Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

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

Famous actor Bořivoj Vojan arrives unexpectedly at a student film festival in a small town. The smug, aging man has bruised his ribs on the way and his frustration deepens with every passing minute of his stay – the amateurish organization of the festival, the lousy food, the private accommodation with the confused grandmother Pánková. What's more, he has no idea that one of the most unpleasant encounters awaits him, with the local drunk journalist Merhautová. But there is also tension among the students who organize the festival – Míra is ambitious and promiscuous, Šárka is kind and naive, Jana is beautiful and manipulative, and Matyáš is perpetually stoned and childishly in love.

Filip is released on parole from a youth detention center and returns home to his mother, who is being seemingly helpful with his integration back to life. However, in a familiar environment surrounded by people from his past, Filip's frustration starts to show.

When something flashes across the pond dam in the early evening, it could be the gamekeeper Čeřínek, or the poacher Kopýtko and the tailor Nitka, or... could it be Pepík and Franta? A water sprite, no, water sprites don't exist, only superstitious old women and the poor fish warden, who is a little scared of guarding the carp in the tower, believe in them. At least that's what Kopýtko and Nitka think as they plunder the pond so that their mischievous wives can show off. And what if they manage to catch a colossal fish, a carp bigger than anyone has ever seen before? Immediately, a plan emerges in their greedy minds to pass the carp off as a water sprite, display it in pubs, and make a fortune.

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.

Oscar, a digital hipster, dives into the fantastic world of analogue loving projectionists. It’s not as easy as it might seems, one may even get hurt! The documentary is about the dying culture of 70mm material and the last mohykans, who aren’t afraid of fighting for their beloved film copies and feed the hungry old projectors with them.

Silvie is a successful doctor who believes she has finally found the recipe for a happy relationship. Renata is the wife of a well-known writer. In her courses, she gives other women the courage and strength to live better lives, but one crucial element is missing from her own life. Actress and dancer Eliška is at the beginning of a promising career, but her relationship with her boyfriend, a musician, is becoming complicated... And the guys from the mountain rescue service are always ready to help. Where else could all these stories intersect and be resolved than in snowy Špindlerův Mlýn?

The inner drama of Jiří Mánka, a forty-year-old cashier at Živnostenská banka, who has artistic talent, both musical and painterly. After his experiences on the battlefields of World War I, he chose a job that provides him with a very good livelihood, but does not satisfy his ambitions. He lives alone with his mother and gets along well with his brother Teodor, with whom he shares a love of music. Jiří's life is shaken up by a chance encounter with a young, attractive girl named Adéla, with whom he feels relaxed and rejuvenated, at least at first...

One of the most notable anti-communist initiatives in the late 80s was the movement called Czech Children. They published their manifesto in May 1988, and the signatories were mostly young people. The movement expressed independent thinking and significantly contributed to the demonstrations in 1988 and 1989, especially during the so-called Palach Week in January 1989. In the document "Czech Children," the authors focus primarily on a young audience, aiming to remind them that the need to stand against injustice is not bound by age.

The trial of Alfred Plock differed from previous trials in that it did not have an explicitly political background. A group of engineers from the Ministry of Post, Industry, and Standard Electric were charged solely because they wanted to implement a revolutionary technological innovation and turn Prague into the headquarters of a new pan-European telecommunications system. Among other things, they wanted to enhance their country's prestige on the international stage. However, it was precisely this intention that aroused the suspicion of the security authorities and Soviet advisers. They therefore decided to take decisive action.

Acidic Anna is an upcoming experimental horror film directed by Thomas Cam. The film is about Anna a girl who has found herself in a mysterious place unknowingly summing up an evil force.

Four swimmers - water polo players find themselves at the bottom of their existence after losing a match. So desperate that they even find themselves living at the bottom of their emptied pool. To save their "dignity" they start a questionable business "Husband to rent" fixing home items for local housewives. But as time will show the household items are not the only things they end up repairing.

The film animation technique of pixilation was used in this short comedy. The notorious criminal Bloodthirsty Hugo has broken out of prison again. He is an arsonist, has no respect for old people and absolutely no maiden in the region is safe with him on the loose. In order to catch him his pursuers set a trap with irresistible bait: a lovely maiden bending over her washing by a stream...

Boris and Hugo, 16-year-old friends, arrive at Hugo’s parents’ apartment. They have bought a gun. They set up a livestream video on the internet and announce that in one hour they will commit suicide. While Boris is sure about the decision, Hugo still has his doubts. In the final moments of their lives, sadism, homoeroticism, and destructive desire are released.

The life story of Jan Amos Comenius, who became probably the most famous Czech exile due to his beliefs and opinions. He spent most of his life outside his homeland, but nevertheless, with his unique ideas, which he recorded in almost 200 books and writings, he was far ahead of his time and influenced the whole world.

The story takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. Little Lojzík, whose mother was killed by lightning, lives on a farm with his father and an old farmhand. The harsh world has taught him to perceive images that remind him of his lost mother's embrace. He searches in vain among people for someone to whom he can once again become emotionally attached. He finds no support or security in his father, his mother's sister, or his stepmother Róza, even though she was the only one who showed compassion for the boy at the beginning of their life together. The only one who truly shares Lojzík's fate as an abandoned child is an ordinary chicken...

Nelson Sullivan was a prominent figure in New York's queer community in the 1980s. With a video camera that he rarely let go of, he was also a chronicler of the club scene of the time. The archival documentary draws on the rich video archive Sullivan left behind. It looks at a marginalised subculture and the life of the man sometimes described as the first vlogger.

A horror film cut almost in the British style, with the very English František Němec, the grumpy coachman Josef Somr, an abandoned country estate, and its mysterious inhabitant. Based on a short story by J. Hanák.

Although shot simultaneously with the first part, director Vít Olmer's sequel to the story of three businesswomen dealing in erotic services stands on its own. The film abandons a majority of the topics important to the original and focuses instead on a new plot and characters: the erotic club's new owner introduces an element of crime by blackmailing her customers.

The lavish musical brings to life the legendary Egyptian queen through an original score by Michal David and evocative book and lyrics by Zdeněk Borovec, Lucie Stropnická, and Lou Fanánek Hagen.

A special story about love, dance, and immortality takes place in the late 1940s. A young man, dance master Mayer, arrives at a pulmonary sanatorium. His diagnosis is serious—tuberculosis. However, he does not give in to his illness and begins to actively fight it with dance and optimism. Gradually, he wins over other patients who had previously resigned themselves to their fate. Soon, however, his illness breaks out in full force and insidiousness. Facing death, he embodies human courage and a positive attitude towards life.

Quite a few years have passed since November 1989. Czechoslovakia has been divided up and, in the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus’s right-wing government is in power. Karel Vachek follows on from his film New Hyperion, thus continuing his series of comprehensive film documentaries in which he maps out Czech society and its real and imagined elites in his own unique way.

The four adult heroes and heroines of the film, who were selected in a casting call posted on TV, speak candidly on camera from the very beginning of their memories. Through individual stories, they describe their childhoods, family backgrounds, life at school, and how they spent their free time. The stories complement each other and are intertwined; we see emotions and hear things that reveal the horrific DNA of domestic violence. The documentary addresses the issue of abuse with an emphasis on the entire social environment of the victims and the societal underpinnings. Typical of domestic violence is that victims often hide it within themselves; they do not talk about it, and sometimes they do not even admit it. But in the documentary, they were determined to speak out.

The main character, a forty-year-old doctor, tries to cope with situations that life throws at her as a successful dentist, but a less successful mother, lover, and ex-wife. The heroine's relationship with her daughter, lover, mother, and ex-husband is portrayed very convincingly and without the slightest idealization, reflecting the ambiguity and controversy of the contemporary female condition. Although the author accumulates in his novel and television script almost all the paradoxes of today's self-employed woman in the heroine, nevertheless (or precisely because of this) her story reflects the experience of most contemporary women. Especially those who place high demands on themselves and others, which, however, can rarely be met one hundred percent. And if it turns out that we owe the greatest debt to our own daughter, then it is no surprise that everything starts to change completely...

Bára and Luboš's marriage has long been dead, and her husband is living with another woman. Nevertheless, Barbora wants to adopt a child from a children's home. She asks her husband to support her and go through the adoption process with her. That is the only thing she still asks of him. But her husband hesitates, still remembering how Bára once had an abortion against his will. Nevertheless, he eventually agrees, and so the couple arrives at the children's home to pick up their son. Bohoušek is cute and spontaneous. The grandmother immediately takes to the boy, but Bára struggles with her emotional problems. Despite everything, she still loves her husband. The question remains whether she wants to use the child mainly to solve her loneliness...

At Strašperk Castle, the royal budget is being improved by spooky tours instead of raising taxes. These are directed by the resourceful princess Elvíra. Prince Armin arrives at Strašperk, eager to see a magical creature to prove to his royal father that they really exist. As a little boy, he met a witch in the forest, but his father never believed him. Soon, an unexpected event occurs at Strašperk - during the celebration of the king's birthday, the musicians disappear without a trace, then some servants, and finally the king himself. Panic breaks out in the castle. Elvíra and Armin set out to follow the trail of this mystery. It turns out that things are often not what they seem at first glance. And when it comes to magical creatures, no one knows when the next one will be born.

Happiness is often found unexpectedly, so what? A lesbian couple raise their two children in perfect harmony when a man from the past intervenes. Violent psychopath demands the custody of his daughter, while his ex-wife suffers his terror. Two teenagers simply run away and a devout man does not have the strength to protect his love.

The insatiable Don Giovanni is not picky: anyone will do, from Donna Elvira to her maid and the bride at a country wedding. But when one of his conquests ends in murder, he sets off a chain of events that takes him forever closer to his bitter fate. For the first time, Prague’s Estates Theatre, where Don Giovanni premiered some 230 years ago, calls on a director from overseas to stage Mozart's opera. Will Alexander Mørk-Eidem’s new production break with its long tradition of the famous rake’s last day? Is his Giovanni an incorrigible slave to his instincts? Is he a provocateur? Or a mere catalyst around whom Mozart thoroughly depicts the constantly changing universe of female emotions?

Silvie is a successful doctor who believes she has finally found the recipe for a happy relationship. Renata is the wife of a well-known writer. In her courses, she gives other women the courage and strength to live better lives, but one crucial element is missing from her own life. Actress and dancer Eliška is at the beginning of a promising career, but her relationship with her boyfriend, a musician, is becoming complicated... And the guys from the mountain rescue service are always ready to help. Where else could all these stories intersect and be resolved than in snowy Špindlerův Mlýn?

“You bet on someone in the beginning of the process and then you wait and see what life does with them.” This is how Czech director Helena Trestikova explains her long-term documentaries. Following on from the European Film Academy Award winning RENE (2008), Trestikova brings us KATKA – 14 years in the life of a drug addict. KATKA is an extraordinarily raw and uncensored character portrait of a troubled young woman living on the edge of human existence, desperately searching for love and salvation. Will she find it in the rehab? Will she find it in the arms of the man she loves? Or in the first cry of her long-desired baby? Tagging along with her through the back streets and squalors of Prague, Trestikova gets deep under the skin of a person most of us would cross the road to avoid, and shows us Katka’s profoundly human face. You might be angry with Katka, or your heart may go out to her. One thing is certain – you will never forget her.

An old couple lived in a small house. Since they had no children, they made a girl out of chalk and named her Vápenička. She was beautiful, all white, but she couldn't speak. In that country lived a prince who took a liking to Vápenička and wanted to marry her. However, as is often the case, the king did not approve of the bride. Therefore, he gave the prince the task of guessing the girl's name, otherwise he would not allow the wedding...

According to family legend, the name Hrušínský was born after Rudolf and Jan Hrušínský's grandfather Rudolf Böhm was caught stealing pears on a theater stage. The German name Böhm suddenly became Hruškovský and shortly after that Hrušínský. Grandfather Rudolf, later known as Rudolf Hrušínský the eldest, adopted the surname as his own and began using it in 1935. However, the history of the Hrušínský acting family goes back much further. It is therefore not surprising that the brothers Rudolf and Jan also took the same path. The documentary charts their acting beginnings alongside their father Rudolf Hrušínský Sr., from their first roles, through theater engagements at the Drama Studio in Ústí nad Labem and the Drama Club in Prague, to unforgettable film and television roles, when three generations of Hrušínskýs often met in front of the camera.

Members of the comedy group Na Stojáka take the stage and the mic by storm for a special night of stand-up comedy.

The Sykora family are only four people out of millions of Venezuelans that have recently escaped their collapsing country. They land in the Czech Republic, the country where Grandpa Jan was born, but also a place utterly strange to them. In a matter of months their savings have almost gone and job seeking becomes a nightmare. Again, the dream of just having a normal life starts to vanish. Will the family manage not to crumble along the way?

A counselor in the summer camp suddenly finds herself loosing the bikini top while bathing in the lake. And all the teenagers around get excited...

Two pranksters set out on a wild adventure to shoot a horror documentary, resurrect their dwindling fame and save their YouTube channel.

This sports documentary goes behind the scenes in the world of mixed martial arts while chronicling the life story of MMA champion Attila Végh.

What has shaped the appearance of Brno and the lives of its inhabitants over the last two centuries? What do architectural monuments and cultural and social traditions refer to?

Family comedy about upcoming proposal.

This film tells a story about two young talented artists coming from different ethnic and family backgrounds whose paths cross because of their unusual talent and passion for flamenco music. Amós is twelve and grows up in Salamanca. A rising star recognized by Paco de Lucía, Amós has been playing guitar and composing since he was three. Abraham is a twelve year old flamenco singer from the Gypsy community in Madrid's periphery. He grows up in an extended family where flamenco singing is a part of everyday life and passed on from generation to generation. This is a moving story about child fame, the road taken to get there and the vibrant subculture of flamenco.

After a magic bell from Tibet is stolen, a little girl and an elephant undertake a dangerous journey to bring the bell home.

Lev Sergeyevich Theremin was a pioneering Russian inventor whose eponymous instrument, the thereminvox, revolutionized electronic music; between 1928 and 1938 he enjoyed triumphs in America - sold-out concerts, mass production of his instrument, and high society acclaim - before the Wall Street crash, personal upheavals, and waning fame led to his enigmatic 1938 return to the USSR. Against all expectations, after surviving Stalin’s notorious Magadan labor camp, he resumed work for Soviet secret services and lived on until 1993, passing away at the age of 97.

Three friends meet regularly at a renowned spa, where their band entertains the local guests while they enjoy a guys' getaway together. Everything changes with the sudden revelation that one of them has a secret seven-year-old son.

An opera troupe in a small town decides to perform Mozart's Don Giovanni. The view behind the scenes uncovers the world of opera without the glitter. A tale of love and disappointment, about music and passionate love-making and about people that live their lives in spite of the opera.

Studio Ypsilon's musical comedy connects the circumstances surrounding the creation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last opera with the story of The Magic Flute itself. The actors' performances intertwine with the arias of the world-famous composer, creating a collage interwoven with humor and perspective. The story of Tamino and Pamina's love is not omitted, with the opera's authors placing many obstacles in their path, as well as the struggle between good and evil to maintain balance in the world. So how did it happen back then, and who inspired Mozart to write?

Actor Milan lost his job and is trying unsuccessfully to find new employment. He is struggling to support his large family, while his wife Karolína, the wife of a business tycoon, longs in vain for at least one child. Their paths cross when she is looking for a donor of high-quality sperm and Milan is still unemployed...

Every castle hides some secret. This is no different in the fairy tale Treasure at Owl Castle. Deep underground at Owl Castle lies a treasure guarded by a golden owl. The treasure has remained hidden from the human world for centuries. Only the fairy-tale gnomes Kilián and Damián and their friend Emilka the owl knew of its existence. And if these gnomes had not happened to meet the children Honzík and Andělka, the treasure would have remained hidden forever. But gnomes are talkative creatures, and children are very curious. So it wasn't long before the stingy and greedy duchess from the nearby castle found out about the treasure. The wealth left to her by the duke wasn't enough for her; she wanted more and more. So she decided to get the golden treasure at any cost. This put not only herself but also the children in dangerous situations.

Meeting unexpectedly at their older sister's grave, Anka and Zuzu spend a tense afternoon easing back into their stubborn and sisterly ways after ten years apart.

Zdena, a young nurse, starts her first night shift at an old people’s home and immediately faces a difficult task: she has to deal with the body of a deceased client. A gentle portrait of faltering youth and a realistic tale of an encounter with death in a blend of physically intense moments and absurd humour.

Jarmila Kukačková commutes to a Prague hospital from the countryside, where she has been living for twenty years "on the sly" with Pepa Padrnos, a garbage dump worker, and his mother. Jarmila is a cleaner at the hospital, and everyone there calls her "Kukačka" (Cuckoo). Kukačko, go get this, Kukačko, bring that... What's more, Josef's mother, with whom Padrnos still lives, does not like Jarmila very much and makes this very clear. What kind of miraculous woman is she and how does she manage to be so kind and always smiling? Where does she get her energy from? How does she manage to live her life with such ease?