Czech Films 2015–2016

In this four-part crime miniseries, Olomouc detectives have to deal with the elusive and ambivalent enemies behind the murder of a university lecturer. Tauš’s method of portraying a case which seriously disrupts the private lives of Major Výrová and her team caused a stir with a hard-hitting, progressive form that challenges conventional image composition.

A fascinating documentary dialogue evolved over the course of thirty months between renowned filmmaker Pavel Štingl and one of the iconic figures of Czech modern art, sculptor and painter Jaroslav Róna. It was during this time that one of the ten largest bronze equestrian statues in the world – today situated in Brno – gradually came into being. A film contemplating the sculpture itself, things material and abstract, the essence of creative endeavour, and the courage of the artist to fulfil his vision.

Lída Baarová dazzled filmgoers with her beauty for a few short years before the clouds began to darken her career as a result of her affair with Goebbels. In her own reminiscences the actress sees herself as a victim, but the film, while listening with reverence, suggests that the tragedy of her fate holds a certain ambiguity.

Emília Vášáryová’s bravura performance offers a glimpse into an aging woman’s oppressive world where alcohol is quickening the process of decline. As an actress she’s been written off, and her son blames her for the breakup of his family and for passing on her demons. Under the circumstances it hardly seems likely that the protagonist would give up her most trusted means of comfort...

What are the various forms a family can take? The departure of the parents on an exotic holiday is the catalyst of events that chiefly impact their two teenage children, particularly when the parents suddenly break off all communication with Prague while sailing round the islands of Indonesia. This black-humoured drama ironises the family film genre and keeps the viewer guessing as to which way the plot will turn.

Immediately after his wedding night Heinrich Mattoni sets off for Vienna, where there’s everything to play for. The young entrepreneur has to prove that he really is capable of turning water into gold… This epic drama is also the third episode in the television series “I, Mattoni” about the founder of the famous water bottling plant. After the screening, Marek Najbrt will hold a masterclass on the creation of this historical series (in Czech only).

Can you imprison someone in a dream? It’s very likely that teenager Laura has succeeded in doing just that, which isn’t so great because the prisoner is a good-looking traceur (a parkour participant) named Luky, her new love interest. A sports movie for the whole family that investigates Prague’s parkour community – while also adventuring to a prison of dreams in Normandy.

“This is my verdict. I, Olga Hepnarová, a victim of your brutality, sentence you to death by vehicle.” Thus wrote the 22-year-old woman in 1973 before using a truck to kill eight people in Prague. This restrained and chilling period drama investigates a lonely murderer whose actions are just as inexplicable as Hepnarová herself.

Wasn’t the 1938 Munich Agreement actually a diplomatic victory? In Petr Zelenka’s original comedy, a movie crew is trying to shoot some footage but one catastrophe after another prevents them, including the lead actor’s allergy to parrots. This uniquely structured black comedy takes aim at filmmakers and eternal whiners.

Can a timid and domesticated rabbit morph back into a feral tiger? Maybe marriage puts the kibosh on a lot of things, but in this hugely successful tragicomedy, veterinarian Jan (Jiří Bartoška) sets off on a last pilgrimage in search of the wild.

The renowned documentarist gets the go-ahead to record the life of an ordinary North Korean family. To what extent will he be able to observe what goes on behind the screen of pervasive communist ideology? Unique footage that probes deep into one of the most heavily guarded places on Earth.

Eight people residing in rundown houses along a highway, the sound of traffic coming through the walls. Eight characters, none of whom we encounter at the peak of a satisfied life. The desire to survive and to give life meaning, however, might override everything else. But is it possible to break free of the influence of those hobbled by frustration?