Archive: Culture | Film Film
Tax breaks threaten Czech film industry
Radio Prague is introducing Screen Czech - a monthly show devoted to film
and TV production here in the Czech Republic. Over the next few months
Peter Smith will be bringing you news about the industry and interviews
with the people most closely involved, both Czech and foreigners coming
here to work. There will also be a run down of all the latest Czech movie
news coming up. The first edition of Screen Czech deals with a
controversial issue that threatens to derail foreign investment in the
movie and TV industry here in the Czech Republic. Tax. More
Filmmaking legend Otakar Vávra dies at 100
Czech filmmaking legend Otakar Vávra – who turned 100 earlier – has
died in Prague. Over the course of a remarkable career, Mr Vávra –
praised by many of the film elite – directed more than 50 films, from
early dramas to acclaimed projects in the 1960s like Witches’ Hammer. More
Surviving Life - Master Švankmajer returns to the screen with a ‘psychoanalytical comedy’
It is only every five years or so that the renowned Czech animator Jan
Švankmajer brings out a new film, and the wait is now over. “Surviving
Life” draws on many of Švankmajer’s traditional themes and styles
while exploring them through an experimental medium, once again confirming
why he is the most acclaimed Czech art house director at home and abroad. More
First Czech movie using rotoscoping technique to premiere at Venice film festival
Alois Nebel, the first Czech film that was produced with the rotoscoping
technique – a process that renders images shot with actors in a unique
black-and-white cartoon style – will be premiering at the prestigious
International Film Festival in Venice this weekend. The movie, based on a
cartoon novel by Jaroslav Rudiš that has garnered a cult following, is
highly anticipated by Czech cinema lovers. Ahead of its premiere abroad, I
caught up with Alois Nebel producer Pavel Strnad and asked him about the
special technique it was made with, the film’s director and what category
the movie will be shown in at the festival. More
Jaroslav Marvan: 50 years on stage and screen
Jaroslav Marvan was one of the most prolific Czech actors of all times with
more than 150 film roles and many more theatre acts. He appeared in his
first – silent – movie in 1926, and he made his last film in 1973, a
year before he died. In this edition of Czechs in History we look at the
extraordinary career of Jaroslav Marvan, a theatre and film star before the
war as well as in communist Czechoslovakia.
More
Fresh Film Festival opens in Prague with “defiance” as main theme
The Fresh Film Festival – highlighting work by debuting directors and
student filmmakers – got underway in Prague this week, offering viewers
a
rare opportunity to see films they would otherwise have little chance to
see. Last year “heroes” were the main theme; this year it’s
“defiance”. More
Ester Krumbachová – costume designer who left her mark on Czech New Wave
In this edition of Czechs in History, we look back at the life and work of
Ester Krumbachová, an artist, costume designer, screenwriter, and one of
the most important personalities of the Czech New Wave. Although her name
is somewhat forgotten today, she was a major inspiration to the leading
filmmakers of the 1960s, such as Věra Chytilová, Jan Němec or Vojtěch
Jasný. More
Amir 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
Newly-launched portal highlights richness of European film heritage
In this week’s Arts we look at Europe’s film heritage as compiled in a
unique project organised by the Deutsches Filminstitut. Called the European
Film Gateway (EFG), the project only recently came online. It makes
available to users extensive digitalised documentary and other film
material, trailers, original posters and much more, all compiled by
participating European film archives and film houses. The Czech
Republic’s own National Film Archive was one of the many institutions
involved. More
Directors Emir Kusturica & Aki Kaurismaki main guests at Summer Film School
If you are a regular Radio Prague reader or listener, you will probably
already be familiar with the Summer Film School at Uherské Hradiště. The
long-running and largely unique festival in the Czech Republic offers
audiences a rare opportunity to view new and classic films, as well as to
take part in discussions, lectures, and even master classes with
world-class film directors. In this edition, the festival’s artistic
director Pavel Bednařík discusses participation by this year’s main
guests, the highly-respected filmmakers Emir Kusturica & Aki
Kaurismaki. And, he also told me more about the festival’s history. More
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