Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the world’s oldest and most respected. Film Spa was made to celebrate its belated 50th edition in 2015 in its 69th year – belated because from 1959 to 1993 it was forced to alternate with the festival in Moscow.

One of the best Czech composers of film soundtracks is often described as a genius of film scores. He was not afraid to experiment and the timelessness of his work is proven by the admiration of the world, including the generation who came to know his music only after his death.

The story of a young woman takes place at the end of the war in an apartment belonging to a Jewish owner who was forced to leave for a concentration camp. The young woman is waiting for her lover, a tall German officer who promised to take care of her and take her with him. An offer of rescue arrives, but it is only an attempt to lure her into handing over the jewelry that the Jewish owner of the apartment had entrusted to her for safekeeping. The woman finally understands the moral abyss and the hopelessness of the situation in which she finds herself...

In the early days of the independent Czechoslovak state, we shared a common history with the Carpathian region. What do we know about the fate of this historically turbulent region and its inhabitants? This documentary aims to refresh half-forgotten facts through the historian and specialist in modern Czech history, Charles University professor Jan Rychlík, author of the book Podkarpatská Rus v dějinách Československa (Carpathian Ruthenia in the History of Czechoslovakia). At the same time, it aims to shed light on the emergence of the Czech nation, which, unlike the Rusyns, rose up from a mass of semi-literate peasants in the 19th century. Not every human community is able to overcome itself, maintain and cultivate its level. This challenge is still relevant today!

In 1547, young knight Petr Pětipeský is sent to the remote village of Urbach to oversee the construction of a bridge that promises access to ‘hidden mineral’ wealth. When his beloved Alma vanishes under mysterious circumstances, Petr defies local superstition and ventures into the shadowy workshops of Fichtelberg Mountain. There, he confronts strange figures and uncovers secrets that test his courage and beliefs.

Three men want to make their mark on Czech history. One filmmaker senses an opportunity. And among them is a girl determined to uncover the secrets of her missing father. Richard Bartyzal believed he was just one step away from discovering evidence of collaboration between the Nazis and the Vatican. Together with his friends, he wanted to find Adolf Hitler's personal archive, allegedly hidden during the May uprising of Czech patriots. And ceremoniously hand it over to the state. However, the opponent they encounter is beyond their strength. Now they are missing. The police accuse them of robbery and murder. Petra Bartyzalová has only one option left. To study the materials her father filmed and follow in his footsteps. What she discovers forces her to reevaluate her relationship with him. She searches for her father in order to find herself.

Anna and Lizzie share a flat with George - a tax consultant who thinks he is a dog. George supports them and does all he can to keep them satisfied. He agrees to their strict rules: at home, he may only walk on all fours, isn’t allowed to speak, must lick their feet and obey every order. The girls begin abusing their power, because George lets them. They believe he enjoys the torture, so they keep on degrading him. But in the end, George’s soul revolts – the man within him awakes, and seeks freedom and cruel revenge.

Jan Jedlička is one of the best kept secrets in the world of art. He was born in Prague in 1944 where he studied painting at the academy before immigrating to Switzerland in 1969. Petr Zaruba conveys through cinematic and formal choices the complexities of Jedlička’s creative strategies. An intertwined dialogue between two artists.

A doc presenting portraits of four people unafraid to reveal their particular lifelong penchant for sadomasochistic practices: Altair, whose orientation links him to the world of horses, latex lover Fronéma, the provocative Lenka, and government employee Terezie.

A portrait of the ordinary life, passing time, routine and the contacts between characters.

In 1920, Franz Kafka wrote 120 letters to writer and journalist Milena Jesenská. A love which filled Kafka’s life with light and hope and, at the same time, illuminates his fears and the darkness in him.

An adaptation of one of the most famous horror poems of all time. How, in a fever dream, a carver finishes the portrait of a young woman. Then suddenly something flies into the workshop and strange things start happening. Stop-motion animation is combined with live action to create a terrifying experience from flesh, blood, wood and feathers.

A sad story about a young girl who is forced to move from one foster home to another.

They think as Czechs, they speak as Czechs, but they look as Vietnamese. How is the second generation of Vietnamese people in Europe?

Girl Power is a documentary that presents female graffiti writers from fifteen cities – from Prague to Moscow, Cape Town, Sydney, Biel, Madrid, Berlin, Toulouse, Barcelona and all the way to New York. The graffiti community is predominantly a man's world, and men often share the view that graffiti – namely the illegal kind – is not for girls. And yet women have become increasingly more emancipated in recent years; there are female graffiti shows, magazines and websites. Girl Power captures the stories of ladies who have succeeded in the male graffiti world.

Child psychiatry is in a phase of clinical death. Yet there are facilities and doctors who can return children back to their families cured and healthy. That is the path that needs to be taken. The documentary mapping the state of child psychiatric care in the Czech Republic was made by director Jiří Podlipný, Czech Television cooperated with the Vendula Pizingerová Foundation Kapka naděje. Artificial intelligence visualization under the guidance of cinematographer Jiří Studnička allows us to look into the depths of a child's aching soul.

Josef Brzek is 73 years old when his son Petr takes him to the Pardubice archives of the Ministry of the Interior, where the StB files are kept. He had wanted to go there for a long time, but his wife Věra had talked him out of it. He just wanted to make sure that those he suspected were really StB agents. But the facts he encountered in the records were completely unexpected. The betrayal came from those closest to him, from his family...

Pavel Abrahám’s football documentary offers 22 different viewpoints of who is watching. At a match between Sparta and Slavia, the filmmakers used 22 cameras to film the spontaneous reactions of various visitors, fans, tourists, VIPs, intellectuals, and security guards over the course of the entire game. This experiment with the Czech Republic’s national sport shows football as a game around which the viewers create a whole range of other, highly diverse games.

A team of Romany football players try to overcome prejudice in this Czech documentary.

So close, yet so far. Although a bit exaggerated, this can be said about Poles and Czechs – neighbours and related nations. This powerful film builds on the contradictions of two worlds: Czech atheists vs. the exotic reality of a Catholic country. There is no shortage of amusing scenes. The filmmakers address passers-by, nuns, employees of the anti-Semitic Radio Maryja, a priest accused of sexual harassment, and an exorcist. Karel not only becomes an explorer who seeks to find the truth about Polish faith, but at another level also a pilgrim who, through the “path to film” wants to find faith himself. Last but not least, the documentary asks what has happened to Poland in recent years? Why is it as internally divided as Czechia?

A group of friends – Petr, Anička, and Milan – decide to spend the evening in the city. They are all recent high school graduates, searching for meaning in the emptiness that now fills their lives. Together, they exist in a kind of intoxicating search for meaning, engaging in trivial conversations and trying to forget about the uncertain future ahead. Between Petr and Anička, however, hangs an unspoken affection, complicated by Petr’s divided stance. As the evening progresses and the alcohol loosens their inhibitions, Anička begins to feel an increasingly strong need to fill the emptiness of her life with something real...

How to marry off two daughters and a maid, especially when the father has no idea that it's high time? Father Ubaldo has worries; his two daughters are constantly complaining about their health. And he would also like to find them husbands. He has no idea that the girls and their young maid have already found their sweethearts themselves. Not only that, but they would actually like to get married as soon as possible. And so they persistently reject other suitors, refuse medical examinations, and instead welcome their favorites disguised as doctors. The playful banter, gags, disguises, physical comedy, and verbal humor of this unrestrained performance in the style of Italian commedia dell'arte entertained audiences at the Drama Club for several years.

An exploration of the romantic troubles of a railway worker, portrayed with a nostalgic touch reminiscent of the era of the black market for VHS tapes with quick dubbing.

Gone are the days when Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte won battles, received ovations, and felt like a victor. All good things must come to an end, and after his fateful defeat at Waterloo, the famous military leader is shamefully imprisoned on the island of Saint Helena, where he commands chickens, fights rats for food, and stubbornly resists the ironclad laws of the English crown alongside his aides. But suddenly, the energetic Frenchwoman Ponti appears in the life of the defeated giant, willing to ride roughshod over even the feared governor out of respect for the emperor.

Josef Loucký is the popular mayor of the village of Sedlčánky and has ambitions to win the prestigious title of Village of the Year. The village already has almost everything it needs to secure victory. Various parodies of a public library, museum, public swimming pool, and ice rink can be found here. The only thing missing for success is a sewage system. The mayor has been promised a subsidy for the construction of a sewage treatment plant if he has the sewers dug across the entire village within two weeks. Thanks to his efforts, however, the village has a completely new road and sidewalks. So there is only one option left. The sewer system will run through the gardens. Everyone agrees with this plan, except for one person, the mayor's father-in-law, Topol.

A mysterious death in the border town of Varnsdorf brings together a cynical detective and a young idealistic police officer. Their investigation leads them to the local Vietnamese community, which is bound by rigid rules and complicated relationships.

A fairy tale about brotherhood that turns into hatred and betrayal, and about love transformed into heroism and fearlessness.

Captain Vašátko of the criminal police and Horác, a painter, bohemian, and amateur detective, escape the stresses of life by going to the river to fish. Horác befriends a young neighbor who is found dead one day. Everything points to suicide, but Horác is still suspicious, so he embarks on an investigation, even resorting to unacceptable tricks that ultimately land him in a very unpleasant situation. Fortunately, his friend Commissioner Vašátko intervenes, understanding his friend's extravagance...

This romantic fairy tale, loosely based on an anonymous Arabic story, takes place at the sultan's court, where the evil sisters of the kind sultana prepare a cruel fate for Parisada and Pervis. Although it seems that fate favors the hateful malice of the poor twins' ruthless aunts, the fairy tale still comes to a happy ending.

The story of František, a selfish yet loving man who made his living as a musician on ocean cruise ships. He gradually became estranged from his family and ended up alone. On the advice of friends, he sets out to find his daughter in the village of Svatá Helena, a thousand kilometers away in the Romanian Banat region. Meeting people who live in harmony with God and nature and searching for his daughter, who has not been in touch, eventually reconciles František with the idea that he fears so much with advancing age: that he will live out his life in exile and solitude. However, things take an unexpected turn...

The film offers a unique insight into the world of Giger's creation and his private life. In addition to the interview with the artist himself, a considerable part of the documentary is formed by interviews with personalities such as Ernst Fuchs, Stanislav Grof and Debbie Harry. Though the authors do not avoid particular developmental periods of Giger's work, the main purpose was not to create the artist's biography. In this case, it is more likely considered to be an authentic perspective on the peculiar world of this Swiss surrealist artist.

A bitter sweet comedy that follows a highly appointed Chancellor who set to step down from his position after years of service to his country. With just two last days left to enjoy his palatial villa before he is finally evicted, his situation gradually goes from bad to worse.

Alcohol, national costumes, dance, as well as confrontation with unpleasant truths – that is what lies ahead for a young girl named Eliška, who gets stuck in a mysterious pub. She has to find an answer to whether everything ends with death or, rather, it is only the beginning.

A boy is looking for cicadas on mundane summer day which is haunted by the shadow of death.

There is a legend associated with the Macocha Abyss, which is apparently based on a true event. In the village of Vilémovice, a farmer's wife suddenly dies. He soon realizes that he cannot manage everything alone, including taking care of his son Janíček, who now lacks a mother, so he decides to marry a new woman. At first, the new wife appears caring, but soon jealousy and hatred toward her stepson take hold. One fateful day, she attempts to cast Janíček into the abyss — will he survive this fall?

Anatomy of a Lost Sound traces the life of an incendiary sound, the space it conjured: a paramilitary youth camp, one of many metastasizing across Central and Eastern Europe, and the enigmatic figure most indelibly marked by it, Zulfikar Veritić. This hybrid work offers a brief biography of the sound and the figures who fueled its ascent and spread.

Quido, a boy made of acorns, appears in Resinland, a village hidden deep in the forest, created and ruled by children's imaginations. Everyone here seems to have a predefined purpose, except for Quido. Suddenly, the village's vital resource, resin, comes under attack from an unknown ring of thieves. So, Quido declares himself the hero and sets off on an epic mission to save the village.

An experimental study about Czech life, focusing on Prague's National Street, its businesses and the varied people who frequent it.

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 inventor and owner of the company "Neprasklo" (Unbreakable), Ing. Sýkora, wants to launch a revolutionary new product – unbreakable glass. However, his two greedy deputies have other plans – they eliminate Sýkora in the African waterfalls and attempt to sell the company to a foreign corporation. They replace the director with his doppelganger, the unsuspecting and unsuccessful extra Fanda Pažout. However, the villains have no idea that Sýkora is alive and returning.

Miloš Knor brings a group of Czech comedians on a tour around the Czech Republic.

A comedy by a contemporary Hungarian author who is himself a passionate soccer player and thus intimately familiar with the behind-the-scenes world of the sport, which he is able to view with considerable detachment. He takes us into the locker room of three soccer referees before a match that will have a decisive impact on the career of one of them.