1961). The organizers and viewers also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karel Zeman (3. 11. 1910 – 5. 4. 1989) with a screening of the film A Jester’s Tale (Bláznova kronika) from 1964. The work of Czech director Václav Krška (7. 10. 1900 – 17. 11. 1969) was remembered with the film Spring Waters (Jarní vody, 1968) and the eightieth anniversary of the birth of the late cinematographer and FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) teacher Jan Kališ (7. 7. 1930 – 23. 7. 2003) was commemorated with the screening of the film Icarus XB 1 (Ikarie XB 1) shot by director Jindřich Polák in 1963. Two works of German director Werner Herzog, Stroszek (1977, Germany) and Cobra Verde (1987, Germany – Ghana) were screened in conjunction with the Goethe-Institue in Prague.
17. 11. - 31. 12.
A glimpse behind the scenes of film and television projects was offered by the exhibition in the Le Court gallery in Prague. The Czech film architect Jan Vlček exhibited here decoration designs that he’d drawn for Czech films. The exhibition, which was put on in collaboration with Pecka Gallery, offered some forty originals, pen drawings and water colours.
18. 11.
The National Film Archive’s (Národní filmový archiv) Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague hosted a ceremonial evening linked to the christening of the DVD containing two Czech films: Karel Hynek Mácha (dir. Zet Molas, 1937) and Gypsies (Cikáni, dir. Karel Anton, 1921). An evening commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha (16. 11. 1810 – 6. 11. 1836) was organized by FILMEXPORT HOME VIDEO, spol. s r. o. and the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv). The DVD was christened by ninety-year-old Czech actress Eva Gerová, known from twelve films before the 2nd World War, who also played in the film Karel Hynek Mácha.
18. 11.
The shooting of the Austrian film for television That Long Wave Behind the Keel (Die lange Welle hinterm Kiel) based on the novel by the Czech writer Pavel Kohout (Paseka publishing house, 2000). The film was shot by director Nikolaus Leytner, and German actor Mario Adorf played the lead roles of the Czech professor, and Austrian actress Christiane Hörbiger played Sudeten German, who stood on opposing sides during the war and years later had to come to terms with their past when they meet.
18. 11.
The Czech Centre in London organized a screening of the silent Czech film Gypsies (Cikáni, dir. Karel Anton, 1921) based on the literary work of Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha. The film was restored at the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague.
19. - 20. 11.
The eighth annual film festival The Other Face of Childhood commemorated for viewers at Prague’s Atlas cinema the anniversary of the passage of the Convention on the Rights of Children and the Word Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse. The festival offered eleven films such as the South African film Tsotsi (dir. Gavin Hood, 2005), that has received a number of international awards including the Oscar for best foreign film 2006, the French comedy Le petit Nicolas (dir. Laurent Tirard, 2009) and the Czech documentary The Waiting Room for Adulthood (Čekárna na dospělost, dir. Pavel Křemen, 2009), in which the protagonists themselves, the visitors of a youth club, worked the cameras and shot the film themselves. The festival’s objective was to draw the public’s attention to serious social problems and also show their possible solutions. For the morning hours the centre’s staff prepared on 18. and 19. 11. for basic and secondary school students a special private screening linked to discussions with a psychologist and social workers.
19. - 21. 11.
The 4th Visions of Light festival took place at Brno’s Art cinema. Thirteen films from all over the world were offered in the spirit of the theme People’s Struggle with Their Demons. Most of the works have become cult films abroad, although Czech viewers are not overly familiar with them. The films were divided by creation date from 1926 till today. Each film’s screening was also accompanied by a lecture that put the work into broader artistic and social contexts. The most interesting films included La vérité (dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960, France), A Day at the Beach (dir. Simon Hesera, 1970, Great Britain), on whose screenplay Roman Polanski worked, or Christiane F. – Wir Kindern vom Bahnhof Zoo, (dir. Uli Edel, 1981). The festival was accompanied by an exhibition of Czech and Polish film posters entitled Are Your Demons Haunting You?
19. 11. - 5. 12.
The 14th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival was held (Estonia). A festival guest was Czech actor Kryštof Hádek, Shooting Star 2010, who introduced there the film Three Seasons in Hell (3 sezóny v pekle, dir. Tomáš Mašín, 2009, CR – Germany – SR), in which he played the lead role. Hádek also appeared at the announcement of the 23rd annual European Film Awards that took place in Tallinn on 4. 12. The Tallinn international competition festival includes feature, animated, short and student films and films for children and youth. The Official Competition Eurasia included a screening of Mašín’s aforementioned film Three Seasons in Hell, the Forum section featured the film Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, 2010, ČR – SR) by Jan Švankmajer, the 14 Selected Titles section showed Jan Hřebejk’s Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, 2009) and Helena Třeštíková’s time-lapse film Katka (2010) was screened in the Doc@pöff section. Included among the student and short films in the Sleepwalkers section were the Czech films Nocturno (Nokturno, dir. Marek Berger, 2009), 100 Days (100 dnů, dir. Viera Čákanyová, 2009), Ctrl Emotions (dir. Vojtěch Kotek, 2009) and Toaster (Toastovač, dir. Michaela Prokopová, 2009). A special programme entitled the Czech New Wave offered in conjunction with the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv), Prague the films: That Cat... (Až přijde kocour, dir. Vojtěch Jasný, 1963), Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci, dir. Jan Němec, 1964), Daisies (Sedmikrásky, dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966), Loves of a Blonde (Lásky jedné plavovlásky, dir. Miloš Forman, 1965) and Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvětlení, dir. Ivan Passer, 1965). The Czech film Three Seasons in Hell won a prize Don Quijote from Federation International of Cinema Clubs (FICC).
22. - 23. 11.
The Scandinavian House in Prague prepared a screening of one of the most famous creators of contemporary animated film, Estonian Priit Pärn, whose films have won numerous awards at major film festivals around the world. Czech viewers have had the chance to see a few of them at various Czech festivals, but a screening specifically focussing on the works of Pritt Parn was never before held. The six films were supplemented by lectures by Jiří Kubíček from the Department of Animated film at FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) in Prague and Iivi Zájedová from Tallin University’s Institute of Art. All the films were shown in original version with Estonian language and English subtitles with the option for Czech interpretation into headphones. The screening was opened by the ambassador of Estonia in Prague Lembit Uibo.
22. - 28. 11.
Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republic) hosted The 35th TSTTT – International Competition of Films and Video-programmes on Themes of Environment – It’s About You Too. For awarded Czech films – see 35. mezinárodní festival filmů a videoprogramů s ekologickou tematikou Týká se to také tebe – TSTTT.
23. - 27. 11.
The 7th Multicultural Festival Spanning Central European Cultures – Crossroads Olomouc (7. multikulturní festival napříč středoevropskou kulturou – Křižovatky Olomouc) was held in Olomouc (Czech Republic). Profiled as a multi-genre festival, it features a wide spectrum of artistic activities. The aim is to present the individual cultures of the involved Central European countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Austria and Hungary – via art exhibitions, film screenings, theatre performances, concerts and literary meetings. The Czech film HEAD-ARMS-HEART (HLAVA-RUCE-SRDCE, dir. David Jařab, 2010) was screened.
24. 11.
The Czech film Kawasaki’s Rose (Kawasakiho růže, 2009) by director Hřebejk, which vied for an Oscar nomination for best foreign film, had its American premiere at New York’s Film Forum theatre that’s geared toward screening independent works. The film is distributed in the USA by Menemsha Films. On 27. 11. director Jan Hřebejk attended another screening of this film.
24. 11.
The European Parliament film award was announced in Strasbourg (France). In 2010 the award went to the German film Die Fremde (2010) by director Feo Aladag. It tells the story of a Turkish family living in Germany and draws attention to the problem of “honour killings”. The chairman of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, presented the director with the award. The award presentation was also attended by Sibel Kekilli who starred in the film. Deputies, who had the chance to see all the films directly in the European Parliament, voted on the winner. The winning film received, as in previous years, the financial support from the European Parliament of EUR 90,000 that is designed to cover costs for subtitling into the remaining official EU languages, for an adaptation of the original version for the blind and hearing impaired, for release on DVD or for the production of one 35mm copy for each EU member state.
25. 11.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall in Bio Konvikt in Prague (Národní filmový archiv) hosted a screening of films by Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) students entitled Czech Film Art – The Next Generation. Screened films included Jan Kulka’s Poly-rhythms (Polyrytmy, 2009) and Old Mud Apocrypha (Starobahenní apokryf, 2010), Jiří Procházka’s Handsandbeyond (Zatimtosouruky, 2009), Blanka Klímová Time of Sleepers (Čas pražců, 2010), Adam Brothánek’s The City (Město, 2010) and Dominik Krutský’s Conference of Birds (Mluva ptáků, 2010).
25. 11.
Special web pages devoted to the selection of the so-called Film Canon for 2010 were launched a minute after midnight on the largest Czech film server www.csfd.cz. Both film experts and registered users of the Czech film database took part in the selection and final form. The main inspirational force behind the creation and undertaking of the project was filmmaker and theoretician Paul Schrader, who in 2006 attempted to write the book Film Canon and started the creation of many other successful activities. At www.csfd.cz/kanon-filmu the Film Canon is divided into two parts – the canon of world film and that of Czech film. These two parts are further divided into three parts according to the design of Australian critic Adrian Martin, and according to the places where they are shown the most: Citizen Kane part (classic films and films of history already examined – films of great figures and movements, films of film clubs and film libraries of national film archives), Star Wars part (very commercially successful films, blockbusters, films of large commercial cinemas and multiplexes) and Abbás Kiárostamí part (innovative, experimental films, films of major festivals and art cinemas). The initial list for selection was assembled based on the maximum number of current Czech and, above all, foreign rankings, voting and surveys (e.g. more than two thousand film specialists around the world took part in composing the foreign part of the list). The Film Canon’s main objective was to create an annual sophisticated and simple system for compiling a list of the most significant films of Czech and foreign films (a total of 250 films). The compiled list forms the basis for various film-educational activities at basic and, especially, secondary schools, as well as for other non-scholastic film activities geared toward students and toward general film and audiovisual education. The web pages therefore featured more detailed information on the project, the sources of the initial list and the list of the most significant Czech and foreign activities in the field of film and audiovisual education at basic and secondary schools. In 2011 the compilation of the updated version of the Film Canon was supplemented by other activities: a connection with similar activities from the Visegrad countries, the gradual supplementation of textual teaching aids for teachers, the training of teachers, the launching of a series of school screenings of films and support for the creation of student activities outside schools.
25. - 26. 11.
Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic) hosted The 6th International Film Festival Water, Seas, Oceans 2010 (6. mezinárodní filmový festival Voda, moře, oceány 2010). This event was preceded on 17. 9. by the Water, Seas, Oceans festival in Hluboká nad Vltavou (Czech Republic). Thirty-seven films from 12 countries took part in the competition, of which 6 were from Czech filmmakers. During the closing evening the work Paradise within Reach (Ráj na dotek), the first book by the editor-in-chief of the Ocean magazine, yachter and diver Inna Václavová, was christened. The ceremonies were conducted by director Steve Lichtag and Bohumír Kráčmar, the president of the Festival of Diver Films (32. mezinárodní festival potápěčské fotografie, filmu a dětské výtvarné tvorby – PAF Tachov). In contrast to traditional book signings, this time all the viewers in the cinema signed the christened copy for the author. The festival jury consisted of: RNDr. Jitka Radová, dramaturgist of the Ekofilm festival (36. mezinárodní filmový festival o životním prostředí, přírodním a kulturním dědictví – EKOFILM) and jury chairwoman, Vlado Milunić, architect of the Dancing House in Prague, Steve Lichtag, director and producer, Dušan Jurčík, script editor of foreign documentary programmes in Czech Television and Petr Vonka, diver portal Youdive.eu. One of the sidebars was an exhibition of the photography of Zdeněk Ondruš entitled Water in All Its Forms organized by the North Bohemian Science Library in Ústí nad Labem in conjunction with the festival organizers. The exhibition opened on 6. 10. and continued till 29. 11. For the festival awards – see 6. mezinárodní filmový festival Voda, moře, oceány 2010.
25. 11. - 1. 12.
Prague and seven other cities in the Czech Republic hosted the 13th annual French Film Festival (13. festival francouzského filmu). The festival screened, among others, five films in pre-premiere in collaboration with Czech distributors, as well as a film by director Xavier Beauvois entitled Des Hommes et des dieux (2010, France), which won the Grand Prix at the 63rd Cannes Films Festival and will represent France in the competition for the Oscar for best foreign film. In addition to the pre-premiere films, the festival presented five sections and a retrospective of French-Israeli director Amos Gitai. In the Czech critics selection competition ten films selected by Czech film journalists vied for the viewers’ choice award. The winning film was The Hedgehog (Le Hérisson, r. Mona Achache, 2008). The Panorama section was devoted to co-production films. An Evening of Short Films presented a cross-section of contemporary French short films. French films hits were screened in nine festival multiplexes. The new programme section Personalities: 2x with... drew attention to French film actresses Yolande Moreau and Louise Garrel. The 13th annual film festival presented 49 films in 180 screenings. The ceremonial opening at Lucerna cinema in Prague was attended by French directors François Ozon, Gilles Marchand, Jean-Paul Salomé and actress Judith Godreche. Ozon and Godreche presented in pre-premiere their film Potiche (Profesionální manželka, dir. François Ozon, 2009, France – Belgium). Audiences of the 13th French Film Festival (13. festival francouzského filmu) voted on the film The Hedgehog (Le Hérisson) by director Mona Achache in the Czech critics’ selection competition.
29. 11.
The foundation meeting of the initiators of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards ceremony was held. Film journalists and critics appealed to the Czech Film Chamber (Česká filmová komora, o. p. s.) with the request that it provided the organizational support for the awards ceremony. Czech film critics had previously judged Czech film works through the Czech Lion awards competition, announced each year by the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA – Česká filmová a televizní akademie), and also within the framework of the Febiofest festival. As for the Czech Lions competition, it consists of the voting of film professionals that can apply different criteria and views in their assessment than those of film critics. The Czech Film Critics’ Awards could thus produce a more objective report on the state of the current Czech cinematography. The idea behind the creation of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards was also drawn from foreign models in which the parallel existence of film critics’ awards form an alternative to academic assessment. Approved at the foundation meeting was the statute of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards, the list of the voting seven-member committee (voted in) of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards that will be for the following three years the highest organ of the Czech Film Critics Award. The first year of the Czech Film Critics’ Awards will judge Czech works for 2010 using two-round voting. Awards will be given in 12 categories – best film, best documentary film, best animated film, best director, best screenplay, camera and original music. Also awarded are best leading and supporting actors and actresses. Discovery of the year will form a separate category in which a film work, filmmaker or artist will be selected. The Czech Film Chamber (Česká filmová komora, o. p. s.) performs an organizational function and does not have the right or opportunity to intervene in its own voting or decision-making. The awards ceremony for the Czech Film Critics’ Awards will take place on 13. 1. 2011 at Prague’s Archa theatre.