Discoveries from Czechoslovakia World Cinema

Deputy of cartography enterprise Mr. Ciruvka tries to seduce the colleague's assistant to destabilize his confident in a run for the director's chair. But things can go wrong.

Ostrava - Kunčice , 1953: on the same day as the manifestation funeral for J. V. Stalin, the funeral of Brigadier Bédi Nevěřil, a tragic victim of the bureaucratic cadre machine... The story unfolds in the memoirs of another brigadier, former journalist Karel Kratochvil.

Twins Adam and Eva are so alike, it is impossible to tell them apart, which enables the malicious Eva to get away with all sorts of naughty tricks and leave the blame to fall on Adam. The pair grows up and Adam decides to pay Eva back for the tricks she played on him in the past. When he discovers that the handsome Dr Prokop Novotny is interested in Eva, he dresses up as Eva and startles the suitor.

A film about the dramatic lives of the people living in the village of Ráztoka during WW I. Women are left without husbands, families fall apart, finding themselves on the verge of poverty. Eva, the main heroine, is going through difficulties after her husband was drafted to the army. Her defilement and her tragic death cause a rebellion by which the village inhabitants finally stand up against their unbearable situation.

Little Jerguš's father was killed by gendarmes. To help his mother, the boy is hired as a laborer, then goes to the factory, to the city, but, unable to withstand the cruel exploitation, hoping to become free and independent, returns to the mountains, where his father once fought for the good of the people.

In 1972, Czechoslovak Television recorded a performance by the Vinohrady Theatre, which was very well received. Moliere's comedy The Miser was staged on a turntable, but in period costumes and scenery, without any hint of updating, in a traditional translation. However, it was modern and contemporary mainly thanks to the stage direction of Jaroslav Dudek and the excellent acting performances of the main actors, led by Miloš Kopecký in the role of Harpagon. His civil speech, which was not devoid of majesty, anger, imperiousness, dislike and lack of feeling towards those closest to him, was supported by the equally precise performance of Jaromír Hanzlík and Daniela Kolářová in the roles of his children, Jiřina Bohdalová as the matchmaker, and the other actors. The comedy in their performance is timeless and will delight lovers of classical theatre even today.

A fairy tale story about how the enchanted mill was freed from ghosts and how the shepherd Franta knew fear when he had to confess his love to Verunka...

Ing. Kalin is already seventy years old, but he does not recognize old age. He travels, even learns Arabic. He returns to his hometown because he once made a promise to his former love, Bětuška Jarošová, that he would return for her. He is not alone, he is accompanied by his sister, who anxiously watches over him and conducts him. Everything in the town has long been different, although Kalina would like to see it in his old age...

In 1944, the popular film actress Hlínová is arrested by the Gestapo for sheltering a Resistance man. A film producer uses his connections with the Nazis to promote her in order to finish the film. Just before the last day of filming, actress Hlínová realizes that she is under constant guard and wants to escape. However, she is arrested again.

This drama with a criminal plot is a study of the intricately intertwined relationships of four people whose lives have been interrupted by the violent death of a loved one. The story begins almost classically: when a visitor rings the doorbell of a prominent scientist's villa, there is an explosion. The owner is found poisoned by gas in the demolished room. Everything suggests that he committed suicide. But then a major twist comes and the seemingly obvious suicide becomes a well thought out and carefully prepared crime...

Petr Rynes (Svatopluk Matyás) is celebrating his forty-fifth birthday in the company of his friends. He is happy with his wife, and his abilities at work have been rewarded with the medal For Outstanding Work. But a few short seconds are enough to change his life when he makes the ill-judged decision to take his car to bring a friend's wife to the celebration, and hits a pedestrian on the way. He has of course been drinking at the party and is consequently sentenced to sixteen months in prison. Being in jail is not an easy thing for a honorable communist. He soon gets into conflict with several violent inmates, who think they can break his spirit by violence.

Řina Weberová, the daughter of a retired colonel, is the owner of a not very prosperous photo studio. Her elderly boyfriend, banker Václav Novák, secretly supports her financially because he is in love with her. One day, Řina meets her childhood friend, Vincenc Špaček, who has entered military service in Prague. The enterprising Vincenc and his inseparable comrade Vendelín Křídl advertise Řina's studio in the military garrison, so that the soldiers flock to Řina to have her photograph them. One day, Lieutenant Novák also shows up and immediately falls in love with Řina. Řina's father finds out that banker Novák is visiting his daughter, and he wants him to marry her...

While on vacation with their bickering parents, young Eva and her little brother Johnny find in a polluted lake two strange friendly sentient octopuses made of strange material that attracts electricity. They take them as pets.

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that only the water of life would save him.

Sherlock Holmes likes to play violin and expects a great career in music. He gets a place in a spa orchestra, but he is again and again distracted by criminal cases. Therefore he is the only one who does not see that his violin has no future. He solves the criminal mysteries in passing but the final test shows that the famous detective is tone-deaf.

Building themes, however modified, permeated the nationalised cinema throughout its existence. This time, director Július Matula has focused on a young engineer who, with high hopes, accepts a position in a famous agricultural cooperative. However, he soon discovers that behind the proclaimed phrases there is in fact hypocrisy and protectionism. The authors criticise the fact that incompetence is often covered up, that shortcomings end up being cleverly camouflaged, that the social mood favours the mediocre and the adaptable. The hauers present a statement that is courageous, so to speak, within the limits of the law, and call for increased work consciousness.

Set in 1960s Bratislava, the film follows a cynical, thirty-year-old architect named Andrej who unexpectedly falls deeply in love with Vanda, a free-spirited and spontaneous young woman. However, their burgeoning relationship is quickly strained by his growing possessiveness and desire for a traditional marriage.

A television production based on Bozena Slančíková-Timrava's short stories about social and moral conditions in a Slovak village in the 1930s.

An attractive and challenging 16-year-old girl has no shortage of admirers, but she becomes the cause of a small-town problem when she accuses her charming uncle of rape after trying in vain to seduce him. The bitter comedy, the only film directed by actor Václav Lohnisky, relies on the lively acting of both Vladimír Menšík as the eloquent uncle and Lucie Žulová as the mischievous seductress.

A clever but often teased boy, is able to clone himself thanks to a stolen formula from a scientist. Time to take revenge on those bullies.

Little Vendulka receives a birthday gift of a seemingly innocuous children's book. Little she knows that the book is actually a portal into the surreal world of nursery rhymes and Josef Lada's paintings.

A fairy tale about a king who does not solve his worries and problems, but runs away from them into dreams and visions. He trades everything he has for his dreams. The castle, the crown and the happiness of his only daughter. But in time, the poor shepherd Martin intervenes, who knows that dreaming is beautiful, but the ability to make dreams come true is much more valuable.

A crazy comedy about what caused a passion for solving crossword puzzles. An insurance company representative writes a report with the Sluks about an accident that happened in their house. Mrs. Slavíková went shopping while her husband was filling a ten-liter pot with water that was on the stove. Mr. Kukačka stayed home, sick, and his wife went to visit relatives. But the husband used his illness to cover up his antics. Mrs. Sluková was doing a crossword puzzle and was looking for the word "seductress at six". She asked her husband to go borrow Mr. Slavík's crossword dictionary. Then Mr. Slavík's door slams shut, his pot of water overflows, and the gas goes out...

The Czech revival movement is divided at the end of the first half of the 19th century. While the older generation, such as František Palacký, urges restraint, students lean towards radical positions. A report on the revolutionary events in Paris prompts Czech Prague residents to write down the demands of the Czech nation for self-determination and the proclamation of a constitution. Tensions peak during the All-Slavic Congress in Prague's Žofín. Vienna rejects the Czech demands and the congress is brutally dispersed by the Austrian police. Prague begins to build barricades...

A film based on three short stories about the attitudes of ex-members of a then forbidden big- beat band. The stories capture the life-styles and opinions of the musicians who gave up music and had to find ordinary jobs in order to earn a living.

A tragicomic story from a tragicomic time - this is how one could characterize Jiří Hubac's play, which premiered in May 1991. The drama of two friends who fought in England as Czech airmen during the war and had to live through the well-known martyrdom after returning home is a story about the power of friendship, the courage to transcend oneself in the face of violence and the right to preserve human memory. The television film by director Jaroslav Dudek, who cast Jiří Bartoska and Josef Dvořák in the lead roles, was honoured with the prestigious Prix Europe international award in Reykjavik.

Ivan is shooting a documentary for the film school. His subject- girls and women working in the local beauty salon. Among them is his childhood friend Eva, who needs to find a model for the upcoming hairdresser contest.

A car accident occurs and Dusan's teenage daughter Milena gets very seriously injured. To add insult to injury, Dusan is unable to donate a kidney when he finds out he is not Milena's biological father. Dusan is left to cope with his wife's infidelity, as well as the life of his ailing daughter.

A group of wealthy American Jewish businessmen have been captured by the SS and are told that they are to be traded to the American army for several SS officers. However, these hostages are being required to pay bribes for their "transportation costs." In order to ensure that the businessmen will be more cooperative in paying up, a beautiful female singer is placed in their midst as a bargaining chip. The group of hostages are then placed on a train which is supposed to take them to the ship that will deliver them to freedom, but a series of "mishaps" delays their escape.

A story about a life of a group of children in the foster home.

Shoemaker Číč is a skilled craftsman, but a great mischievous and riddle-teller. Such that he tricks not only the king, but also Lucifer himself. He earns fame and wealth by doing so, but he hurts his poor neighbor Karafiátek. But still, a bad conscience begins to gnaw at him. He returns to hell and this time his own fate is at stake. Whether he lost to the devil or won over him, you will only find out from the cheerful fairy tale.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Daddy was supposed to go to the cottage with his little son and stop on the way to pick up Mommy, who still had to go to work. But the crazy daddy, with all the packages, luggage and suitcases, had forgotten the dear little Honzik at home. When he and his wife found out, they returned home. But in the meantime, a neighbor with keys to the apartment discovered the little boy. She forced her husband to take the child to the neighbour's cottage. And the merry-go-round of thwarted journeys doesn't end...

A group of children from 1930s Prague follow the news about the polar expedition of the Chelyuskin, whose members find themselves stranded on a floating crust after the shipwreck. The rescue operation they had planned eventually turns out to be an aid to the striking workers of Děčín...

The hero of the story is a forty-something intellectual, a sensitive composer of classical music. His exclusive profession, his work, which is actually incomprehensible to those around him, and his deep inner passion set him apart from the conformist milieu. Therefore, he tries to search for the "lark's silence" - a new strength, purity, truth, essence and roots of Czechism. However, on his return from the oppressive, alienated big city to his native village, to his former home, to nature, a deep disillusionment awaits him: he discovers that the once idyllic village has lost not only its face, but also any manifestation of spiritual life in its foolish attempt to resemble the city.

Two good friends return from long-term military service: Jan Cimbura from Semic and Josef Piksa from Putim. Piksa farms on his own, Cimbura accepts service with the Hradiště farmer and mayor of Kovanda. The farmhand Cimbura is a real treasure for the farm. He is strong and hardworking, he doesn't drink or smoke. He can keep his eyes on the girl Marjánka, and Cimbura likes her too. However, Cimbura doesn't want to and cannot marry. First, he wants to become independent, and that may take years....

This distinctive documentary portrait of Prague extolls the beauty, significance and spirit of the ancient city adopting modern way of life. The form and content of the film share a common underlining principle. The author doesn't simply list out the sequence of events, but rather approaches them in a broader context of their historic implications and circumstances. The content of the film covers a large period from the pagan times to these days. The facts are grouped under several general headings (paganry, the spread of Christianity, renaissance, baroq and modern times) with allusions to the modern life of Prague and Praguers that has its roots in those times.

A Czech art film set in a modern village. The main character of the film is Karla Tolarová, a worker from a Prague printing house, who arrives for a harvest shift at a unified agricultural cooperative in Běšíčice at a critical time for the cooperative. The grain in the fields is ripe, the machine-tractor station does not have the necessary machines for the cooperative, the cooperative members do not trust each other, they lose interest in working together.