Discoveries from Czechoslovakia World Cinema

After a hard day at work, Mr. Prokouk decides to invent a machine to ease his labor. But inventing is work too, and Mr. Prokouk spends more time dreaming about inventions than actually inventing anything. Can he find an easy solution?

Thirteen-year-old Jenda, whose father is the leader of an illegal movement in a small town at the end of World War II, proves his bravery and sense of duty when, despite all the dangers, he delivers an important message to the partisans.

A fictionalized account of Czech soldiers who fought for the French Foreign Legion in Vietnam.

This student film by the award-winning Helena Třeštíková bears many of the hallmarks of her later work. Made as a graduation piece when she was at the FAMU Film and TV Academy in Prague, we see the director developing the distinctive observational style of filmmaking that she has used so effectively throughout her career. Over the course of several months, she follows a young pregnant woman as she becomes slowly acquainted with the joys and responsibilities of motherhood.

Oscar nominated animated short film from Czechoslovakia, 1960. Two characters fight over their claim to a small sunny spot on a beach.

Jakubisko’s graduation work which examines the lives of young people on the eve of their joining the army for national service.

After trying to prepare dinner without any luck, the only meal left is an egg. But the egg suddenly begins to live. Short theatrical film precursor to the 'Pat and Mat' series.

This film presents the history of handball and acquaints viewers with this sport using a story from the life of children. It provides information on Czech successes in handball and presents this sport as being suitable for any playing field, even a small one.

The love story of Anička and Miška. Their pure emotion is put in the way of their parents' property interests.

A 17-year-old student unexpectedly gives up her newborn for adoption and must confront the emotional fallout, family tensions and societal shifts of the tumultuous post-revolution era as she seeks to understand her choices and find her own way in life.

A directors autobiography about his debut during the rise of socialism.

Anuška Klímová rejects the attentions of rich landowner Topol - a coarse and violent man. The girl is in love with Karel Nebeský. The gamekeeper Novák catches a thief red-handed on the estate. Topol makes use of this turn of events by allowing him to escape and telling the gamekeeper to plant the bag full of stolen items in Karel's cottage. The game keeper is given a bonus in his pay as a reward so that he can marry his girlfriend Vlasta. Karel is arrested and sentenced. Anuška, whose father owes money to Topol, is forced into marriage with the landowner. In prison Karel has fed his hatred of all people and, on his release, he builds a log cabin in the woods and lives there alone with his faithful dog. His female company is short-lived. Helena, a girl from the town, lives with him for a while out of a longing for some kind of adventure but she soon goes off with a rich dandy.

Two criminal investigators try to reconstruct a crime that happened in broad daylight, almost in front of the public, during a nighttime investigation. But the author does not only follow the criminal storyline. The witnesses the investigators call in each represent a different variant of cowardice or alibi in their own way.

A television production of the musical by Ernest Bryll and Katarzyna Gartnerová with a Jánošík theme. This play, staged by director Karol Zachar and choreographer Štefan Nosáľ, was an extraordinary success at the Slovak National Theatre.

The catastrophically dry weather of 1947 causes immense problems in the countryside. In the small village Klícov, only farmers Hánek and Bervida and the old Hromádka have water. The others must queue every day for a drop for themselves and their cattle. All the villagers lament over their previous decision to turn down the cooperative chairman Kouba's proposal to built a new village water-supply system.