Nový život

This film traces the life of Jan Kapr, a prominent Czech composer of the 20th century. A documentary opera with an ambitious libretto and playful and refined editing work, Kapr Code is an unexpected celebration of creativity that shakes up our ideas of biography and pays tribute to the importance of resisting homologation and censorship through art and creation.

Documentary filmmaker Jan Sikl came across several hours of footage showing the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in private film archives. 53 years later, historical memory awakens from a long slumber with this reconstruction of the occupation, a cinematic adventure of a truly archeological nature.

A few years before the first manned flight to the moon, Pan Am began selling tickets there. 100,000 people joined the club of the first space travelers. Why did they want to leave Earth and what did they hope to find on the moon?

The Dung Beetle is late, the Parasite is asleep and Mrs Larva is more interested in her knitting than the director’s instructions. It’s clear: this amateur theatre company has a long way to go before they can perform their version of "The Insect Play", a famous satirical work from 1922 by the brothers Karel and Josef Čapek which features insects with decidedly human traits: greed, egocentrism, jealousy.

The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld is an intimate portrait of what it means to expose oneself. At its center is the iconoclastic film producer Stuart Cornfeld (1952-2020) sharp-tongued, outspoken, irreverent, and true to himself. The film unfolds through the eyes of an artist who, in Stuart’s final years, paints multiple portraits while speaking with him and those who knew him best (friends, collaborators, actors, film directors and, film producers) tracing the life of a man who embraced misfits because he, too, never quite fit in.

The cooperation of Central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan helps Russia resist Western economic sanctions. Due to the country’s strategic location, all Chinese goods bound for Central Asia and Russia must cross its borders, and it serves as a transshipment point for goods from countries with which Putin is not officially allowed to trade. Investigative journalist Ali Toktakunov, a long-time staff member of Radio Free Europe’s Kyrgyz section, helped to uncover the deeper implications.

The Czech Philharmonic, DEKKADANCERS, the Forman Brothers Theatre and Jatka78 perform Bedřich Smetana's masterpiece, "Má Vlast." Six symphonic poems resonate through the Czech landscape and history as a colorful map of memories, feelings and moments. The unyielding “Šárka”, the combative “Tábor”, the mythical “Vyšehrad” and “Blaník”, the magical “Vltava” and the romantic “Luhy a háje” come to life on stage thanks to classical music, contemporary dance and the poetics of the new circus.

Jan Svankmajer, at 85 years of age, is one of the most prominent artists of European cinema. His work has inspired and guided generations of directors, and represents a sharp and merciless exploration of human nature which is entirely unique. When he decided to retire from filmmaking after "Insect" (2018), his producer suggested that the creative processes which ferment within their company Athanor should be preserved on film. Over three years, the directors of this documentary followed the life of Jan Svankmajer, elucidating his artistic principles, as well as his collaboration with old friend and producer Jaromír Kallista. The film is also haunted by the memory of Eva Svankmajerová, his wife and creative partner, muse and inseparable other half. Playful and poetic, candid and with a touch of Czech humour, it is an ode to creation and to companionship.