Discoveries from Czech Republic World Cinema

An observational documentary about Jakub Špalek and all his activities, victories and losses in the years 1989 to 1999.

A feature-length distribution documentary about Filip Topol, composer, lyricist, pianist, singer and fighter of the group Psí vojáci, whose work has struck three generations.

Interpretation of the mythological concept of “double burial,” wrapped in the atmospheric setting of a sci-fi world.

The lives of five foreigners are brought together by the environment of an Austro-Hungarian prison. The reasons for their arrest are different, but they share the same goal of getting back to freedom. So they decide to escape together. However, escape alone does not constitute true freedom, as the group must deal with fear, differing opinions and, in many cases, their own moral convictions. Love, pain and loss cross their path. In the end, freedom does not just become their personal goal, they want to win it for the people, for their nation, for their children.

The Help of the Invisibles will allow viewers an intimate and captivating insight into the remarkable and mysterious world of the Himalayan oracles, which is completely unknown to the West. Since time immemorial, people in various corners of the planet have connected with beings from the unmanifest world in order to advise others, tell fortunes, heal them, cleanse them of negative energies and perform exorcisms. Oracles are not normally allowed to be filmed. The film can therefore be an extraordinary experience for all thoughtful viewers who like a door ajar into a mysterious sphere that raises questions about whether our world could be different than it seems at first glance.

This short documentary shows Jozef Miker during his protests against a pig fattening facility that was built on the site of the former concentration camp near Lety in South Bohemia. Hundreds of Roma died there under the Nazi regime. The protagonist, nicknamed Jožka, who fell ill after working as a miner for many years, never lost his convincing optimism, his humor, and his belief in a better society.

A portrait of the artist Petr Válek (aka "THE VAPE") that highlights the beauty of noise through his electrified constructions as well as everyday objects.

Hun Tun was an ancient emperor of chaos. He was both admirable and scary. Life with him was beautifully unbearable. In the Chinese myth, the world is born out of Hun Tun's dying body. Magdalena is an ordinary millennial. Her life is full of little twists and adventures: work, friends and love. But now she has only one mission – to get her sleep back. The more she tries, the more she gets stuck. It is only when she sees the chaos in her life clearly that the situation changes. And suddenly, there are other people with their “chaoses” too. This is how being spotted and recognized, Hun Tun starts losing power over Magdalena. Living together (un)happily forever.

A story about fisherman, who pulled a skeleton out of the frozen lake. He tries to escape from the skeleton, so he hides in the dark, where he looks for comfort in cheap entertaintment. Yet the reality scratches on the window and fisherman´s hiding place quickly becomes a place full of nightmares. Manipulation, humanity, puppetry - the main themes of this film.

Hundreds of Czech men and women attend tantric seminars. Although yoga and various forms of meditation are quite widespread in the Western world, people often confuse tantra with, for example, the Kama Sutra, and perceive it solely for its sexual aspect. The creator of the new documentary film Tantra was interested in whether such a simplification corresponds to reality and whether there is any way to use this ancient teaching to improve life, romantic relationships, and family bonds in the present day. The documentary Tantra by screenwriter and director Benjamin Tuček offers a glimpse into the world of tantric seminars led by experienced instructors John Hawken and Alan Lowen.

Two characters. Image and sound. One place. One film. Where reality blends with artistic imagination. Embark on a twisted journey through an aging cinema, filled with hidden dangers beyond anything you could expect.

A short film about the story of a Czechoslovak bunker crew who decided to stand up to the Munich ultimatum. The film is proof that even an individual with no prerequisites for success can fundamentally influence history.

The story follows two half-brothers, Martin (12) and Jiřík (8), who can´t get along. But when their mother Lada gets gravely injured they set off on a journey to find a magical Firebird whose song can heal her.

The life of a young man (Jan Cina) is defined by order and modern technology; the closest he gets to any form of real communication is when he sprays his pet snail with water in its terrarium. But then the most common of all household appliances ceases to function and the man has to go out and be among people. In her short piece set in a familiar future, director Tereza Vejvodová conceivably builds on the aesthetics of her sculptural film accompanying the production Land of Body at Prague’s National Theatre. Intertwining limbs and torsos are extensions of the silent protagonist’s mind; his world is polished down to complete emptiness. What's the point of us having control of our every step if no-one else accompanies us on our walk?

Burn-out and depression are not individual phenomena but collective ones. The film is an invitation to rest through images and listening, so as to transform individual exhaustion into shared power to act.

The documentary film by Olga Malířová Špátová follows Anastazia Krausová and Martin Tomášů both in and out of assisting. The film is part of the asistujeme.cz campaign, which introduces the general public to work that enables people with disabilities to live freely.

Millions of farm animals live together with humans in the Czech Republic. They often survive in appalling conditions. For example, over 350 cattle have died on the pastures in the Ore Mountains town of Měděnec in two years, and OBRAZ recently highlighted the living conditions of chickens in some Czech farms. The only thing that often determines the quality of life of animals is the economics of the operation. Is there any way of making life easier for these creatures before their bodies become a meat packet?

(…) Two decilitres of lousy vodka… along the way… in the forest, without witnesses, in two sips (…) Immense brightness and joy… everything is clear, glorious and I don’t care, it takes half an hour, after which the wide angle of the cinemascopic 35mm shutter starts to narrow to 16mm film, still in colour, but all of us ABSENT know what and how it ends. It ends at 8 millimeters, 12 frames per second at most, the picture fades, then a well…

Theodora Remund's extraordinary view of ordinary people.

Shortly before his death, bassist Eduard Haken (1910–1996) recorded Antonín Dvořák's "Biblical Songs" with the organ at St. James' Church. Despite his advanced age, he was in top vocal form. The music program entitled Skrýše a skála (Hiding Place and Rock) – enriched with quotations from the Bible interpreted by Marek Eben and Radovan Lukavský – was then realized in a sublime artistic form on Czech Television by director František Filip (1930–2021).

On February 25, 2022, Antonina Romana and her partner joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Before the full-scale Russian invasion to Ukraine, she lived a life as a director, performer and actress. The film follows her personal journey of resistance to Russian occupation policies.

For twelve years, a film crew has been following the lives of four people who appeared in public in November 1989. Musician Michael Kocáb, dissident Jan Ruml, young participant in the National Avenue intervention Kryštof Rímský, and student leader Martin Mejstřík. The period after November opened up new possibilities, opportunities, and chances for everyone. This unique film project captures their search, their wanderings, their resolutions, and their doubts on the path to finding their own place in the turbulent waters of a transforming society.

Four outstanding works by world-renowned Czech dancer and choreographer Jiří Kylián performed for the first time by the National Theatre Ballet. The National Theatre Ballet has prepared a special premiere entitled Kylián – Bridges of Time for this year's celebrations of the founding of the republic. This project will not only dignifiedly support this important anniversary, but also pay tribute to the famous Czech native, choreographer Jiří Kylián, who has undoubtedly become an icon of world dance. The evening will present four works to the audience – Psalm Symphony, Bella Figura, Petite Mort, and Six Dances.

In October 2022, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc welcomed violinist Jan Mráček and cellist Michaela Fukačová to its concerts. Both artists will join forces in Johannes Brahms' unique, mature work, the "Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor“, conducted by Jakub Klecker. The program opened with Antonín Dvořák's symphonic poem "Polednice," which is part of his tetralogy of symphonic poems based on motifs from Karel Jaromír Erben's collection "Kytice," written in 1896 after Dvořák's return from the United States, followed by a work by the world-renowned Georgian composer Giya Kancheli from 2015 entitled "Nu.Mu.Zu", which means "I don't know" in ancient Sumerian. The highlight of the evening was Johannes Brahms' "Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor" from 1887.

A film journey through places near and far, real and dreamy, on the border between reality and fiction, where it is possible to learn how close the realm of the invisible lies and to contemplate whether it is possible to approach the invisible through film. Guides on this journey are various explorers who present their elusive experiences with researching and capturing imprints of the invisible – former filmmakers, a forgotten film movement, a local history expert, a mountaineer, a professor, and the director, Lea Petříková, herself. But the more they reveal, the more complicated it gets.

A concert by one of the iconic figures of Czech folk music, who wrote the history of Czech songwriting in the second half of the 20th century, at the Poklad Cultural Center in Ostrava-Poruba is a gift for his fans on the occasion of the musician's birthday. Jaroslav Hutka conceived the performance as a unique cross-section of his diverse musical work to date and a look back at his rich musical career. The welcoming atmosphere of the evening was further enhanced by guest performers on stage – guitarists Štěpán Rak and Pavel Marcel, with whom Hutka has collaborated repeatedly in the past and who accompanied him on some songs.

A husband and wife's argument reaches new levels

The last Prior, an unrenovated socialist department store, no longer meets the standards of modern shopping centers. It rather resembles a well-preserved open-air museum where time has stood still to allow its peculiar inhabitants to relive the eighties indefinitely. A film about what it looks like when genius loci swallows everything around it.

Documentary film about the loss of the beloved dog Alfonz. About the search for a new dog from shelters, where the postponement and disabled dogs end. The film about leaving, breaking up and coming to terms with expected and unexpected events.

Martin Imrich lives and studies in Prague. But he comes from South Moravia, where he makes a pilgrimage on foot to overcome the contradiction between “tím, kým jsem, a tím, kým jsu” (“who I am” in Czech and the Moravian dialect), as he says. His video diary, accompanied by a frank off-screen commentary, captures in fragmentary form the journey to the roots and the search for the meaning of such an artistic project.

Eduard Štorch (1878–1956) was the first writer in the Czech lands and in the world to set his stories in prehistoric times. It’s quite ironic that he himself considered his books set in the Stone Age and Bronze Age to be mere accessories to his main life calling as a professional teacher. Another profession that Štorch took up was archaeology. An unusual finding at a sewer excavation site prompted Štorch to write his most famous work: The Mammoth Hunter, which has been released in over twenty editions and sold over half a million copies. The book was published at least ten times in German and even translated into Japanese.