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Screen CzechBarrandov Studios
In this month’s show we will be talking a look behind the hallowed grey
facade of one of the Czech Republic’s most famous institutions –
Barrandov Studios, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. More
ArtsCzech Harry Potter happy to leave Hogwarts behind
Mr. Vojtěch Kotek can be proud to say that he is a perfectly normal, young
Czech actor, thank you very much. But on one particular day, almost every
year for the last ten of his twenty-three years, he becomes an eminently
well-known boy wizard by the name of Harry Potter (read: ‘Hari Potr’).
Since the age of 12, Vojta has lent his voice to the ever-maturing
wunderkind in the dubbed version of each of the eight Harry Potter films.
And now – his voice an octave under Daniel Radcliffe’s – as the most
famous fantasy series comes to an end, so ends Vojta Kotek’s career… More
PanoramaNew exhibition gives lovers of Czech fairy tale films a chance to see original costumes up close
Film versions of fairytales are hugely popular in the Czech Republic, with
the likes of Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella, The Golden-Star Princess and
Once There was a King staples of the television schedules around Christmas
time. Many of the best loved film fairytales were made during the communist
era at Prague’s famous Barrandov studios. A year ago, an exhibition
organized in collaboration with Barrandov for the first time gave Czech
fairytale fanatics a chance to take a peek at the original costumes used in
their favorite films. This year, another exhibition is being put on with
additional, never before exhibited costumes that the organizers managed to
hunt down since the last exhibition closed. Vladimir Žán is one of the
organizers of “Jak se oblékají pohádky”, which translates as “How
fairy tales dress” in English. We spoke on the eve of the show’s
opening at Prague’s Municipal House.
More
Talking PointHollywood to Czech: “Give us a break!”
In 1996, Mission: Impossible put the Czech Republic on the international
map of film-making locations. It wasn’t just that the city provided a
backdrop to much of the action in the film; it was also the fact that a
major Hollywood production made use of the crew and facilities of the
city’s Barrandov film studios –something that had been done with great
effect in 1984 with Miloš Forman’s Amadeus. In the years that followed,
Prague became an “A-list” location with everything from James Bond to
Oliver Twist coming to the city. But today, a weak dollar and increasing
competition from other European countries is putting Prague’s premium
status at risk and that is what I’ll be exploring in this programme. More
MailboxMailbox
This week in Mailbox: the beneficial properties of sea water once again,
the Barrandov film studios in Prague, an Oscar for Czech musician Markéta
Irglová, the 30th anniversary of Czech cosmonaut Vladimír Remek’s
flight into space. Listeners quoted: Robert Fraser, Howard Barnett, Stephen
Hrebenach, Thomas Kuca.
More
ArtsSeventy-five years of film at Barrandov studios
Last week Prague’s Barrandov studios celebrated 75 years of movie-making.
On January 25, 1933, filming started on the thriller ‘Vrazda v Ostrovni
ulici’ (Murder on Ostrovni street), a film which dazzled Czech critics
and cinemagoers at the time with its state of the art sound effects. Over
the years, the studios have played home to the famous Czech new-wave films
of the 1960s, and in more recent years Hollywood blockbusters like James
Bond and The Chronicles of Narnia. Earlier this week I paid Barrandov a
visit to wish it a happy birthday and talk to Mr Vladimír Kuba, the
studios’ CEO:
More
Current AffairsSeventh and final Harry Potter launched in Czech
After months of anticipation, and several unauthorized versions finding
their way onto the internet, the Czech translation of the seventh and
final
Harry Potter book has been released. On Wednesday night, hundreds queued
for a copy of Harry Potter a Relikvie Smrti – the Czech version of Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The official launch was held at
Kanzelsberger bookshop, and organized by Klára Honzíková, to whom I
spoke earlier today. She said she was happy with attendance at the launch: More
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