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Current AffairsNuclear Faith: Documentary explores Czechs’ trust in nuclear energy
Two-thirds of Czechs are in favor of expanding the country’s nuclear
power sources and nearly half of them trust this source of energy: that was
the result of a SANEP poll published briefly after the Fukushima nuclear
disaster. The Czech’s attitude towards nuclear power remains strikingly
positive compared to other European countries, such as neighboring Germany.
A fresh documentary – titled Nuclear Faith – explores the country’s
perception of nuclear energy. Its director Ivo Bystřičan speaks about the
film. More
One on OneDocumentary filmmaker Martin Dušek on why his native region continues to inspire him
Martin Dušek, who often works with co-director Ondřej Provazník, is a
two-time winner of the main prize at the Jihlava International Documentary
Film Festival, the Czech Republic’s most prestigious documentary award.
His films “A Town Called Hermitage” and “Coal in the Soul” were
both shot in the former Sudetenland in North Bohemia, a border region whose
Sudeten German inhabitants were expelled from Czechoslovakia after the war.
Martin Dušek ’s latest film deals with his own Sudeten German heritage
– in a humorous and provocative way. I caught up the director to speak
about why this part of country continues to inspire him and how he
discovered his love for making documentaries. More
Current AffairsStories of Injustice film project tries to shed light on grey “normalization” period
The 2006 film “Swingtime” inspired by a communist-era secret police
operation as well as four documentaries will be screened in November at
primary and secondary schools around the country as part of a month-long
project called Stories of Injustice. Now in its seventh year the project
organized by the NGO People in Need covers a period often neglected in the
curriculum. Through film and subsequent discussions with survivors,
witnesses and victims of communist injustice, students are learning about
post-war Czechoslovak history – this year with a special focus on the
period of normalization and the subjects of emigration and exile. Radio
Prague talked to the project’s spokesman Filip Šebek. More
Current AffairsNew documentary depicts actor Jiří Voskovec’s life in US
A new documentary that will premiere in Czech cinemas next week depicts the
lesser known part of the life of the Czech-born actor Jiří (or George)
Voskovec. In his homeland, he is best known as the co-founder and co-star
of Prague’s pre-war avant-garde theatre troupe, the Liberated Theatre.
Having spent the war in exile in New York, Jiří Voskovec again moved to
the US after the 1948 communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. The new film,
entitled My Father George Voskovec, follows his daughter Gigi retracing her
father’s life, from the difficult beginnings through his career on
Broadway and in Hollywood, to his passing away in 1981, at the age of 76.
Jan Richter saw the documentary and spoke to its director, Libuše
Rudinská. More
One on OneAmir Bar-Lev – an American documentary filmmaker with Czech influences
Amir Bar-Lev first presented his documentary Fighter – a film that
portrays the well-known Czech émigrés Jan Wiener and Arnošt Lustig –
at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2008. This year, the
American documentary filmmaker, whose second film My Kid Could Paint That
got caught up in a media controversy, came back to the festival as
president of the documentary competition jury. He speaks about what first
sparked his interest film and documentaries, what his role as a jury
president entails, and when he first visited the Czech Republic. More
Current AffairsFilm about politicians shot by mentally disabled people wins top documentary prize
The Pavel Koutecký Award for best Czech documentary went this year to the
film Earthlings, Who Are You Voting For? The movie shows, among other
things, what happens when a group of mentally handicapped people come up to
politicians in the middle of an election campaign and ask them questions
they might not be ready for. Directed by an experienced filmmaker Linda
Jablonská, parts of the movie were in fact shot by her students at a
workshop run by Inventura, a Prague based NGO that supports people with
learning disabilities. RP spoke to the film’s director, Linda Jablonská. More
Current AffairsExhibit on Sir Nicholas Winton’s children kicks off in London and Prague
Saturday saw the opening of an unusual exhibit held in both Prague and in
London, honoring Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized the rescue of nearly
700 Jewish children by train from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to London
in 1939. The exhibit, organized by director and photographer Jaroslav
Brabec and Olga Menzelová, wife of the well-known Czech director Jiří
Menzel, tells the stories of those who later came to be known Winton’s
children. In attendance were some of them, as well as Sir Nicholas himself,
who celebrated his 102nd birthday last week. Czech Radio correspondent Jan
Jůn, who attended the event in London, describes the mood. More
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