I. A Calendar»
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1., 4., 14. and 22. 4.
The National Film Archive organized at its Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague the premiere of the film The Piano Turner of Earthquakes (2005, Great Britain – German – France) inspired by various cultural legacies, including the classics of German film expressionism. Its directors, the brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay are London filmmakers originally from Philadelphia. Their admiration of European culture led them to move to Great Britain when they were still young. This first opus of theirs was shot completely in studios in Leipzig and they received at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2005 the Special Recognition award of the official jury and the Award of the young jury.
1. 4. - 27. 5.
The Goethe Institute in Prague hosted an exhibition presenting artefacts from animated puppet films produced by the German company DEFA – the originals of puppets, props and large-scale portraits of film characters. The exhibition was accompanied by a screening of animated films and was part of a joint project of Prague and Dresden. On 2. 2. – 2. 4. at Dresden’s Thalia theatre there was held as part of this project a retrospective of feature films by Czech director Jan Švankmajer entitled Jan Švankmajer and Czech animated film. The entire project culminated with an exhibition of his collages in Dresden as part of the International Festival of Short and Animated Films – Filmfest Dresden (12. – 17. 4.). The event, focused on the collaboration between German and Czech creators of animated films and supported by the Czech-German Future Fund, was organized by the Czech Film Center (České filmové centrum) and German Institute for Animated Film.
5. - 27. 4.
The 8th International Festival of Student Films (8. mezinárodní festival studentských filmů – Zlínský pes 2011) was held in the Czech Town of Zlín. The eighth annual festival was conceived to be interesting for both film students and the professional public. The festival opened with a talk on working with film music given by Jaroslav Musil from DISK Multimedia. At several workshops the festival participants had a chance to meet with young directors and to view their work – including that of Tomáš Řehořek and Václav Kadrnka. The programme also featured the Open Doors Day at Zlín film schools where the studios of legendary Czech filmmakers Hermína Týrlová (11. 12. 1900 – 3. 5. 1993) and Karel Zeman (3. 11. 1910 – 5. 4. 1989) are located. The festival concluded with a workshop by Universal Production Partners, a. s., which presented technological novelties in cinematography.
6. 4. - 31. 5.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague organized the festival Miklos Jancsó – Cleió Dances featuring a screening of this major Hungary film director ranked among the greatest in the film world. During April and May some thirty films from 1963 – 1988 were screened at Ponrepo upon the occasion of the director’s ninetieth birthday (21. 9. 1921).
7. 4.
Aero cinema in Prague hosted the ceremonial premiere of the Czech documentary film Svoboda Theatre (Divadlo Svoboda, dir. Jakub Hejna, 2011).
7. 4.
A group of three films under the joint title Everest (2011, CR – SR) was launched into Czech distribution. It consists of two Czech films In the Shadow of the Goddess of Mother Earth (Ve stínu bohyně matky Země, dir. Jindřich Procházka, 2003) and Window to the Sky (Okno do nebe, dir. Pavel Bém, 2007) and Slovak film Everest – Juzek Psotka (Everest – Juzek Psotka, dir. Pavol Barabáš, SR, 2008).
8. 4.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague held a ceremonial event upon the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Czech film and theatre comic Vlasta Burian (9. 4. 1891 – 31. 1. 1962). The programme featured the christening of a postage stamp with the nominal value of CZK 10 by Pavel Sivko and engraver Jaroslav Tvrdoň dedicated to the comic and a screening of several short sequences from films that Vlasta Burian had parts in. Viewers had the chance to buy films with Vlasta Burian on DVD and the newly issued postage stamp.
8. - 10. 4.
KRRR! 70MM FILM FEST KRNOV – The 6th Screening of 70-mm Films (KRRR! 70MM FILM FEST KRNOV – 6. přehlídka 70mm filmů) was once again held in the Nord Moravian City of Krnov. Audiences were treated to films such as Dune (dir. David Lynch, 1984, USA), Alien³ (dir. David Fincher, 1992, USA), Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1981, USA) and other films of 70-mm format. A delicatessen for film connoisseurs was the newly restored film PlayTime (1967, France – Italy) by Jacques Tati. The Krnov cinema Mír 70 is currently the only in the Visegrad Four countries able to screen 70mm format of film copy with the original, up to six-channel magnetic recording of sound.
8. - 17. 4.
The 13th International Short Film Festival of Barcelona – MECAL was held and one section was devoted to Czech film. The Czech Film Center (České filmové centrum) introduced here, in addition to three sets of short films, a retrospective of the work of film director and artists Jan Švankmajer. Two sets entitled Actuality 1 and 2 presented to the international public films such as 59/184/84 (2008) by director Lukáš Kokeš, Klokworx! (dir. Jindřich Novák, 2010), A Tear Is Needed (Usnula jsem, dir. Kristina Dufková, 2009) and Torchbearer (Světlonoš, dir. Václav Švankmajer, 2005). The third set was devoted to the work of film school students – from Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) and the Film School Zlín, Ltd. (Vyšší odborná škola filmová Zlín, s. r. o.). Films screened included Bába (Old Lady, dir. Zuzana Špidlová, 2008), Graffitiger (dir. Libor Pixa, 2010) and Nocturne (Nokturno, dir. Marek Berger, 2009). The Czech Center in Madrid, which organized two exhibitions of film posters at the Fnac Diagonal Mar in Barcelona (Spain), became involved in the programme of the section devoted to Czech short film. The first of these exhibitions with a music theme in Czechoslovak film poster took place on 14. 4. – 4. 5. An exhibition of posters on Spanish films created by major Czechoslovak artists opened at the same time. This exhibition opened on 14. 4. and lasted till 15. 6.
11. - 15. 4.
The 8th International Film Festival on the Ecology and Environment – TUR Ostrava 2011 (8. mezinárodní festival filmů o ekologii a životním prostředí – TUR Ostrava 2011) was held. The Ostrava festival was linked to the tradition of a similar festival on the environment – EKOFILM, which moved from Ostrava a few years ago. The TUR (sustainable development) festival will follow its lead. The organizers enriched the environmental issue to include other aspects of sustainable development such as interpersonal relations or economic effects and other impacts on our lives. Every year it takes place at the City of Ostrava’s House of Culture, but it’s gradually grown to include other venues. As in past years, in 2011 a broad range of documentaries on the landscape and its protection by Czech and foreign filmmakers were prepared for festival visitors. Viewers could thus compare how the environmental issue is dealt with in various corners of the world. In addition to the four-day film festival, an accompanying programme was also prepared for viewers consisting of discussions with experts and cultural performances. Czech films in the festival included Copper Age (Doba měděná, dir. Ivo Bystřičan, 2010), Ecce homo Iohas (dir. Vojtěch Fatka, 2010) and Four Velvet Men Then and Now /Kryštof Rímský/ (Evoluce 4 z revoluce /Kryštof Rímský/, dir. Pavel Koutecký, Jan Šikl ml., 2010). For awarded Czech films see 8. mezinárodní festival filmů o ekologii a životním prostředí – TUR Ostrava 2011.
12. - 17. 4.
The 46th International Festival of Popular-Scientific and Documentary Films – Academia Film Olomouc [AFO] 2011 (46. mezinárodní festival populárně-vědeckých a dokumentárních filmů – Academia Film Olomouc [AFO] 2011) was held. The AFO 2011 programme blocks included the international competition, the competition of Czech films and Studio block, which included several sub-sections. UNESCO declared 2011 the International Year of Chemistry and the 46th annual Academia Film Olomouc reacted to this with its (Al)Chemie section mapping the less known areas of this science. The Brain! section drew attention to discoveries in the field of research and, in addition to interesting documentaries, featured a talk by Josef Vojta from the Marketing Department of the University of Economics in Prague on neuromarketing, the most recent scientific discipline in the field of marketing probing the influence of advertisement on consumers. The programme also feature two honours – In Honour of Cyril Höschl and In Honour of Martha Holmes. The renowned Czech psychiatrist Cyril Höschl accepted at the ceremonial opening of the festival the AFO Award for his contribution to the popularisation of science. BBC Television producer Martha Holmes, the recipient of the BAFTA award from 1998, personally presented the natural-science series Life. The accompanying programme included the presentation of several video installations, interactive exhibitions and unique robot performances. For the awarding of Czech films and personalities see 46. mezinárodní festival populárně-vědeckých a dokumentárních filmů – Academia Film Olomouc [AFO] 2011.
13. 4.
The evening of short films – iShorts – at Bio Oko cinema in Prague included the first ever Kodak Young Cinematographer Awards ceremonies the competition for young cinametography (Ceny Kodak Young Cinematographer – soutěž pro mladé kameramany krátkých filmů, vyhlášené v rámci večera krátkých filmů iShorts). A total of 27 cinematographers from Czech and Slovak film schools entered their film in the competition. Leading Czech cinematographers judged the films. The jury awarded three young cinematographers: main prize ended up going to two cinematographers – to Antoan Pepelanov for his film Look Before... (Neříkej hop., 2010, CR) and to Gašper Šnuderl for the film Charmers (Zaříkávačky, 2008, CR), who also directed it himself. Both received Kodak film equipment worth CZK 60,000. Jan Filip received the second place award for his camera work on the video clip Angeldust (r. Karel Březina, 2009, CR).
14. - 28. 4.
The 18th Days of European Film (18. dny evropského filmu (DEF) was held in Prague. The event was opened at Světozor cinema in Prague with the screening of the film 3 (3/Drei, 2010, Germany) by German director Tom Tykwer with leading actors in attendance – Austrian actress Sophie Rois and German actor David Striesow. The Prague part ended on 21. 4. at Lucerna with the pre-premiere of Tomáš Řehořek’s Czech Made Man (Czech made man, 2011). Worth mentioning from the vast programme was the To the Point section that included a screening of the new British retro comedy Made in Dagenham (dir. Nigel Colee, 2010). In 2011 the section focussed on European Parliament’s LUX Prize was newly presented and featured the films Die Fremde (dir. Feo Aladag, 2010, Germany), Belgian-Luxembourg-French film Illégal (dir. Olivier Masset-Depasse, 2010) and the French film Welcome (dir. Philippe Lioret, 2009), which won the LUX Prize for 2010. The League of Nations section featured a cross-section of films officially nominated by various countries for the American Film Academy’s Oscar Award. The Best Of Section presented the most interesting works of the cinematography of various countries. A new part of the programme was the Film & Music section that introduced several European films working with the theme of music, such as the Polish comedy Wszystko, co kocham (dir. Jacek Borcuch, 2009) or the Hungarian musical Made in Hungária (dir. Gergely Fonyó, 2009). The traditional DEF seminary held on 15. 4. in Prague’s Aero cinema focussed on the Digital Age of Cinemas or How to Reach the Film Viewer in the Digital Sphere. On 16. 4. the accompanying programme included at the Světozor cinema a screening of the Czech film Eroticon (Erotikon) by Gustav Machatý with live music accompaniment by the electro-acoustic group Forma Live. The Days of European Film (18. dny evropského filmu (DEF)) continued in Brno from 22. 4. till 28. 4. at the Břetislav Bakala cinema. The Echoes of the Days of European Film (18. dny evropského filmu (DEF)) was hosted in another five Czech and Moravian towns.
15. - 16. 4.
The Center of Amateur and Independent Film organized at the National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague the 20th Festival of Non-professional Films – PAF 2011 (20. festival neprofesionálních filmů se zahraniční účastí PAF 2011) with other countries participating. A total of 36 Czech films were entered into competition and 29 of these were chosen to compete. In addition to this, 6 short films, 1 feature-length film and amateur films from the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) collection were screened. The competition films included A Good Person (Dobrý člověk, dir. Jan Vačlena, 2009) and the animated film Tins (Plechovky, dir. Bohumír Novák, 2011). Non-competition screenings included the feature film The Grandmother: The True Story (Babička aneb jak to bylo doopravdy, dir. Pjeer Van Eck, 2010) and the avant-garde film Hands on Tuesday (Ruce v úterý, dir. Vladimír Šmejkal, Čeněk Zahradníček, 1935) from the (Národní filmový archiv) collection. For awarded films – see 20. festival neprofesionálních filmů se zahraniční účastí PAF 2011.
15. - 17. 4.
The Film Club and CULTURE Rychnov nad Kněžnou (Czech Republic) organized the 8th annual Šlitr’s Spring. Jiří Šlitr (15. 2. 1924 – 26. 12. 1969) was Czech musician, painter, actor and one of founder of Semafor Theatre. Two theatre performances were prepared for audiences – Mamzelle Nitouche put on by Semafor theatre in Prague and Kiss Me, Kiss Me or The Dream of Jiří Šlitr’s Plaid Shirt (Líbej mne, líbej aneb Sen o kostkované košili Jiřího Šlitra), a premiere students performance of the Theatre Arts Faculty JAMU (Janáčkova akademie múzických umění v Brně – Divadelní fakulta) and CKK Band Brno. The “film surprises” included the films La Paloma (dir. Tor Villano, 1947, Philippines) and Viva Las Vegas (dir. George Sidney, 1964, USA).
17. - 23. 4.
The 24th Festival of Czech Films FINÁLE 2011 (24. festival českých filmů FINÁLE 2011) was held in Plzeň (Czech Republic). The festival featured a screening of nearly 120 Czech feature and documentary films that vied for the Golden Kingfisher main prize. The films were divided into thematic sections as in past years. In addition to feature films, competition documentary films and non-competition documentary films, organizers prepared the section The Procházka Saga, which presented a selection from the scriptwriting of Czech writer Jan Procházka (4. 2. 1929 – 20. 2. 1971) and the work of his daughters and granddaughter – the director Maria Procházková, Tribute to MICHR or to cinematographer Stanislav Milota and his wife actress Vlasta Chramostová, about whom a commemorative publication was published in the Finále series, named Whis the Company MICHR Licht ist sicher!, Tribute to Iva Janžurová, The Hits of Smoljak and Svěrák, Those Wonderful Movie Cranks, Phenomenon of the Times: Porta Festival (the ArtBuffé art festival devoted to forests, woodcraft and Czech tramping was presented concurrently with this), Finále for Children and the Special Recognition section. This time the juries were headed by two women: The feature films jury was chaired by opera singer Soňa Červená and the documentary films jury by director Drahomíra Vihanová The Czech Film Center (České filmové centrum) prepared three events for the 24th annual FINÁLE 2011(24. festival českých filmů FINÁLE 2011): in addition to the traditional Panel of Prepared Feature and Animated Films (22. 4.), this included a group of Czech short films from the Czech Short Films collection Vol. II (20. 4.) and for the first time in collaboration with the Czech Film Commission there was held a Location Tour around the monuments of the Plzeň region (24. 1.). For the awarding of Czech films and personalities see Výroční ceny Asociace českých filmových klubů and 24. festival českých filmů FINÁLE 2011.
18. - 29. 4.
The 15th Festival on Travelling, Understanding and Bringing Cultures Closer Together – UNKNOWN LAND (15. festival cestování, sbližování a poznávání kultur – NEZNÁMÁ ZEMĚ) was held in Zlín (Czech Republic). In the days of the great expedition discoveries in which the shape of the land was just being discovered, the white places on the maps were marked with the words Terra incognita – Unknown Lands. The plan of the organizers of the festival, Petr Horký and Miroslav Náplava, is “to find the white places in our heads and remove them. To break down the borders between the various nations”. This is why the festival on travelling, understanding and bring cultures closer was created. The Traveller’s Cinema series opened with Jiří Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund’s film from 1953 entitled Africa I (Afrika I). Also screened were the films Last Chance to Save the Northern White Rhino (Poslední šance pro severní bílé nosorožce, dir. Jiří Bálek, 2009), Cuba Libre (dir. Petr Horký, 2006) and The Dance of the Blue Angels (Tanec modrých andělů, dir. Steve Lichtag, 2004). The programme was supplemented by discussions with travellers or accompanying events, including exhibitions or public screenings of competition documentaries of the MOTONOMÁDI festival (a competition of films on travelling the world with anything that has wheels and an engine) in a Mongolian yurt.
19. 4.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague hosted a screening of the film L’oeuvre au noir (1988, Belgium – France) by French director André Delvauxe (21. 3. 1926 – 4. 10. 2002). It was the last screening of this historical film with philosophical implications before the end of the monopoly for the Czech Republic.
21. 4.
The Czech feature-lenght film Eighty Letters (Osmdesát dopisů, 2011) by director Václav Kadrnka had its ceremonial premiere in Prague’s Aero cinema.
25. 4.
The American Film Academy of Film Art and Sciences announced the nomination of the 38th annual Student awards – student Oscars. The five nominated films in the section of foreign student films included the graduate film Graffitiger (2010) by Libor Pixa, a student of the department of animated film of the Film and TV School of the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze – Katedra animované tvorby).
26. 4. - 1. 5.
ANIFEST 2011 – The 10th International Festival of Animated Films was held in Teplice (ANIFEST 2011 – 10. mezinárodní festival animovaných filmů) /Czech Republic/. Films competed in the statutory competition where they were divided into the following sections: short animated films, feature animated films, animated student films, animated television films and series, animated advertisements and trailers and animated films created by children. The non-statutory competition included short school animated films from Visegrad countries, animated films up to 60 minutes with environmental themes Knauf Insulation, a competition of short animated films created by children with environmental themes Knauf Prague and the flipbook competition. The rich accompanying programme included a retrospective of Latvian animated films of major contemporary Latvian animators – Signe Baumane and jury member, director Vladimir Leshchiov. A selection of the best from contemporary world animation is presented in the AniFest Choice programme, which replaces the previous Panorama section. Besides well-known films, less known, but no less original films from contemporary world production were shown. The international jury awarded the ANIFEST GRAND PRIX to the Estonian film Tuukrid vihmas (2009) by directors Olga and Priit Pärn. Several concerts, exhibitions, animation workshops for children and theatre presentations were held in addition to the screening of films. For awarded Czech films see ANIFEST 2011 – 10. mezinárodní festival animovaných filmů.
27. 4.
The CineStar Anděl multiplex in Prague hosted the ceremonial premiere of the Czech comedy Czech Made Man (Czech made man, dir. Tomáš Řehořek, 2011).
27. 4.
Palace Cinemas Slovanský dům multiplex in Prague hosted the ceremonial premiere of the Czech Devil’s Bride (Čertova nevěsta dir. Zdeněk Troška, 2011).
27. 4.
National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague hosted a commemoration of the anniversary of the birth of painter, illustrator, graphic artist, photographer and FAMU teacher Radek Pilař (23. 4. 1931 – 7. 2. 1993), who took part in the creation of a number of animated Czech films. After the first attempt with his own animation project Pin-up (1961), in which he made use of “destruction animation”, he began to experiment with found material that was to be liquidated. This lesser-known work complements the work he did on Czech films. The screening featured Pilař’s video art, film experiments from the 1960s, and animated films that he worked on as an artist or director – Little Shoe (Botička, dir. Radek Pilař, 1988), The Sculptress from Polička (Sochařka z Poličky, dir. Jaroslav Boček, 1970) and The Glass Song (Písnička pro sklíčka, dir. Václav Bedřich, 1967). The commemorative event and screening of the films was introduced by Bohdana Kerbachová, an expert at the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv).
28. 4. - 3. 5.
The 13th Screening of Czech, Slovak, Polish and Hungarian Films – Cinema on the Border was held in Český Těšín (Czech Republic) and Cieszyn (Poland) (13. přehlídka českých, slovenských, polských a maďarských filmů – Kino na hranici/13. Przegląd Filmowy polskich, czeskich, słowackich i węgierskich filmów – Kino na granicy). The border meeting of Czech, Slovak, Polish and Hungarian films and filmmakers included the following Czech feature-length films: Three Seasons in Hell (Tři sezóny v pekle, dir. Tomáš Mašín, 2009, CR – Germany – SR), Kajínek (dir. Petr Jákl ml., 2010), Habermann Habermann’s Mill (Habermannův mlýn, dir. Juraj Herz, CR – Germany – Austria, 2010) and documentary and animated films such as Katka (dir. Helena Třeštíková, 2010), All for the Good of the World and Nošovice (Vše pro dobro světa a Nošovic, dir. Vít Klusák, 2010), Car Fairy Tales (Autopohádky, dir. Břetislav Pojar, Michal Žabka, František Váša, Libor Pixa, Jakub Kohák, 2011) and the combined animated and feature film Kooky (Kuky se vrací, dir. Jan Svěrák, 2010, CR – Denmark). The screening included a retrospective of films by Czech director Otakar Vávra (28. 2. 1911 – 15. 9. 2011).