Miroslav Janek

Jan Jedlička is one of the best kept secrets in the world of art. He was born in Prague in 1944 where he studied painting at the academy before immigrating to Switzerland in 1969. Petr Zaruba conveys through cinematic and formal choices the complexities of Jedlička’s creative strategies. An intertwined dialogue between two artists.

The documentary explores the presidency of Václav Havel, a poet who unexpectedly became president. The film, starting in 1992, captures Havel’s experiences after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, a significant defeat for him as he had campaigned for its continuation. Despite political opposition and accusations of responsibility for the breakup, Havel runs for president of the new Czech Republic. The film, a unique document, was Koutecký’s most important project, continued by Janek after Koutecký’s death in 2006.

Through unique artistic approach, the director reveals the world of autism - bringing the audience closer to the main characters - talented and creative children with a fascinating way of thinking.

Sonia Maletzová's documentary film portrait follows the legend of the Czechoslovak music scene, rock keyboardist Marian Varga (1947-2017), at the end of his life, when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. It captures the great introvert and avid smoker during his last performances, when he slowly began to lose his breath.

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

The film follows the staging of the opera Olimpiade while at the same time exploring the dramatic life of its composer Josef Mysliveček, a friend and teacher of W. A. Mozart.

Don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and lead to unnecessary suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the four agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can quickly transform our lives into a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. A film recording of the theater performance from May 14 and 15, 2006, supplemented by numerous illustrative black-and-white film materials from private family archives.

Bjørn Nørgaard and a team of Czech glass artists in the demanding process of creating a grave monument for Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark.

Olga Havlová was the closest and most trustworthy companion of Václav Havel. A friend who was always generous with her time. She was an entertaining host, passionate games-player, mushroom-gatherer, nature-lover, sharp commentator, and courageous and diligent dissident. In 1990 she founded Výbor dobré vûle (Committee of Good Will), which is still doing vital work today.

The queen, or mother, bee, drones and workers. Industriousness, togetherness, and selflessness in the name of a functional community that leaves no room for egocentrism. This poetic essay depicts the fascinating world of beehives, the layouts of which are an example to human society. Through observations of insects and conversations with beekeepers, as well as references from Radomil Hradil's book Bees and Their World, we learn that the bee, objectively the most important creature on Earth, has become an endangered species due to the actions of mankind, whose greed and selfishness may lead to its destruction. It’s clear, however, that all will turn out well for Earth, with or without humanity…

Image and music are intertwined in this third collaboration between director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass. The film was produced to celebrate the World Wildlife Fund's Biological Diversity Campaign. The film combines images of nature with pulsing rhythms in a Microcosmos (1996) meets Koyaanisqatsi (1983) spectacle.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the world’s oldest and most respected. Film Spa was made to celebrate its belated 50th edition in 2015 in its 69th year – belated because from 1959 to 1993 it was forced to alternate with the festival in Moscow.

The history of one idea with monstrous consequences, presented in the style of old newsreels and interspersed with quotes from Patrik Ouředník’s Europeana. Archival footage is combined with animation as a kindly narrator takes us on a journey from the idea of cultivating a “better human race” all the way to the gas chambers.

Journalist Renata Kalenská’s book of interviews with Vratislav Brabenec, prominent member of the Plastic People group, recorded not only his memories of the underground years, but also the author’s experiences with this highly distinctive individual. The film represents a cinematic sequel to the book, and looks to build on those experiences as it captures additional interviews with Brabenec, mainly improvised talks at places that hold some meaning for Brabenec or Kalenská. The result is several scenes of irrelevant philosophising, self-deprecating humour, and commentary on the life of birds, and on nature in general. The conversations, recorded mostly by hand-held camera, are interspersed with poetic citations.

Lemonade Joe, The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians, Dinner for Adele, The and the Golem - These and other Czech cinematography film hits have on thing in common: Jirí Brdecka. The Screenwriter, writer and cartoonist Brdecka was known in Czechoslovakia for his cooperation with Jirí Trnka, Jan Werich or Oldrich Lipský, and became a worldwide famous and respected director of animated films. But who was he in reality? Where did he seek inspiration and where did his rich inner world come from? How did he fight the non-free political regime and manage to show the world his free and timeless creation? Director Miroslav Janek gradually penetrates the interior of one of the most prominent personalities of Czech film and presents to the audience a miraculous world of animated paintings, graphics, oils, watercolors, frescoes and mosaics. On Christmas Eve in 2017, Jirí Brdecka would celebrate his 100th birthday.

Ghetto No. 1 is Chanov. Chanov is a Roma ghetto. It is synonymous with helplessness, powerlessness, a mixture of hypocrisy and well-intentioned efforts to solve the so-called Roma question. Chanov, our nightmare, our remorse, our guilty conscience. But also narrow-mindedness, aggression, hopelessness. If someone says they live in Chanov, they are automatically placed at the bottom of the social ladder. It is an indelible stigma. Chanov is a very hot spot – a place with above-average crime rates, 95% unemployment, and nearly $80 million in rent debt. The images that Chanov offers speak for themselves. In the film, I do not want to accuse anyone (to be honest, I don't know whom), nor do I offer enlightened solutions (I doubt that any exist). The purpose of the documentary is to look behind and allow others to look behind an invisible but painfully tangible border in the heart of a borderless Europe.