Published: July 07, 2023| 06:27 PM

The afternoon KVIFF Talk with actress Daniela Kolářová started with an overview of her film hits. In an interview with Veronika Bednářová, the leading lady of Czech cinema shared stories from making the films Empties, Summer with a Cowboy and Kawasaki’s Rose, but also recalled her years spent at
the Vinohrady Theatre or her work for radio and TV.

 She also told the audience about her childhood, because although she was born in Prague, she actually spent her youth from the age of four to eighteen in Karlovy Vary. Moreover, she still considers the Karlovy Vary theatre as the place that determined her future, because it was on this stage that she took her first theatre steps at the age of nine, in the fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes. “I was enchanted by theatre,” she described what she felt back then.

She also recalled her memories of the city at that time: “The Teplá River used to freeze in winter all the way to the Vřídlo fountain, and would skate on it as children. Fish could be seen under the clear ice... That is my fondest childhood memory ever,” she said.

Talking about her favourite film role, she mentions, quite surprisingly, Mrs Maxová, the teacher from Svěrák’s The Elementary School. “It is different from all my other film roles,” explained the actress, who became famous for her “film marriages” with Zdeněk Svěrák and Jaromír Hanzlík. She had a different partner, Josef Abrhám, though in The Ball Lightning, which was presented as the Tribute to
Daniela Kolářová at KVIFF on Thursday. “He was so special. But there were also many other great actors involved, and most importantly: it was fun.” The audience in Karlovy Vary could confirm that the comedy has lost nothing of its charm.