Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

Eliška Balzerová, Iva Pazderková, and Marie Doležalová star in a comedy about life, with all its joys and sorrows. The heroines are women from three generations: an energetic and tolerant grandmother, a perfectionist and therefore stressed single mother, and a crazy, rebellious granddaughter. The play is written in the form of stand-up comedy, which is cleverly woven into the story of one family with its everyday worries and joys, as well as major problems.

One day, a villager stops at a watering place and is horrified by what he sees. The water is unusually red.

In a post-apocalyptic world, a small robot forms an emotional bond with a plant, which it considers its last friend.

An old lonely man lives in a small apartment with his cat, and his only activity is sewing a sleeping bag.

Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená joins the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, to perform Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4 in Prague.

Czechoslovakia, summer 1968. Charlotte is rushed to hospital following a collapse resulting from a heart defect. The medical verdict is that the only way to save her life is a heart transplant.

This short video introduces Edita Stejskalová, a Romani woman, political scientist, and human rights activist, through a staged visit to Müller's Villa in Prague. The film depicts a dialogue between the main protagonist and Adolf Loos's modernist building, now a national cultural monument.

On a tense journey with his wife and daughter, a weary husband struggles to keep his fraying family together. But as the storm clouds gather, he looks to give up the shelter of their car.

As the main representative of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Milouš Jakeš was the most powerful man in the country. At ninety years old, he still evokes strong reactions in society today. The director joins Jakeš on a look back at his life, from his beginnings at the Baťa Works until his final expulsion from the party. The film is interspersed with period footage of anti-government protests being put down, and the former general secretary is also confronted with former dissidents or their descendants. This documentary portrait shows an almost ascetic old man with firm convictions regarding the rightness of the old order, which suited his austere nature.

The story of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi in a spectacular multimedia show by Michal Dvořák and Jaroslav Svěcený from the sold-out Prague O2 Arena on June 10, 2015. Following the success of their two previous projects, in 2015 the two main protagonists, Michal Dvořák and Jaroslav Svěcený, prepared the release of a new album, their third, and a new concert program that combines a live concert, film projections, and theatrical elements. The concerts make extensive use of film projections prepared for the new compositions. The entire concert performance is based on a composed format of the live Vivaldianno orchestra, the aforementioned projections, theatrical elements, and the "story of A. Vivaldi," which connects the entire concert as the main leitmotif of the evening.

A breeding Peking duck yields ten times more eggs than a wild duck. It is reared in duck runs and is able to respond to the breeder’s instructions. The film outlines how duck chicks are cared for and it draws attention to their usefulness.

Ivan Wernisch wrote about his poems: “My poems are what they are, and I would not improve them with any commentary.” One of the most important living poets, Ivan Wernisch, with his nostalgic, railway and blowing poem, inspired director David Súkup to its distinctive animated interpretation. Alongside a visual tribute to the author in the form of a railway employee and the phenomenon of coffee in Czech poetry, a distinctive animated film was made, which shows the intimate closeness of animation and poetry and tries to bring new readers to poetry in an attractive form.

Buď laska means please in Ukrainian and Ukraine is asking us for help. Over a thousand kilometers and 4 armored ambulances that the Czechs relied on during the first months of the war. What is it like to be in a country where war is the order of the day? What personal stories are hidden under the "anonymous mass of green uniform" of the army? And why does it make sense to help?

A personal account of trauma processing. Feelings of loss and worthlessness are part of the reality of our everyday lives. Unprocessed emotions that need to be given space and meaning. How does a work become political from personal? What depoliticizes it? What is our relationship to pain and to our own bodies in terms of accepting ourselves?

A young film fan discovers that he has become the main character in an action movie, which, despite his wishes, is being created by the unpredictable Director. Will he manage to defeat the evil villains and save the love of his life thanks to his knowledge of the rules of the genre?

A tragicomic documentary road movie that follows the path of a law that could affect millions of lives. “The Law of Love” guarantees everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, the right to marry – and it is supported by the majority of Czechs. Who, then, is bothered by this bill that has stirred up so much passion, such atypically emotional response? What, for that matter, is the difference between marriage and registered partnerships?

The second part of the endless series about Moravia offers an even darker descent into the soul of Moravia, which is, however, intoxicating like a slightly delirious state after a sip of wine and chewing on a clod of mother earth. A visually distracting journey focused on the undercurrents of Moravian identity, whose echoes even Friedrich Nietzsche would not want to hear...

The Mole finds a flute a plays it

A documentary study by Ivan Vojnár featuring people picked at random and famous personalities he has met in the Café Konvikt and other places in Prague. Not unlike figures from a Hrabal story, they represent a very broad range of types— from a mentally handicapped road-sweeper to a philosopher. Each person, even the most seemingly normal, is exceptional in some way. Most speak directly to the camera about their relations, work, simple and difficult problems, democracy, and Czech society in general.

When Lake is drowning in his own thoughts, Mac takes him on a lake break. With all the leisure and chill, he definitely won’t be stuck in his head anymore.

The film is a monolog in which Catholic priest Vojtěch Kodet recounts his experiences with souls in the clutches of evil forces. The film, which frequently quotes from the writings of Raul Salvucci, is based on a sermon focused exclusively on the taboo subject of exorcism. The only thing connecting the priest with the outside world is a walk among the trees, which for a moment brings about a sense of calm free from temptation and obsession.

A young director follows an aging professor in search of recipes for the life of the body and soul. But what will a Serbian nationalist and close friend of Ratko Mladic advise a girl with a family in Bosnia? A dialogue about transcending one's own prejudices and ideologies in an attempt to find reconciliation.

Biographical film brings a distinctive view of the turbulent history of the twentieth century through the eyes of a man who knew the whole world. Conceived under the Habsburgs, he was born five months after the First Republic was founded. He survived World War II, lived through the rise and fall of communism. He was labelled by the StB as a "dangerous person of the highest danger class". He was in Africa when the colonial system was dying. He met the pre-presidents, met Gagarin and Hillary. He experienced the rise of democracy and "all-powerful" capitalism.

The ocean is paradise for Fran the shrimp. Nothing escapes her deadly pincers. For the blind fish Milva, it's a daily struggle for survival.Fran finds her magnificent and wishes she could see the ocean that way too. Will they be able to overcome their differences ?

An astonishing array of paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, objects and materials fill room after room - but this is not a museum open to the general public. It is the home of the celebrated artist couple Jan Svankmajer and his late wife Eva, situated in the Czech Republic's Horni Stankov Castle.

Petr Vaclav's documentary Pani Le Murie (Madam Le Murie, 1993) depicts the last survivor of an aristocratic family who refused to bow to Communism.

In a bizarre animated tale, a person finds an home within a sheep’s body. The person cuts into the sheep from the inside, feeding off its body while disregarding the sheep’s desperate screams. Eventually, they go too far and face the consequences.

How we look is often not just our personal choice. What we should look like plays a role as well. Society likes to know who is a woman and who is a man. The ideal woman is thin and shaven, while men do not depilate their legs.

Brno plays the main role in the film. It brings together several story lines of the film, which also meet in the course of the film's narrative. The main axis of the film is the story of Standy Kadlec, an overly trusting and kind man, and his pregnant wife Alena. On the other hand, it is the story of Ladi, the closest assistant of the mayor of Brno, Lang. Ladi is Standa's classmate from high school. He is, however, Stand's opposite in character. While Stand's kindness and good manners condemn him to a life role of a "loser", Ladi gathers shameless success. But gradually we learn who really has the most to lose...

"Good Morning, My Dear," "Farmers," "It Didn't Hurt," "Yum," "The Pilot," and many others. The unique and original musician and singer David Stypka from Dobrá near Frýdek-Místek wrote many powerful and hit songs. Exactly two years after his death, Stypka's hits were performed in the Gong multifunctional hall in Ostrava in orchestral arrangements by Jan Lstibůrek, performed by the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, conducted by Stanislav Vavřínek, and the band Bandjeez. Stypka's closest musical companions – Ewa Farna, Mirai Navrátil, and Kateřina Marie Tichá – took turns at the microphone. They also performed a joint rendition of Stypka's hit "Kříž" at the end of the concert, following up on their legendary performance at the Czech Music Academy Awards – Anděl in 2021.

The documentary follows in the footsteps of the controversial personality of František Kriegel, M.D., who was born into a Jewish family in Halych, saved lives as a frontline doctor in Spain, China, Burma and India, and after World War II joined the service of the Communist Party and the People's Militia. In 1968, he became one of the main representatives of our state and was the only member of the kidnapped delegation to save face and not officially condemn "fraternal aid," which had significant professional and social consequences for him.

Delicate poetry and politically incorrect humor presented by a popular actor and singer-songwriter from Ostrava in the hall of Prague's Forum Karlín.

The desire to achieve the greatest physical strength and moments of complete lack of mental strength define the life of film critic Kamil Fila during the filming of this atypical time-lapse documentary. The necessary moment of observation is broken in a longer period of time by the protagonist’s attempts to bring his life into harmony with the people closest to him, which, nevertheless, regularly lead to failure. The result is a portrait of an intellectual at his wits’ end, a man who struggles with the limits of rationalisation. It is precisely the openness with which Fila lets us peer into the depths of his private life that has a therapeutic effect not only for him but also for the viewer.

Days Off is a short film, an homage to the puppet and city. By combining puppet animation and live action it builds a certain strange kind of reality, a reality that is based in the real world. It is an audiovisual testimony using the language of surrealism, satire, parody, irony and gallows humor, a dark mirror reflecting today’s world.

A sentimental tram rally through Těšín Silesia, its history and mythology, accompanied by songs by Jaromír Nohavica. A recording of one of the most successful productions of the Czech and Polish scene at the Těšín Theater.

A small minotaur, his Mum Medusa, a Cyclops delivery guy, the neighbors the Grey Sisters... Legendary characters from the Greek mythology live their lives and solve their problems in today's world.

They came from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and France - forced laborers who ensured that life in Germany was maintained and that supplies reached the German front during the Second World War. They were often deported to Germany at a young age and had to live in adverse conditions.

A woman is haunted by a warped echo from her past.