El Paso

Požáry a spáleniště

Antonín Kachlík wanted to make committed films about the moral dilemmas of the working class, but in the era of normalisation, he could only proclaim how faltering individuals would eventually come to the desired thinking. This is also true of the adaptation of Jiří Švejda's book about the wavering career of a young brickmaking technologist - the simplistic drawing of characters and plots, the posterishly lifeless language and the textbook discussion of social ills are all objectionable; the ideal becomes the code of the socialist builder.

The Magpie in the Wisp

In the film, the creative forces of personalities from three spheres of art collide. The subtitle "The Game of Love and Hate" refers to the motivation of an old Czech medieval satire, the theme belongs to Antonín Přidal, an expert on this subject. His collaboration with Juraj Herz created a collage of past and present, an updated, sharp satire and a parable about the clash of human qualities that could not but end up in the vault. The music of the Prague Selection - Michael Kocáb and Michal Pavlíček - also contributed to the film's offensive provocativeness - the film was one of the reasons for their complete move to the underground. The dancing chorus of medieval citizens resembles more of a jumble of long-haired maniacs, the edge of a contemporary dump intrudes into the space of a medieval marketplace, and the characters oscillate between the past and the present, whether in their appearance, symbolism or behaviour.

Na stojáka – Volume 1

Snowdrops and Aces

A quarter century after the release of the original film, this sequel brings us a drama about platonic love, life retrospective and memories. Former schoolmates meet again in the mountains and it turns out they have not changed much. Even though so many years have passed, we can still see the souls of boys and girls we know from the teenage comedy Snowdrops and Aces; kids who participated in that legendary skiing course. Its nostalgic humour gives the film a bitter-sweet touch. Thawing Out follows the lives of the main heroes during a period of great changes. How did they manage to escape the traps and what scars have they suffered? Where did they want to go, how far have they got and what is still in front of them?

Like Never Before

The end of summer in the film also means the end of life. Vladimír Holas dies. Who is Vladimír Holas? Painter, sculptor and teacher of district importance. He painted many beautiful pictures - but not as great as he wished. He wasn't in the party, he wasn't in the Union of Artists, he didn't sell out to the past regime. The house in the beautiful countryside is his last refuge, death is inevitable and he doesn't want to die in an estranged hospital. He wants to crouch standing up, the way he lived.

Sestricky

A Czech psychological film about the school of life, its sorrows and beauties. The main character is a young aspiring nurse Marie Sahulová, who, after a trouble in the hospital - she secretly brought a boy to her boarding school - is transferred to a rural health centre, where together with an old doctor and a peculiar nurse she has to travel around twenty-five villages and a number of solitudes in the harsh environment of the neglected villages of the 1950s. The nurse, a wise and experienced woman whom no one calls anything other than "babi", becomes her guide, who introduces her to the practice and the pitfalls of private life in a distinctive way. In the mosaic of everyday worries and more or less serious medical interventions, Marie matures and finds the meaning of her work and life.

Ferat Vampire

A doctor is shocked when his beloved colleague Mima signs a contract with foreign car manufacturer Ferat, in order to work for them as a rally-driver. A scientist convinces him that human blood is being used as fuel for Mima's ever winning car, but does that really work?

Vojtech, Called the Orphan

Symbols and political analogies abound in this dramatically frustrating first work by a recent film-school graduate. In the story, Vojtech has survived World War II in a Czech prison following an unjust sentence. Now he is free, and the world is full of possibilities.

Bohéma

Barrandov Studios, once one of Europe’s most modern film factories, became both a cultural refuge and a propaganda tool under Nazi occupation, churning out Czech comedies and romances to keep the public distracted while its actors mingled with German authorities. After the war, many of those same stars faced accusations of collaboration, their meteoric Protectorate-era fame tainted by the compromises they made to keep the cameras rolling under shifting regimes.

Žiletky

A Czech-French existential tragicomedy. Its (anti)hero is a young man named Andrej (played by Filip Topol, leader of the Czech underground band Psí vojáci). The story turns on his fateful love for the powerfully attractive though superficial Kristyna (Markéta Hrubesová).

Ivanku, kamarade, muzes mluvit?

This title is record of authentic theatre play. The subject is composition of series of real secret records of phone calls between soccer bosses in Czech soccer underground brought to investigation in 2004. The most absurd parts used Petr Ctvrtnicek to compose this performance given in form of text recitation as it were the phone calls while the actors are sitting in chairs in front of audience having the screenplay by hand.

Šejdrem

On the eve of May Day, a Prague actor’s insistence on “doing the maypole right” sparks a drunken village bet and regretful hangovers as tradition and hometown pride collide.

Small Celebrations

Teenager Agata lives with her mother Magda, who was fired from her job. Magda decides to go into business, opens a hairdressing salon. However, thanks to a swindler and an unfortunate game of fate, she loses all the money she has invested and the roof over her head. They move to a social hostel, where 14-year-old Agata discovers a forbidden world. While Magda struggles to find a livelihood, Agáta gets involved with a gang on the estate. She tries her first cigarettes, alcohol, experiences theft on trams, violence, fear, but also liberating irresponsibility...

City of Fathers

A father and son have nothing in common except a first name, Richard, and an apartment on a housing estate. The burly, good-natured, 30-something factory worker listens to heavy metal and occasionally lets his girlfriend into his life. The frail, retired teacher, who raised the boy after his mother’s departure, is the embodiment of care and understanding. However, their tranquil, shared reality, which embraces both the hardcore band Našrot and Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” is disrupted by the sudden death of the mother. Young Richard sets out on a peculiar initiation journey with bizarre encounters and moments of unexpected enlightenment.

Dáreček

An absurd comedy about terrorism in the Czech Republic.

Ten okamžik

Bend It Like Beckham

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

Paris, Texas

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.

No End

1982, Poland. A translator loses her husband and becomes a victim of her own sorrow. She looks to sex, to her son, to law, and to hypnotism when she has nothing else in this time of martial law when Solidarity was banned.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against expectations. As a New Year's resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. Her charming boss takes an interest in her, and she cannot stop running into a rather disagreeable acquaintance whom Bridget cannot help finding quietly attractive.

Sweet Girl

A man vows to bring justice to those responsible for his wife's death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter.

Golden Door

The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

The Apprentice

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Carlito's Way

Free after years in prison, Carlito Brigante intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld.