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SpecialFestival of post-1989 Czech film at Lincoln Center in New York
Some of the most important Czech films since 1989 have been screened in a
kind of mini-festival that has just come to a conclusion at the famed Film
Society of Lincoln Center in New York. Six days. 16 films. 10 guest
speakers. The series? The Ironic Curtain. Czech Cinema since the Velvet
Revolution.
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PanoramaLarge open-air exhibition in Prague looks at 20th-century Czech history through stories of bravery
Descending the historic Old Castle Stairs on the way from Prague Castle to
the left bank of the Vltava River, an unusual structure will catch your eye
in the middle of a small park between the river and a busy road. The
five-and-a-half-metre tall wooden watchtower looks strangely out of place
among the 19th-century urban architecture. It is an exact replica of a
watchtower from a communist-era labour camp near the town of Příbram
southwest of Prague. As a symbol of the oppression of the communist regime,
the watchtower is part of an extensive outdoor exhibition titled “We Did
Not Give It Up/Stories of the 20th Century” which has just opened in
Prague to mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of communism.
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Current AffairsAnti-communist demonstration violently suppressed twenty years ago in Prague, just three weeks before Velvet Revolution
Looking back at the events of 1989 in Czechoslovakia, most people will
probably think of the student demonstration on November 17th which kicked
off the Velvet Revolution. The November protest was the last in a series of
events that took place that year and were violently suppressed by riot
police. One of them was an illegal rally to commemorate the 71st
anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia on October 28th, 1989 held
on Prague’s Wenceslas Square.
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Letter from PragueA daily diet of history and hindsight
For the last week or so I have been religiously following one television
programme every day. It’s not a soap opera that has got its claws into me
but the Czechoslovak news 20 years after. There is currently an around
10-minute edited spot every night on the public broadcaster CT24 entitled
‘20 years of freedom – 20 years without Communist Party propaganda.’
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Current AffairsSomething was “in the air” ahead of Velvet Revolution, Havel tells world’s media
Václav Havel, who led Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, discussed
events at that time and developments since on Thursday, at his only public
appearance ahead of the revolution’s 20th anniversary. The former
president told reporters from around the world that 20 years ago no one
knew when change was going to come, but people did sense that “something
was in the air”.
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Current AffairsStar-studded concert and re-enactment of November ’89 march among events planned for 20th anniversary
One of the biggest events in Prague after the fall of communism was a
now-legendary concert by the Rolling Stones at Strahov Stadium in 1990.
They were received afterwards at Prague Castle by President Václav Havel,
who became quite friendly with the band. Now 20 years later, the Rolling
Stones leader Mick Jagger is coming back to the city – he’s one of a
number of famous artists playing at a special concert organised by Mr
Havel. Another big event marking the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution
will be a recreation of the student demonstration on November 17 1989 which
set in motion the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.
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Talking PointTwenty years after: central and eastern Europe coping with communist legacy
How are countries of central and Eastern Europe coping with their communist
legacies? Have their societies done well in the transition to democracy
over the last two decades? And why do so many people in this region feel
nostalgic towards the totalitarian past? And in what ways is the Czech
Republic different from other ex-communist states countries in the region?
These and other issues were the focus of an international conference “20
Years After” that took place in Prague last week.
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Current AffairsSeptember 30 marks 20th anniversary of dramatic announcement that East German refugees in Prague could emigrate to West
Two decades ago the attention of the world’s media was on the West German
Embassy in a normally quiet corner of Prague, where thousands of East
Germans were living in a makeshift camp, desperate to escape from
communism. On the 30th of September, 1989 the then West German foreign
minister made a dramatic announcement: those refugees were free to emigrate
to the West.
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