The Prague Castle

Alexander Hackenschmied / Czechoslovakia / 1931 / The film already had its Czech Premiere / 11 min.

synopsis

Alexander Hackenschmied conceived this cinematic portrait of Prague Castle not only as a celebration of the emancipated seat of Czechoslovak statehood and history, but also focused on it as a remarkable architectural complex. The dynamic shots are organically interwoven with experimental music composed specifically for this film by composer František Bartoš.

biography

Alexander Hackenschmied (1907–2004) was a key figure in Czech interwar photography and film. In 1939, he emigrated to the United States and became part of the New York avant-garde scene. In 1943, in the film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, co-directed with Maya Deren), he revisited the motif of the doppelganger, which he had also employed in his directorial debut, Aimless Walk (1930).