I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1. 12.
The government discussed a concept for the support and development of Czech film and strategies for competitiveness of the film industry in 2011 – 2016 submitted by Czech Culture Minister Jiří Besser. The Ministry of Culture (Ministerstvo kultury České republiky) proposed ways of financing the cinematography fund and resolved the problem of the digitising of cinemas and old films. The concept also deals with supporting the development of film works. According to the ministry this was the first concept for cinematography since 1989 that purposefully dealt with how the state should support cinematography and care for it. Czech Culture Minister Jiří Besser inherited the cinematography concept from his predecessors and representatives of cinematography and the film industry had their reservations about it. The ministry therefore once again discussed the proposals with them and submitted it to the government in a new form.
1. 12.
In conjunction with the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv), Prague and Filmexport Home Video (FILMEXPORT HOME VIDEO, spol. s r. o.) four DVDs with films of Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich were created. The films were Powder and Gas (Pudr a benzin, dir. Jindřïch Honzl, 1931), Your Money or Your Life (Peníze nebo život, dir. Jindřich Honzl, 1932), Heave-Ho! (Hej-Rup!, dir. Martin Frič, 1934) and The World Belongs to Us (Svět patří nám, dir. Martin Frič, 1937). All the DVDs also contain, in addition to the films, historical analysis, photography, biography and filmography, Czech subtitles for the hearing impaired and subtitles in English.
1. 12.
After the Czech cartoon and animated figure the Mole became popular with children in Japan and Taiwan, the hearts of readers and audiences in South Korea were also won over. The National Library in Soul organized an exhibition entitled Czech Picture Books and Illustrations: The Mole Is Coming. The exhibition was opened by the Czech ambassador in South Korea Jaroslav Olša, Jr. along with the director of the library Li Suk-hon. So far in South Korea, three of 30 fairytales about the Mole have been translated. Films on the Mole were screened at the exhibition, including the first one featuring this animated figure entitled How the Mole Came by Some Trousers (Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel, dir. Zdeněk Miler, 1957) that has been translated into many languages. Other Czech animated films and books could also be seen.
1. 12.
The documentary by director Petr Ruttner entitled Gustav Mahler (2010) was screened at the general consulate of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles (USA).
1. 12.
The CineStar Praha-Anděl hosted the opening ceremony of the Czech feature film Tacho (dir. Mirjam Landa, 2010).
1. - 3. 12.
A screening of the works of Czech company Negativ s. r. o. was held at Bio Oko cinema in Prague. Entitled Negative 15, the company presented a selection of Czech films that the company has taken part in over the 15 years of its existence. Beginning with the film Indian Summer (Indiánské léto, dir. Saša Gedeon, 1995) viewers saw ten feature films and several short films awarded with Czech Lions and prestigious awards at international film festivals. The programme featured, for instance, the films Year of the Devil (Rok ďábla, dir. Petr Zelenka, 2002), Something Like Happiness (Štěstí, dir. Bohdan Sláma, 2005, CR – Germany) and the documentary René (dir. Helena Třeštíková, 2008). A sidebar consisted of a show by the Czech band Čechomor and a special performance by the cabaret theatre Komediograf. The DVD of the documentary film Katka (dir. Helena Třeštíková, 2010) was christened at the start of the screenings.
1. - 30. 12.
Aero and Světozor cinemas in Prague and another seven towns and cities in the Czech Republic hosted a Festival of Films with Audrey Hepburn (4. 5. 1929 – 20. 1. 1993). The programme featured three films in which this American actress of Dutch-British origin born in Belgium played the lead. The films were Breakfast at Tiffany’s (dir. Blake Edwards, 1961, USA), Roman Holliday (dir. William Wyler, 1953, USA) and Charade (dir. Stanley Donen, 1963, USA). For her role in Roman Holliday she received her only Oscar (1954), despite being nominated four other times for this award. All three films were screened in digitised version.
2. 12.
Prague’s Tesla Arena held the premiere of the new rock opera Peter and Lucy (Petr a Lucie) that was composed by Slovak film director Dušan Rapoš, based on the eponymous novel by French director Romain Rolland (29. 1. 1866 – 30. 12. 1944). The director’s wife, Czech actress Eva Vejmělková wrote the text. 3-D projections and hollographic effects are used in depicted the famous love story. Some 150 artists from several countries worked on it. The Czech National Symphony orchestra led by Italian conductor Marcello Rota and a rock group composed of British, German and Slovak musicians played. The Czech Philharmonic Choir from Brno and a number of soloists, mainly Italian – tenorists Gianluca Terrano, Rossella Ruini of Rome or Thiago Arancam Festa of Monte Carlo, sang. The atmosphere was completed by performances of Russian ballet stars. A week after the Prague premiere the rock opera Peter and Lucy opened in Košice in Slovakia.
2. 12.
The 17th Awards Ceremony of the Government Committee for Current Affairs Coverage Promoting Awareness of Physical Disabilities in Television, Radio and the Press was held (17. ceny Vládního výboru pro zdravotně postižené občany za publicistické práce zaměřené na problematiku zdravotního postižení, uveřejněné v televizi, rozhlase a tisku). The Government Committee for Physically Disabled Citizens organized the ceremony. For the awards – see 17. ceny Vládního výboru pro zdravotně postižené občany za publicistické práce zaměřené na problematiku zdravotního postižení, uveřejněné v televizi, rozhlase a tisku.
2., 8., 10., 13., 15., 17., 21. and 28. 12.
The National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague organized at its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt a screening of films based on the works of Russian writer Lev Tolstoy (9. 9. 1828 – 20. 11. 1910) entitled Tolstoy in Film. The following films were included in the screening: The Cossacks (dir. George W. Hill, Clarence Brown, 1928, USA), Katyusha Maslowa (dir. Friedrich Zelnik, 1923, Germany), Anna Karenina (dir. Julien Duvivier, 1947, Great Britain), Der lebende Leichnam (dir. Fiodor Otsep, 1928, Germany – Russia), Lev Tolstoy (dir. Sergei Gerasimov, 1984, USSR – Czechoslovakia), Otyec Sergi, dir. Igor Talankin, 1978, USSR) and the oldest attempt of capturing the figure of Lev Tolstoy Uchod velikogo startsa (dir. Yakov Protazanov, Yelizaveta Timanova, 1912, Russia) that was screened at the Crystal Hall of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Prague. This film and the films Der Lebende Leichnam and Katyushka Maslowa were screened in collaboration with the Early Reflections association. Association member Sylva Smejkalová accompanied them with electric-acoustic improvisation.
3. 12.
Film historian of the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) Eva Strusková introduced and provided a professional interpretation of the Dodals – founders of Czech animation cycle, composed of the series In Honour of Irena Dodalová and the Dodals Phenomenon – A Fateful Meeting. The cycle was organized at the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Karel Dodal (27. 1. 1900 – 6. 7. 1986), Hermína Týrlová (11. 12. 1900 – 3. 5. 1993) and Irena Dodalová (29. 11. 1900 – ?. 7. 1989). Cartoonist and trick cameraman Karel Dodal became in the latter half of the 1920s the first expert in Czech animated film. Right at the start of his career when he discovered in Elekta-Journal based on the study of American slapstick comedies the secret to animated film, his girlfriend and future wife Hermína Týrlová was right at his side. In the position of cartoonist, animator and even co-author The Water Sprite in Love (Zamilovaný vodník, 1928) she helped him shoot advertising films and slapsticks and mastered her profession to such a degree that, after Dodal left Elekta-Journal, she took over his place in this film company (1929 – 1930). Karel Dodal realised his dream of having his own animated film studio together with his new partner and future wife Irena in the IRÉ-film. The first Czech film studio specialising in animated film created thirty films in the years 1933 – 1938. The main animator for the studio remained Dodal’s former collaborator Hermína Týrlová. Even though the Dodals focussed more on direct orders for customers, their film work demonstrated the possibility of animation for the popularization of instructional findings, indicated the expressive possibilities of abstract film and created the basis for modern Czech audio and colour advertising film. The following films were screened on the ceremonial evening: The Lessons of Felix the Tomcat (Poučení kocoura Felixe, 1927), New Adventures of Felix the Tomcat (Nové dobrodružství kocoura Felixe, 1927), The Water Sprite in Love (Zamilovaný vodník, 1928), Bimbo’s Sad Adventures (Bimbovo smutné dobrodružství, 1930), A Wedding at Midnight (Svatba o půlnoci, 1935), A Merry Concert (Veselý koncert, 1935), Všudybyl’s Adventure (Všudybylovo dobrodružství, 1936), Šmudlík and Leskulinka (Šmudlík a Leskulinka, 1937), Fantaisie érotique (1937), Protest (1938), Ferda the Ant (Ferda Mravenec, 1944) and Lullaby (Ukolébavka, 1947). The evening was also held in honour of Irena Dodalová, film and theatre director, journalist and teacher, to her life and work. After World War II ended the Dodals emigrated to the USA where they tried to continue making animated films. They then left for Buenos Aires, Argentina. While Karel Dodal returned to the USA in the early 1960s, Irena Dodalová forged her path in Buenos Aires, first as the director of films on ballet and folklore, and then from the end of the 1950s as an organizer and instructor of theatre seminars. Near the end of her life Irena Dodalová arranged for the transfer of her personal archive from Buenos Aires back to her country (1989). Ponrepo screened several of their films shot in 1935 – 1938 such as Mummy’s Trip to the Sky (Maminčin výlet do nebe, 1935), The Secret of the Lantern (Tajemství Lucerny, 1936) and Ideas in Search of Light (Myšlenka hledající světlo, 1938).
3. - 5. 12.
Aero cinema in Prague held the 6th annual Festival of Asian Films – FILMASIA (FILMASIA – 6. festival asijských filmů). After the first five festivals which mapped the various national cinematography, the organizers opted for a new dramaturgical concept and screened the best films from the current work of the entire continent. Among those films screened were Jûsan-nin no shikaku (dir. Takashi Miike, 2010, Japan – Great Britain) and Visage (dir. Tsai Ming-liang, 2009, France – Taiwan – Belgium – the Netherlands).
3. - 5. 12.
Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republic) hosted the Seminar of British Film (15. seminář britského filmu), whose fifteenth year was devoted to a legendary figure – singer, musician, painter, actor, writer, member of the legendary group The Beatles and political activist John Lennon (9. 10. 1940 – 8. 12. 1980) and commemorated the 70th anniversary of his birth and 30th anniversary of his tragic death. The programme featured a series of lectures, films and discussions commemorating this figure. John Lennon, who had a major influence on the development of rock music of the 20th century, is considered one of the greatest figures of the 1960s and 1970s. A retrospective entitled John Lennon in Film presented documentary and biographical films that relate to his private life and activities in the Beatles. In addition to Backbeat (dir. Iain Softley, 1994, UK – Germany), viewers saw Nowhere Boy (dir. Sam Taylor-Wood, 2009, Great Britain – Canada), the film made for television in BBC coproduction Lennon Naked (dir. Edmund Coulthard, 2010, Great Britain) and The Killing of John Lennon (dir. Andrew Piddington, 2006). Also screened was the feature film How I Won the War (dir. Richard Lester, 1967, Great Britain). The seminar’s main guest was Bill Harry, a British music journalist and personal friend of John Lennon, founder of the music magazine Mersey Beat and the author of a number of publications on the Beatles. A sidebar was the exhibition of photography capturing the transformation of the Lennon Wall in the Kampa part of Prague over time. The exhibition opening was supplemented by a discussion with the authors of the publication Lennon Wall in Prague (2003). Stanislav Penc, one of the founders of the John Lennon Peace Club, appeared along with Petr Blažek and Filip Pospíšil. In addition to the Lennon retrospective, he introduced the most interesting British films created over the past two years. The organizers also provided space for Czech and Slovak films as is the tradition.
4. 12.
The Ghost Writer (Muž ve stínu, 2009, France – Germany – Great Britain) by director Roman Polanski won at the 23rd annual European Film Awards announced in Tallin (Estonia). The film received awards in six categories: best film, director, screenplay, actor – Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, story and music.
8. 12.
The 3rd annual competition FAMO versus FAMU was held. At Prague’s Bio Oko cinema both schools – Filmová akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, o. p. s. and Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze – competed, each with two films, and the viewers decided which school won. Filmová akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, o. p. s. entered the film Automatic for the People (dir. Jan Vejnar, 2010) and Fast Arrows (Rychlé šípy, dir. Matěj Pichler, 2010), Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze entered People Involved (dir. Jan Těšitel, 2010) and Girl 180 (Holka 180, dir. Tomasz Mielnik, 2010). The two academies competed off the film screen too. After the screening the filmmakers clashed in a debate in which they compared the positives and negatives of both schools. Filmová akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, o. p. s. emerged from the duel the winner as the most popular film with viewers was Automatic for the People.
9. 12.
Organizers of the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced that on 1. – 9. 7. 2011 changes will be made at some positions. Eva Zaoralová, who has held the position of the festival’s artistic director for many years will as of 1. 1. 2011 become the festival’s artistic advisor. Her former position will be filled from that date by Karel Och. Och has held the position of dramaturgist of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival since 2001, and in 2010 also became the programme director. He is among Eva Zaoralová’s closest colleagues. Eva Zaoralová, who, along with Karlovy Vary Film Festival president Jiří Bartoška, was mainly responsible for building the festival’s new form and who has been a key figure for the festival for more than 15 years, will remain among the top organizers of the festival and will continue to take part in creating the programme and representing the festival.
9. 12.
National Film Archive’s representatives presented at the National Film Archive’s (Národní filmový archiv) Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague the six-part catalogue Czech Feature Film that the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) has put out since 1993. The most recent work contains Czech feature films from 1981 – 1993, i. e. the end of the “normalization” period, and the 1980s in particular, up to the end of 1993 when on 11. 11. Act no. 273/1993 Sb., which ended the state monopoly in Czech cinematography, went into effect. Toward the end of this period some of the films were already being shot in private production. From an international perspective the publication is unique in that it includes nearly all of the Czech feature work from that period. It provides newly verified data on feature films, including instruction, educational and advertising films and films of film school. In addition to a brief summary of the action and details, filmographic data containing the makeup of the film crew and cast, the catalogue provides information on the film footage, its length and preserved archive sources. An integral part of the information on each film is the extensive bibliography also containing foreign reactions to films, a list of prizes won and, last but not least, all films feature colour and black-and-white photographs from them. The publication is further supplemented by a complete index of films, figures, producers, distributors and exteriors, a list of reading material concerning the given period, and samples of posters of the time are in the appendix.
9. 12.
A ninety-minute film edit of the TV series The Family (Rodinka, 2010) had its premiere at Prague’s Bio Illusion cinema. The series was shot by director Dušan Klein as a loose continuation of the successful TV series Modern Family (Taková normální rodinka, 1971) based on the work of Czech writer Fan Vavřincová, real name Věra Němotová (17. 11. 1917). The film The Family (Rodinka) was screened at Filmania and did not have any official premieres. It was screened at cinemas for a limited time, in December 2010 and in January 2011.
9. 12.
Matchmaking Mayor (Nesvatbov, 2010, CR - SR), the documentary film of Erika Hníková was inducted into Czech film distribution.
9. - 12. 12.
The 9th Festival of Film Animation PAF (9. přehlídka animovaného filmu) was held in Olomouc (Czech Republic). The programme featured classic animated films and original audiovisual performances. One of the main guests was the British film director Peter Greenaway who opened the festival. This was followed by a screening of his film The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (Great Britain – France) from 1989. This renowned British director was presented in Olomouc above all as a video installation artist crossing the boundaries of film, fine arts and music. He spoke 11. 12. on the theme of new opportunities in film, focussing on the borders of film and other fields of art. His lecture was titled “Cinematography Is Dead. Long Live Cinematography”. Another important festival guest was the Austrian audiovisual artist Martin Arnold, who introduced as a world premiere the screening (with commentary) of his work Soft Palate. The German visual artist Carsten Nicolai, better known as Alva Noto, appeared for the first time in the festival’s programme. The main programme section consisted of the Different Visions competition, whose objective was to map the events in the field of creating motion pictures of film and video in the Czech Republic. Sylva Poláková, the curator of this year’s competition, chose from nearly 80 films and videos and divided the dozen or so finalists into three sections. The festival’s jury consisted of American filmmaker and gallerist Pip Chodorov, the head of Vienna’s Sixpackfilm Brigita Burger-Utzer and Slovak film theoretician and editor-in-chief of Kino-Ikon magazine, Martin Kaňuch. The festival featured, among others, the films Surviving Life (Přežít svůj život, dir. Jan Švankmajer, 2010, CR – SR), The Little Witch (Malá čarodějnice, dir. Zdeněk Smetana, 1983, Czechoslovakia – Germany), The Adventure of Robinson Crusoe, the Sailer from York (Dobrodružství Robinsona Crusoe, námořníka z Yorku, dir. Stanislav Látal, 1981, Czechoslovakia – DDR) and The Creation of the World (Stvoření světa, dir. Eduard Hofman, Czechoslovakia – France). Concluding the festival was a screening and the Czech premiere of I Am So Proud of You (dir. Don Hertzfeldt, USA, 2008). British director Peter Greenaway accepted at the festival the lifelong achievement award in the field of motion pictures. For the awarding of Czech films – see 9. přehlídka animovaného filmu.
11. 12.
Ennio Morricone, an eighty-two-year-old Italian composer of film music and conductor, began to shoot in the Hostivař film studios in Prague music for a two-part Italian TV film entitled Come un delfino (dir. Stefano Reali, 2011). Morricone has composed music for more than four hundred television series and films. He gained renown with director and compatriot Sergio Leone; perhaps the most famous is his music for the film C’era una volta il west/Once Upon in the West (1968, Italy). In addition to this he has worked with several other directors, such as with Brian De Palma – The Untouchables (1987, USA), Franco Zeffirelli – Hamlet (1990, USA – Great Britain – France), Roland Joffé – The Mission (1986, Great Britain), Oliver Stone – U Turn (1997, France – USA) or Adrian Lyne – Lolita (1997, USA – France). He has won an Oscar and several Grammy awards and Golden Globes. He has recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and has made a CD with them.
16. 12.
Jan Němec’s film Heart Beat 3D (2010), the first Czech feature film shot using a 3-D system, had its premiere at Prague’s Atlas cinema.
16. 12.
Martin Ryšavý’s Bear Islands (Medvědí ostrovy, 2010) was launched into film distribution. On 5. 11. the film had its premiere at the web portal Docalliancefilms.cz.
17. 12.
Two graduate films from the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek (Filmová akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, o. p. s.) – Mikoláš Orlický’s Gloomy Sunday (Ponurá neděle, 2011) and Jan Vejnar’s Automatic for the People (2010) – were premiered at Aero cinema in Prague.
18. 12.
The 7th Competition of Television Programmes ELSA (7. výroční televizní ceny ELSA) were announced and Czech television films and programmes were awarded – see 7. výroční televizní ceny ELSA.
20. 12.
An Iranian court sentenced director Jafar Panahi to prison for six years and banned him from making films for 20 years. Jafar Panahi, a recipient of awards from prestigious European film festivals, has clashed with the regime due to his hitherto works, especially his now famous film Offside (2006, Iran), which was awarded a Silver Bear at the International Film Festival in Berlin in 2006. Panahi was sentenced to prison allegedly because he intended to make a politically objectionable film on the presidential elections of 2009. His imprisonment has been protested by American directors Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola, French actress Juliette Binoche, and the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary (Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) through its president Jiří Bartoška.
21. 12.
The most nominations for the Film Critics Awards went to Radim Špaček’s Walking Too Fast (Pouta, 7 nominations), Robert Sedláček’s The Greatest Czechs (Největší z Čechů, 6 nominations) and Jan Svěrák’s Kooky (Kuky se vrací, CR – Denmark). The first annual survey will award in 12 categories the best Czech films of 2010. All three films will compete for victory in the categories of best film, best director and best screenplay. Best leading actor will be chosen film specialists from the nominees Jaroslav Plesl (The Greatest Czechs /Největší z Čechů/), Rostislav Novák, Jr. (Piko) and Ondřej Malý (Walking Too Fast /Pouta/). Nominated for best leading actress are Zuzana Bydžovská (Mamas & Papas), Simona Babčáková (The Greatest Czechs /Největší z Čechů/) and Aňa Geislerová in Identity Card (Občanský průkaz, dir. Ondřej Trojan, CR – SR). Actors Ondřej Malý and Rostislav Novák , Jr. and Tomáš Řehořek, director of the film Piko, were short-listed for discovery of the year. The following nominations competed for best documentary film: Czech Peace (Český mír, dir. Vít Klusák, Filip Remunda), Katka (dir. Helena Třeštíková) and Matchmaking Mayor (Nesvatbov, dir. Erika Hníková, CR – SR). The awards ceremony will be held on 13. 1. 2011 at Prague’s Archa theatre.
29. 12.
The National Film Archive’s (Národní filmový archiv) Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt in Prague hosted the premiere of Iranian director Abbás Kiárostamí’s new film Copia conforme (2010, France – Italy – Iran). This is the first film that the Iranian artist has shot in Europe. French actress Juliette Binoche received for her lead performance in this film the best actress award at the 63rd International Film Festival at Cannes 2010, and the film received a Golden Spike at the 52nd International Film Week at Valladolid 2010 (Spain). The National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) bought the film into the distribution of film clubs and film civic associations.
31. 12.
The 17th Viewers’ Choice Competition of the Czech and Slovak Premiere Films Shown in 2010 – The Tachov Pumpkin (17. divácká soutěž premiérových českých a slovenských filmů uvedených v roce 2010 – Tachovská dýně) was held in Tachov (Czech Republic). For the awarded films – see 17. divácká soutěž premiérových českých a slovenských filmů uvedených v roce 2010 – Tachovská dýně.