Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

When Vojtěch Hynais, who lived in Paris in the 1880s, received an offer to paint the curtain for the National Theater, he accepted it. However, his modern concept for that time was not accepted by the academically rigid commission. He did not depict the required figures from Czech history, but rather an artist kissed by the Muse. Although he completed the work, he was never paid for his work on the largest curtain in Austria-Hungary. Author Martin Šafránek very sensitively uncovered the issue of moral failure at the cost of material benefits on the one hand and the courage to risk these values to the point of self-destruction on the other. Director Jiří Strach, who made his debut with this work in 1998, cast Radek Holub and Klára Issová in the leading roles.

Smoke was the Czech Rolling Stones. However, under unclear circumstances, they broke up in 1972, and each of the four former musicians came to terms with their fate as retired rockers in their own way. Each of them now has their own life and their own story. And their motives for reviving the band Smoke are also different—money, a desire for lost fame, a desire to help a friend, or to really let loose one more time. Their worlds collide and they begin to enjoy music, friendship, and life on and off stage. Not only the band members, but everyone around them is in for a lot of fun and often very surprising and comical situations. And finally, one big mystery is solved - why the band broke up in the first place.

This is the story of the Bohemian King, Přemysl Otakar II, and the forgotten pilgrim, Odorik, who was the first-ever European to set eyes on Tibet. This medieval road movie brings an unconventional view to these two great figures of Czech medieval history. While the character of Odorik, regarded as the “Bohemian Marco Polo,” is practically unknown to us, the Bohemian King Přemysl Otakar II is either demonized or dismissed by the traditional clichés of the “Iron and Golden King.” In a private conversational format, the film’s author gives us a glimpse of this medieval world, set nearly 700 years apart from our modern context. But nothing has been lost in terms of this world’s impact or relevance, for both Odorik and Přemysl have outlived their time. Their lives are surprisingly endearing and touch on many of our current feelings.

Three friends from a small town - František, a doctor; Oskar, the director of the local museum; and Robert, a physical education teacher - are faced with an unexpected task. They have only fourteen days to save their children's traditional summer camp, which was unexpectedly destroyed by a storm. Their last hope is a meadow below Tramberk Castle. However, the castle's caretaker is the eccentric Evžen, who is happiest when no tourists come to the castle. But when Kudláková from the Heritage Preservation Department puts pressure on Evžen, saying that if he doesn't reach three thousand visitors in two weeks, she will hold a competition for a new caretaker, Evžen agrees to František's proposal and allows the camp to take place. However, on the condition that they help him with the visitor numbers... The situation is further complicated by František's animosity towards the new teacher Lenka.

It tells the story of a young man who was turned into a donkey by curiosity and a fatal mistake. While the hero despairs and does not know how to return to human form, we can observe through his eyes the society that surrounds him. The television fairy tale of screenwriter Jiří Bednář and director František Filip alternates dramatic tension with comic moments.

A troupe of clowns gather to perform a story about a priest and a refugee, but as their misguided tale unfolds, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to fray.

The vast Amazon hides many secrets. And Amazonian shamans surprise us with their abilities and knowledge. They can cure even so-called incurable diseases because they communicate directly with plants, which tell them how to heal. Local shamans can leave their bodies, travel across the Earth and the universe, download any information, and learn anything that interests them. The key to this is ayahuasca, a mysterious vine whose decoction not only heals and cleanses a person on all levels, but also gives them knowledge of anything in this world and in worlds yet unknown, opening the door to other dimensions...

It's April 1st, and Sylvie makes a fateful mistake. Abandoned and dejected, she takes to the streets of the big city to fight for her love. She overcomes one obstacle after another, hoping to save her relationship. She has no idea that she is heading for a fatal collision. She would rather start this day over again.

Sixteen-year-old apprentice Zuzka commutes to Prague, where she is studying to become a "mechanic and agricultural machinery adjuster." She lives alternately at a boarding school and at her parents' farm. At home, endless work awaits her, and at school, she is constantly ridiculed by her classmates. Only at night, in the girls' dormitory, under the covers, can she live out her dreams of love. She is secretly and platonically in love with actor and singer Jiří Pavel, about whom she knows everything. She keeps a scrapbook diary in which she records all of Pavel's acting and singing successes.

Jura, a reluctant university student already smitten with someone else, is swept off by his father’s eccentric friend Stano to fulfill an age-old promise and meet the mysterious bride from a Slovak village. What follows is a rollicking road trip of comic mishaps and heartfelt moments that ultimately teaches them all about friendship, adventure, and finding one’s own path.

Alena falls mysteriously ill after Mira breaks off their secret relationship.

A lyrical story from the beginning of 20th century, with the atmosphere of a small-town environment, distinctive characters, and a subtle analysis of human nature. It takes place in a small town in southern Bohemia, where a perceptive adolescent boy experiences his first emotional enchantment and a deep crisis. Helimadoe are also the initial letters of the names of the five distinctive daughters of Hanzelín, a rough country doctor who not only treats a seriously ill boy, but also helps him overcome his painful emotional turmoil with his wisdom.

A bark beetle girl, who should be spending her days relaxing in a forest, sees her world upended when a fire separates her from her family and traps her in a city where all the dangers are gigantic.

The head of the family has died – Hubert Osvald, a hugely successful author of horror stories. In addition to dozens of award-winning books, he left behind a substantial sum of money, his beloved publishing house, and most importantly, a rotten family. They came to terms with daddy’s death faster than you can say “exitus,” and are now trying to quietly profit from his passing.

Two brothers are caught by storm and they are drifted to the greatest whirpool on the world. Due to circumstances they will be forced to fight each other for life and death.

The film's main theme is obsession. An obsession with love, with art, originality, copying, with success, money and... with oneself. Sooner or later, if we lose our rational upper hand over it and let ourselves be dragged down by it, every obsession leads to destruction. But it is only when being dragged down, in spite of all the cuts and bruises, that we find a unique DELIGHT, if only for a few short moments - and what else is life really about? It is like a drug. What at first seems to be weak and trivial is capable of expanding and growing into a serious problem that can appear to be absolutely incomprehensible and absurd to those who have never experienced anything like it.

A 6 year-old girl is transfixed by the Little Red Riding Hood story, which her mother dutifully recounts every night. The tale's themes of identity confusion and betrayal mirror her own story - who her real mother is and a potential love triangle implicating both her parents.

Teacher Tomáš Majer, who joined a former special school in 2010, has disappeared. He arrived at the school several months after his sister Jana, also a teacher, was murdered. During the school year, the boys who murdered Jana Majerová mysteriously died. Tomáš Majer most likely avenged his sister in cold blood.

Milan has already achieved a respectable career, holding an important position as a sales representative in Morocco and living the life of an exclusive diplomat. Dana enjoys herself with her lover and, in her "spare time," naturally torments Milan. A marital quarrel at the most inopportune moment during an important business visit causes their premature departure, and Milan, who caused Dana numerous injuries in the heat of the moment, is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. Dana naturally takes advantage of his mental shock and, with the help of her maid Bohunka and a weak-willed head physician, regains absolute control over Milan. However, a young psychologist named Táňa is also doing her internship at the sanatorium, and she immediately takes a liking to the intelligent patient…

Every day, head nurse Marta's life is an exhausting merry-go-round of the most tedious duties. She recently became a widow and is alone with her teenage son. She doesn't complain about anything, convincing herself as a true communist that she lives in paradise and is safe. Everything around her is normal, after all. Everyone is looking forward to a better tomorrow. But then comes a turning point that turns her life upside down. A young, cheeky hospital maintenance worker named Oskar, with hair down to his shoulders and opinions that shatter Marty's safe, normal world into pieces, enters her lonely life. Her relationship with the nonconformist young man changes all her previous certainties about life, as was possible under the socialist regime, in times of "normality."

When a runaway prisoner’s taste for power wipes out his mission to lead his fellow inmates to freedom, their path to a much-desired liberation steers them to a new kind of oppression. Zenith uses dance language to illustrate the power dynamics that have shaped the political landscape in recent decades, not only in Europe but also around the world.

A group of friends try to enjoy a spooky experience at one of the most famous escape rooms in the world. Little do they know the game will turn into a true fight for survival.

Liebe. What begins as a trivial romantic etude about the lives of four young people who arrive on the island of Rügen to shoot a film about love gradually descends into a vortex of mutual suspicion, self-accusation, recriminations, and animalistic sex. When one of the two girls apparently drowns in the stormy waves of the Baltic Sea, the fates of those involved head toward an unexpectedly dark climax. The mysterious drama Liebe is a tribute to the goddess of cult and pagan times, when gods themselves entered into people. Whether they wanted it or not.

This fairy tale, based on a story by Oscar Wilde, begins on a stormy night when a woodcutter named Gordon finds a newborn baby in the forest. He names him Orion—child of the stars—and takes him home. Orion (played as an adult by J. Laštovka) grows up to be a very handsome boy, but unfortunately also conceited and cruel. One day, a beggar woman appears at the woodcutter's house and recognizes Orion as her lost son. Orion, who believes he is the child of a star, insults her badly and drives her away. Immediately, his face changes into a ridiculous and ugly one. After ten years of wandering, during which he learns many things, Orion falls into the power of an evil wizard who has a task for him. Completing this task will help the wizard rule the whole world. Orion must overcome evil spells and regain not only his beautiful face and pure soul, but also the love of his mother, whom he once proudly drove away.

Four years ago, an accident chasing the swordfish took away the life of Captain Fu’s elder son. It was the last time the giant swordfish was seen. With no fish to catch, his other son Yee thinks about transforming the business. At the moment when their boat Victory is about to be abandoned, Fu meets a foreign boy Ruan who tells that the fish is still out there. Can’t resist the temptation, Captain Fu brings Yee and Ruan embarking on the journey to search for the giant swordfish. In their journey, Ruan encounters migrant workers, which triggers his memory as a wartime refugee. He recalls his dead mother’s words: “Never trust the people on the shore”. The obsessions that bring men to the sea eventually become their doom. Only one of them shall return.

Story of the car accident told from different perspectives. Everyone has his part of responsibility but some have taken a bigger piece.

Swedish manager Bo Inge Andersson comes to the Russian city Togliatti to save the struggling automaker factory. He is asked for a revolution, but what he doesn't know is that nothing should change.

Protesters diary from Gezi Park - Taksim Square, Istanbul. Occupy Gezi movement started when the government decided to build shopping mall in place of the last green area that remained in the middle of Taksim Square.

The first film ever broadcasted in Roma language on Czech public TV without Czech subtitles. Good Heart is an adaptation of a Roma folk tale recounting an evening in a little cottage house in the countryside.

Tereza, a Romani and mother, is fighting to have her children moved from a segregated school to an inclusive one. A portrait of structural discrimination and the universal struggle for equal opportunity in education.

This documentary study of the mechanisms that turn the gears of the tabloids is conducted by the unique figure Pavel Novotný. This editor-in-chief of one of the most widely read Czech media outlets of the time, providing news from the world of show business and human misfortune, gets straight to the point. Readership is a fetish, an absolute alibi for all invasions of privacy and every transgression of good ethics. Seen up close, the whole cluster of disreputable reports looks like a staged tableau. Before the eager eyes of an anxious public, celebrities willingly or unwillingly perform acts that the scrutiny of the all-powerful tabloid workers attributes racy significance to.

The second part begins shortly after the death of Michal Dostál, the biggest bastard of them all. Michal's father and grandfather are convinced that teacher Majer was behind the murders of all three students and was avenging his sister's death. They begin to psychologically torment Majer and search for evidence. The new police investigator Karas, who takes over the case from the deceased police investigator Paleček, is also looking for evidence. Karas immediately suspects something is amiss in the deaths of the "bastards" and also begins to focus on Majer, who is now the school principal.

Antonín Maděra receives an offer to leave prison because a review of sentences from the 1950s has found that he was unjustly convicted. However, there is a catch to this release. The official proceedings could be protracted, so his former judge suggests that he sign a petition for clemency. Maděra naturally refuses.

The Muldoon family's wealth and power fuel a cycle of obsession and strife, with father and son locked in a battle for control at its core.

The Muldoon family's wealth and power fuel a cycle of obsession and strife, with father and son locked in a battle for control at its core.

Four friends, Karel, Milan, Tomáš, and Vinco, lose their jobs in Ostrava’s working-class districts and, with their livelihoods gone, struggle to redefine themselves. They launch various business ventures but lack experience, leading to repeated failures. Pressure mounts on their friendships and private lives as tensions flare. Through setbacks and mutual support, they embark on a journey of self-discovery, learning resilience, solidarity, and the true meaning of identity and camaraderie in a changing world.

The film intertwines several stories connected by one important football match between Sparta and Slavia.

A career woman's struggle and fight against a male dominated society.

Anna spends every summer with her husband in a neighborhood a few dozen kilometers outside Prague. They've been together for ages, so their marriage, as is so often the case, has become routine and stereotyped. For a long time, the man has divided his time fairly between drinking with friends in the pub and making ship models of matches in bottles; His wife is virtually invisible to him. Anna spends several days each summer and enjoys regular meetings with her friends and colleagues who visit her in picturesque Central Bohemia on bike tours around Kamýk Castle.

A family of five lives together in an old village house. While the parents are slowly aging, the children are growing up, and it is clear that they will soon go their own way. This unchanging rhythm of everyday life is disrupted by the unexpected news of the mother’s pregnancy, and the idea of a new sibling gradually affects all members of the household. March to May is an understated, intimate portrait of family togetherness, which is often expressed in the smallest of ways. An unassuming yet highly original story, filmed with the same tenderness and patience with which nature awakens every spring. Vojtěch Kočárník (kviff.com)

At a holistic retreat in Poland for single mothers-to-be, pregnant Grace starts experiencing distressing hallucinations and begins noticing the strange behavior of the staff.

Captain Vašátko of the criminal police and Horác, a painter, bohemian, and amateur detective, are searching for the murderer of Daniela Jásková, an emancipated young woman who excelled at her job and also excelled at changing lovers. When she is found strangled in her apartment, Vašátko's team begins an investigation. They also focus on the victim's sister, Alena Kášová, who did not like Daniela very much and resented her ability to win over every man. Suspicion also falls on Alena's ex-husband, the sculptor Káš, whom Horác has known since his studies at the academy.

When a feisty village gossip ropes a visiting junior hockey team into her schemes, hoping one will notice her granddaughter, the resulting clash with the exasperated mayor and a hapless regional inspector sets off a chain of uproarious misunderstandings. All the while, an unconventional young priest with a mischievous name looks on in bemused bewilderment.

The TV comedy takes aim at the dark side of "maternal bliss." It is a period when new mothers spend their days with their small children, breastfeeding, changing diapers, putting them to sleep, doing laundry, etc., which not only their husbands, but all of us take for granted. However, with a slight exaggeration, thanks to many accurate and well-paced situations, the author humorously shows what this time can do not only to the new mother herself, but also to her immediate surroundings, in this case her husband and his career...

Droneman is about Chemist and Fly Navigator Pavel and his friend Bussinessman and free time Rapper Plech. Pavel has strong sense of justice and wishes to fix wrongs with the World while Plech dreams about Big money and secure life. Their common passion are Drones since School. Pavel returns from Foreign and meets again with Plech and together they use Drones to start Bussiness. They monitor Power Stations, wear luxury handbags at the show or spray the Petrin Tower from the air. Their clients even include Presidential candidate. Everything changes when one of them decides to misuse Drones.

17-year-old Nayla in a hot summer day on the southern seaside of Lebanon is faced with the same dilemma as any other young person in Lebanon: to leave or to stay. Two men in her life who have set ideas about it might get surprised.

Elon is a hamster scientist who finds a robot which fell from the Earth's orbit. His spaceship is going to leave soon. Will Elon manage to get the robot back on his ship in time?

Redheaded Lila is the youngest in a friendly family of arachnids whose untamed imagination gets her into trouble. One day, she falls into a bag of flour while hunting moths, the next, she accidentally releases flies from a farm and hands over her brother's beloved guitar to a fraud. As if that were not enough, an alien spider from the Great Puddle tries to befriend her.

A theatre production of Gogol's play The Inspector General.

Old guilt, forgiveness and a new love. After 20 years in the French Foreign Legion, Martin returns to his Czech hometown. As soon as he arrives, he learns that his mother has died in his absence. Martin realizes that while in the military he learned to survive in any dangerous situation, but not how to cope with the complexities of human emotions and relationships. When he meets the deputy mayor's clever daughter Sara, he falls passionately in love and happiness seems to be within reach. But then his past catches up with him ...