Grandfather’s Magic

Lenka Benešová skillfully worked the creative process into her final project. The filmmaker’s documentary film Prostředek, about the colorful personality of Stanislav Lysák, is incorporated between episodes taken from the filmmaker’s family life and sources of inspiration. The path to a good film becomes the protagonist of this short film.

Under the surface of the modern state of Israel there lie stories that are largely hidden from European visitors. One of these is the fate of Palestinian Bedouins in underdeveloped areas living in unrecognized villages. A meditatively experimental film by an Israeli-Czech team captures the atmopshere of these places and the tragic fates of some of their inhabitants.

The first-year workshop of the FAMU Documentary Department is led by Vít Klusák, who, together with his students, will present both the concept of the seminar as well as the films resulting from it during the 2016/17 academic year.

Respectable pieces of military technology have become nothing more than toys. Tanks and armored vehicles glamorously parade through town, and for a moment war seems like a fun pastime, a game for little children.

The first-year workshop of the Documentary Film Studies at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague is led by Vít Klusák. Together with his students, he will present the workshop concept and the films made during the school year of 2017/18. Each of the six students will present two films made for their final exams and film exercises that are not usually screened outside the school.  This year, viewers will take part in a friendly trip, which is about finding a way to one’s self, look behind the scenes of this year’s Klimakemp, and jump into the world of puddles with a 16mm Bolex camera.Discussion welcome!The worskhop is led by: Vít Klusák  

Four consecutive linked symbolically imbued portraits of women of various ages – a 16-year old scout, a young mother of two, a mature woman, and a pensioner. In intimate proximity to the camera, each reveals their mental and emotional frame of mind and the current state of their womanhood.

"As opposed to the usual trend to be a narrowly defined specialist, in an attempt at understanding the world as a whole, biologist Daniel Frynta spans the fields of zoology, ethology, psychology, anthropology, ethnography, evolution, history, religion, and culture. However, there are so many things that it slowly becomes difficult to find time for his own life." (Andran Abramjan)

"For 40% of sick people, doctors are unable to determine what is wrong with them. In order to be able to treat such patients, they give them false diagnoses. My mother has had a headache for more than a year. She goes from one doctor to another and listens to their diagnoses. Each has his own way of seeing. None of them can help her. Who will this film help? Whose pain is it? Why does my mother have a headache and why am I making this film about her?" (Marika Pecháčková)

A black and white portrait of cameraman and amateur radio operator Ladislav Prajsner who uses the popular OK2PAY American term on the airwaves. In this field, he is one of the best since he has managed to gradually establish radio contact with all the countries in the world. 

A film portrait of a legend of the Czechoslovak music scene takes a look at rock keyboardist Marián Varga (1947–2017) near the end of his life when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She filmed this hugely introverted chain smoker during his last performances as he slowly began to lose his breath.

Martin Konvička is a scandalous figure in the Czech media. After reading an internet article in which his performance on Wenceslas Square was featured, Aysel coming from a Muslim background, was curious about facing a person who propagates an anti-Muslim agenda and wanted to try to understand his motives.