Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

Lenka and Míra Hřib are a young married couple with two small children. They are both interested in ecology and sustainable life.

The documentary, which was part of the exhibition of the same name, captures moments of birds and people meeting together in urban space. The most glaring sign of the incongruity in such relationships is the great number of injuries with which these winged inhabitants of metropolises end up at rescue stations. Wounds and irreversible damage are inflicted on them through intentional and unintentional human activity, but also by human creations that serve the everyday functioning of society. At the other end of the spectrum, there are individuals who are not only interested in the life of birds, but also care about their welfare and, in a figurative sense, communicate with our avian companions.

In the vast plains of Kyrgyzstan, men have been cultivating a group sport with a long tradition. The aim of the game buzkashi is to steal the trophy of a dead goat from the rival team of riders, all while staying on horseback. Into this tough masculine world enters Atirkül, a woman with an enterprising spirit and a sense of humour. The film follows the everyday life of the headstrong horse lover Atirkül, whose ambition is to build her own buzkashi team of local young men to preserve the heritage of her native region. The ethnographic perspective alternates with a purely personal one, gradually revealing the possibilities of overcoming gender roles

Benjamin Britten's monumental anti-war oratorio from the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle in memory of war veterans and victims. British composer Benjamin Britten wrote War Requiem in 1962 on the occasion of the restoration of the war-damaged cathedral in Coventry. He used the traditional, codified Latin text of the requiem – a mass for the dead – interspersed with verses by Wilfred Owen, a British officer who wrote his poems directly in the trenches of World War I. More than two hundred artists then joined their voices in the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle as part of the Prague Sounds festival for a symbolic performance of the work, which is rarely performed due to its demanding nature and large cast.

With intimate interviews and archival footage, this portrait of Polish-Czech pop star Ewa Farna captures the days before the biggest show of her career.

Even amongst Christmas decorations a spark of fancy may appear. What to do though when merciless Fate (or the human hand) has placed our beloved right to the other side of the tree? No use crying when a decoration wants to achieve something - it must unhook itself. And thus, our snowman Karel sets off with the straw angel Kamil in search of snow-lass Eva. They wander through the Christmas tree overcoming obstacles, and with the help of other distinctive decorations they eventually reach Eva who is being held captive by the evil Balls brothers.

Ivana Svobodová, a journalist for the weekly Respekt magazine specializing in the Czech disinformation scene, does not create her reports from her desk, but in the field. She engages in clashes of opinion with people who believe in the positions propagated by bloggers like Vidlák. The plurality of opinion has been transformed by their influence into a battlefield divided into good and bad media. This confrontational portrait of the role of a liberal periodical in the era of rampant social media conspiracies with a sociological overlay discusses the impossibility of dialogue. It asks questions about the difference between opinion and fact, as well as what authority is respected by those who oppose authority and who is the watchdog of democracy.

A documentary about the record attendance at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague and Ostrava and Jaromír Jágr's farewell.

Concert of Karel Gott to celebrate his 70th birthday.

The story of successful writer Matyáš Lowag, who no longer knows what to write about. His youthful rebellion has been replaced by middle-aged conformity. So he sets off for the mountains, where his family comes from. In the mysterious landscape, he meets various strange people who finally inspire him to write a story. However, over time, Matyáš loses track of what is reality and what is fiction.

The 5th Sokol Festival Gathering took place in 1907 in Prague, Letná (the Letná Plain). The film shots are documenting the following gymnastic exercise pieces: exercises performed by women with clubs, exercises performed by men belonging to the Prague Sokol Group, exercises performed by men with shields and canes, exercises performed by American women (Sokol members) with flags, exercises performed by women (trade union members), gymnastic exercises performed by men, exercise on gears performed by men (horizontal bars, rings, parallel bars, side horse), gymnastic exercises performed by French Sokol members. The Sokol Cavalry was parading in front of the terraces. The event was closed by a ceremony parade on Staroměstské náměstí (the Old Town Square). We can see the Slovácko band and the Sokol Cavalry participating in the parade, as well as the American Sokol members.

After a near-death experience, a person floats in a mysterious space, gradually being reborn by reconnecting with the sensations of their body.

Hot summer day. Prague's outskirts. After being held back by chores, eleven-year-old Max joins his three friends. In their mischievous pastime outside, the boys let fate and thirst guide them throughout the afternoon while contemplating football, the essence of friendship, and the gravity of growing up.

To help the horse-headed hero make relationships, there's a quirky dating app reminiscent of the old eight-bit games. But even the best dating app can't predict the reactions of the unicorns we sometimes think we are.

Documentary about the Slovak-Hungarian resettlement activity in the south of Slovakia. The film explains - from the Slovak perspective, of course - how the exchange took place, how picturesque it looked, what its “numbers” were, and what its cultural effects were supposed to be. Although it was never an explicit trauma (similar to the German expulsion), Slovak-Hungarian relations, thanks to the ineptitude of later politicians, have still not completely stabilized to this day.

The little mole buys a robot to do the work for him. But two rats have other plans.

The film tells the story of a very important social problem: civic engagement. It is not tied to any particular political system or period. There is a stylized, anonymous, universal character living in an unspecified space. Everything is made of paper using the origami technique. The character does not want to solve the problems of the world around him, he thinks that he would lose his peace. But as a result, with this hidden from the news of the world, he gradually begins to sacrifice not only his property, his space, but also his freedom.

A haunting 16 mm visual poem that explores a woman's identity as it distorts, fractures, and stitches itself back together.

A young man becomes the center of attention after being punched on a night out. To continue receiving attention he must take matter into his own hands.

A room full of bubbling aquariums. Hundreds of fish with only glass separating them from people. The film is a probe into the lives of a married couple of aquarists who have dedicated their lives to fish and to each other. Aquaristics as a job that never ends. In my film, I observe how an aquarium exchange works, where fish are bought and sold, and I think about how deep a relationship can be with both fish and another person.

Cosmic horror explores the elements and matter of so-called inanimate nature, which become actors and form a new ecosystem. A stream of depictions of fluid materials embedded into each other is accompanied by an unsettling soundtrack that reinforces the uncertainty of whether we are watching a cosmogonic or eschatological vision.

Performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by J. Bělohlávek. Slavonic Dances are among the most popular works by Antonín Dvořák and Czech Romantic music in general. The first series, originally composed for four-hand piano and later orchestrated for symphony orchestra, is inspired mainly by Czech folk dances. The orchestral version of Slavonic Dances is considered a groundbreaking work, thanks to which Dvořák attracted attention abroad and launched his international career. A television recording of this outstanding performance was made in 2014. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek.

B. Britten's famous opera, which became a major theatrical event in its production by the National Theater Brno... The story of the opera Peter Grimes is as harsh and stormy as the landscape in which it takes place. A boy dies in a fishing village on the North Sea coast. Fisherman Peter Grimes is suspected of his murder. Although he is acquitted by the court, the locals have their own opinion and make it known. Social outcasts and the sea are the thematic pillars of this tragic opera, in which the staunch pacifist and humanist Benjamin Britten sides with all those who deviate from the norms of mainstream society. Although Benjamin Britten's work forms a fundamental part of contemporary opera production and he is the most frequently staged composer of the 20th century worldwide, in the Czech Republic we rarely have the opportunity to encounter his work. His most famous opera, Peter Grimes, from 1945, had its Czechoslovak premiere two years later at the National Theater in Brno.

Adam Ondra is the best. Born in 1993, the Czech climber has broken a series of records and is widely recognised as the most accomplished in his discipline. No mountain or wall can resist him. But who is this young man who knows no fear and never seems to encounter failure? Jan Šimanek and Petr Záruba deliver an intimate portrait, beyond the usual sensationalism of sports headlines.

A demotivating story about internal and external, about accepting and understanding yourself and the world around you.

Short story about a curious girl, who is in the zoo with her mom. What plan will a friendly girl devise, when she meets lonely gorilla and her mom is busy with bussines calls?

Working conditions in the worst-paid jobs in the Czech Republic were examined by journalist Saša Uhlová during six months. She spent several weeks in a hospital laundrette, poultry house, cash register or waste sorting facility. Her experience became the basis of a lived and very personal report of invisible employees working in appalling conditions. Uhlová wrote a series of reports on her project that were published on the Alarm website. Apolena Rychlíková made them into a documentary film consisting of scenes shot at Uhlová's home and video footage taken during her work. Uhlová accompanies the picture with read commentary.

They are not on social media, they do not have smartphones. The Czech documentary Digital Dissidents presents people who actively reject some current digital technologies. More broadly, the document asks the question: do people in today's world have the opportunity not to use digital communication at all? Do they have the right to analogue?

She believes that this secret has something to do with their family friend Niky who joins them for a family dinner. Kristina is being mistaken, it is not Niky who is in a relationship with her father, but somebody much closer to her.

Little Natalie has a dream of becoming an artist, but she has many obstacles standing in her way - most notably, a vicious art teacher and his dreaded red whistle. One day, Natalie breaks into her school and tries to show everyone what it means to be a real artist.

War journalism is indeed a special discipline in the world of journalism. Even elite journalists bow to the brave few who venture into conflict zones and bring quality reporting from extreme environments. And apparently even the biggest cynic perceives that their work is worthy of respect and admiration. Documentary filmmaker Petr Jančárek talks to a number of reporters, cameramen and photographers about how they see their profession.

The life story of an unassuming, modest, yet extremely principled woman is also a dramatic portrait of a time when criticism of the regime and defense of the unjustly prosecuted was punished by imprisonment and constant surveillance from the secret state security. The story also reflects the turning point after the Velvet Revolution, when Dana Němcová briefly entered politics as an active member of the Federal Assembly, or when, in response to the war in the former Yugoslavia, she founded a counselling center for refugees and refugee women in the Czech Republic. In the film, she also meets some of those she helped again after many years.

Dancing and parkour are dead. Elementary schools now offer YouTube classes. But why do the kids only have their parents and classmates as subscribers? Two best friends, Kate and Rachel, decide to make a groundbreaking video. As their favorite YouTuber says: Followers don’t come for free, and you have to be fearless if you want to be successful.

Jan meets Death in the club. We see retrospectively how this meeting was destined to happen.

A documentary portrait of the leading Czech theatre director Jan Antonín Pitínský, who has been involved in theatre since the 1980s. In 1985 he founded the Ochotnicky kroužek Brno, where he soon came to prominence with his productions of F. Kafka's Amerika and Matka (Mother), which he wrote himself. After the Velvet Revolution, he began directing at many theatre venues in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He has won several Alfréd Radok Awards, and in 2007 he was awarded the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. His work has influenced the next generation of theatre directors and filmmakers. His most recent production is The Search for Lost Time at the National Theatre in Brno, which he staged in 2019. During his career, he has also been an active playwright, poet and writer.

H*ART ON dives off the deep end of modern art. A film about the yearning to create, to mould everyday emotions into a meaningful life and, most of all, to live beyond one's death. A struggle that gets to the existential core of each of us. How do you find meaning in everyday fear, love, sex and loneliness?

You are disappearing from me and there is emptiness before my eyes. Where there is nothing, only a gap between us. Emptiness, and engraved in it – "we remember." You were so beautifully pure. I miss you. Where are you? Gratitude! If only I could see you more often. Life would be so much better. Where are you? Sincerity! Day and night, I dread the moment when I will finally lose myself. Where are you? Respect! I will not let you go, and deep down I hope that perhaps you have not all died out.