I. A Calendar»
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1. - 9. 7.
The 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2011 (46. mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary 2011) – a non-specialised festival with four competition sections – was held. The festival organizer was FILM SERVIS FESTIVAL KARLOVY VARY, a. s., the festival president was Jiří Bartoška and Karel Och was the artistic director, having replaced Eva Zaoralová after many years. The festival featured 413 film screenings attended by 126,302 viewers. A total of 199 films were screened, of which 165 were feature (151 feature-length and 14 short) and 34 documentaries (26 feature-length and 8 short). Of the films shown at the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2011 (46. mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary 2011), there were 21 world, 25 international and 16 European premieres. The festival opened with a screening of Jane Eyre (dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2011, Great Britain) and ended with Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, 2011 (Spain – USA). Martin Šulík’s film Gypsy (Cigán, 2011) was also an entry in the main competition and came away with several prizes. The East of the West competition section included the Czech feature film Nothing against Nothing (Nic proti ničemu, dir. Petr Marek, 2011). Czech films were mainly presented in the representative selection of Czech film from 2010 – 2011. Important guests at the festival included American actor John Torturro, who introduced the world premiere of the film Somewhere Tonight (dir. Michael Di Jiacomo, 2010, USA – Netherlands) in which he starred. He received the award of the festival president, as did Croatian composer and producer Goran Bregović. British actress Judy Dench received the award for extraordinary artistic contribution to world film. The festival was also attended by American actor John Malkovich, who presented his own fashion collection. On 3.7. the announcement ceremony for the Lux 2011 awards was held; since 2007 these prizes have been given from the European Parliament to films reflecting the wealth and diversity of European culture. A panel discussion on the theme of how public support for Czech film works was held on the same day. The discussion was moderated by screenwriter and script editor Jan Štern. A sidebar to the festival was the opening of an exhibition focused on the eightieth anniversary of the Barrandov Film Studio. The exhibition featured costumes divided by historical periods and films and various props. For the awarding of Czech films see 46. mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary 2011.
1. - 13. 7.
The films Clouds of Glass (Skleněná oblaka, 1958), The White Dove (Holubice, 1960), The Devil’s Trap (Ďáblova past, 1961), Marketa Lazarová (1967), The Valley of the Bees (Údolí včel, 1967), Adelheid (1969), Sirius (1974), Art Nouveau Prague (Praha secesní, 1974), Fire on Potato Fields (Dým bramborové natě, 1976), The Shepherd Boy (Pasáček z doliny, 1983), Shadows of a Hot Summer (Stíny horkého léta, 1977), Serpent’ Poisson (Hadí jed, 1981), The Shades of Ferns (Stín kapradiny, 1985) were screened as part of a programme presenting the work of film director František Vláčil in the Canadian town of Ottawa.
2. and 5. 7.
A screening of the work of Czech director of animated films Břetislav Pojar was held at the Barbican Theatre in London as part of the Watch Me Move exhibition. The screening was organized by the Czech Center in London in collaboration with the National Film Archive (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague. The programme featured A Drop Too Much (O skleničku víc, 1953), The Lion and the Song (Lev a písnička, 1959) and The Apple Maiden (Jabloňová panna, 1973). The director Břetislav Pojar introduced his films and together with the producer of his films Michal Podhradský took part in a discussion on the use of various animation techniques in Pojar’s films. The London festival also organized a tribute to the International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava (15. mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů). The event was presented in London through the curatorial programme Jihlava Shorts and a selection of the contemporary Czech documentary works.
4. 7. - 30. 9.
The National Film Archive’s Ponrepo screening hall at Bio Konvikt (Národní filmový archiv) in Prague presented a cross-section of the work of five film directors. These included the Italian director Federico Fellini (20. 1. 1920 – 31. 10. 1993), Czech director Gustav Machatý (9. 5. 1901 – 14. 12. 1963), Russian director and screenwriter Andrei Tarkovsky (4. 4. 1932 – 29. 12. 1986), Italian director Luchino Visconti (2. 11. 1906 – 17. 3. 1976) and Czech film director Jan Němec (12. 7. 1936). The following films were among those screened: La Strada (dir. Federico Fellini, 1954, Italy), Ecstasy (Extase, 1932, Czechoslovakia) and Eroticon (Erotikon, 1929, Czechoslovakia) both by director Gustav Machatý, Andrei Rublev (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966, USSR), Morte a Venezia (dir. Luchino Visconti, 1971, Italy) and Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci, dir. Jan Němec, 1964, Czechoslovakia).
5. 7.
The ceremonial premiere of the Slovak-Czech feature film Gypsy (Cigán, 2011) by director Martin Šulík was held in the Great Hall of the Thermal Hotel in Karlovy Vary as part of the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (46. mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary 2011).
7. - 10. 7.
Boskovice (Czech Republic) hosted the 19th Festival for the Jewish Quarter Boskovice 2011 – Multicultural Festival of Music, Theatre, Film and Exhibitions (19. festival pro židovskou čtvrť Boskovice 2011 – multikulturní přehlídka hudby, divadel, filmů a výstav) geared toward promoting unique urban monuments in this south Moravian town. In addition to the aforementioned artistic areas, the programme included thematic cycles such as the Film and Sociology Foundation Presents with the films Challenge or DKNV Survival 2010 in a Wheelchair (Výzva aneb DKNV Survival 2010 na vozíku, dir. Miloslav Doležal, 2010) and Four Velvet Men Then and Now (Evoluce 4 z revoluce, dir. Jan Šikl, 2010), Film Schools Present (Private Film College Písek Ltd. /Soukromá vyšší odborná škola filmová s. r. o. Písek/, Film School Zlín, Ltd. /Vyšší odborná škola filmová Zlín, s. r. o./ and Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek, n. g. o./Filmová akademie Miroslava Ondříčka v Písku, o. p. s./) or the cycle Crimes of Communism that featured the film The Wife of a Poet – Marie Zahradníčková (Žena básníka – Marie Zahradníčková, dir. Ljuba Václavová, 2010).
8. - 10. 7.
Cagey Tigers (dir. Aramisova, 2010), a successful student film from the production of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze), was screened during the Pohoda Slovak music festival in Trenčín (Slovak Republic) as part of the Pheasant of Cinematography section.
14. 7.
The Lucerna cinema in Prague hosted the ceremonial premiere of the Czech documentary film The Generation of Singles (Generace Singles, dir. Jana Počtová, 2011).
14. - 15. 7.
The Italian composer Ennio Moriccone, the author of the music for, among other films, C’era una volta il west/Once Upon a Time in America (1968, Italy) and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966, Italy) by director Sergio Leone, performed live for the first time ever at the Smetana Hall in the Municipal House in Prague. The recipient of an Oscar for lifelong achievement conducted the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno. The concert, which featured samples from his symphonic and film works, took place as part of the Prague Proms festival. Morricone’s cantata Vuoto D’Anima Piena was also performed in a Czech premiere. The famous composer and conductor recorded with the Czech Symphonic Orchestra in the Hostivař studies in Prague music for the two-part Italian television film Come un delfino (2011) by director Stefano Reali.
14. - 17. 7.
The 10th annual Colours of Ostrava (10. festival Colours of Ostrava) festival was held. The film part of the programme was created in conjunction with the Summer Film School of Uherské Hradiště /Czech Republic/ (37. letní filmová škola 2011) and offered many interesting films. The film screenings were moved to the larger spaces of the Vesmír cinema in the center of Ostrava (Czech Republic). The first day featured a small retrospective of films by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, who performed on 24. 7. with his music group The No Smoking Orchestra at the Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště (37. letní filmová škola 2011). Among the films screened was a unique portrait of his group entitled Super 8 Stories by Kusturica (2001, Itálie – SRN), whose member Kusturica has been since the mid 1980s. Included in the programme were his films Underground/Il était une fois un pays (1995, France – Germany – Hungary) and Dom za vešanje (1988, Yugoslavia). Viewers were also treated to a selection of films from the current offer of the Association of Czech Film Clubs (Asociace českých filmových klubů, o. s.) – including Howl (dir. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Fiedman, 2010, USA), Bibliotheque Pascal (dir. Szabolcs Hajdu, 2010, Hungary – Germany – Great Britain) and Vít Klusák’s film All for the Good of the World and Nošovice (Vše pro dobro světa a Nošovic, 2010, CR). The event also included an invitation to the Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště (37. letní filmová škola 2011) in the form of a screening of the films Four Lions (2010, Great Britain) by director Christopher Morris, United 93 (2006, USA – Great Britain – France) by Paul Greengrass, Hadewijch (2009, France) by director Bruno Dumont and I Hired a Contract Killer (1990, Finland – Sweden – Great Britain – Germany) by director Aki Kaurismäki. The musical part of the festival featured the group Grinderman (Great Britain), Boban i Marko Marković Orkestar (Serbia), the multi-national group N.O.H.A. and Sam Karpienia (France) among others. The Czech musical scene was also represented by the groups 5P of Luboš Pospíšil, Čankišou, Divokej Bill, Dva, Marsyas, Monkey Business, Nightwork, Oldřich Janota, Priessnitz, Vladimír Mišík & ETC..., Vladivojna La Chia and Vltava. As with the breadth of genres, the non-musical programme offering theatre scenes, workshops, excursions around Ostrava and discussion and audiovisual programmes also expanded.
21. - 31. 7.
The Czech feature film Lemonade Joe (Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera, dir. Oldřich Lipský, 1964) was screened as part of the Era Nowe Horyzonte section in the Western programme of the International Film Festival in Wroclaw (Poland).
22. - 31. 7.
The Summer Film School was held in Uherské Hradiště (37. letní filmová škola 2011). The festival programme was divided into 6 sections and viewers had the chance to see 330 films. Among the most highly attended were those films in the Special Presentation section featuring the films of Serbian director Emir Kusturica. These works included Crna maćka, beli maćor (1998, France – Germany –Yugoslavia) and Underground/Il était une fois un pays (1995, France – Germany – Hungary). The programme culminated with a concert with his band The No Smoking Orchestra. The Focus section concentrated on Romanian film and the Spectrum section on current trends and themes in world film. The selection also featured films related to the events of September 11, 2001 in New York, as well as works analysing the conflict of the two dominant world religious systems. Retrospectives of three filmmakers were shows as part of the Visegrad Horizon programme part: of Czech director Gustav Machatý (9. 5. 1901 – 14. 12. 1963), which also commemorated the 110th anniversary of his birth, a retrospective of films of the Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski (7. 6. 1941 – 13. 3. 1996) and of Robert Sedláček, a Czech documentary filmmaker and the author of three feature-length films. Festival guests included the Finnish director and producer Aki Kaurismäki, who received the annual award of the Summer Film School (37. letní filmová škola 2011). Viewers were treated to a special screening of a restored digital copy of the Czech film Marketa Lazarová (dir. František Vláčil, 1967). For awarded films and figures see Výroční ceny Asociace českých filmových klubů.
25. - 28. 7.
British actor Pierce Brosnan, known mainly for portraying James Bond, visited Prague. The actor shot in Prague an advertisement for Lipton tea in playing the role of the famous agent 007.