23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
The Second Republic
director: Aleš Koudela
original title: Druhá republika
country: Czech Republic
year: 2018
running time: 52 min.
synopsis
The Second Republic was relatively short-lived. But those few months were one of the most dramatic and important periods in our history. In 1938 in Munich, all the ideals and values on which Czechoslovakia had been built came crumbling down. Czech society ceased to believe in democracy and began to admire authoritarian fascist governments. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the occupied Sudetenland for what remained of the country, but nobody wanted to take them in. The media was subjected to censorship, and an aggressive strain of anti-Semitism appeared among the Czech population. And on top of it all, there were further territorial demands by Germany, Poland, and Hungary, and separatist tendencies in Slovakia.
more about film
| director: | Aleš Koudela |
| producer: | Lenka Poláková |
| script: | Aleš Koudela, Martin Pekárek |
| photography: | Tomáš Nikel, David Rojíček |
| editing: | Jaromír Vašek |
| sound: | Petr Pokorný, Jakub Krajíček |
other films in the section
The path of Petr Zuska to grand dance and choreography led from the Prague Chamber Ballet, the ballet ensemble of the National Theatre, the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens to the post of the head of the National Theatre Ballet where he spent the last 15 years. This documentary maps his work during his last year as the head of the National Theatre Ballet.
Tremble by Petr Zuska
Martin Kubala
Czech Republic / 2017 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
Sticking to the asphalt. Zipping through space. Everything in motion. Skateboard! In the gray atmosphere of 1970s and ’80s communist Czechoslovakia, it was something completely new and different. Love at first sight. A never-ending party. Adrenaline. Cult figures of the era’s skateboard scene tell their stories of broken bones, unbroken friendships, and wild rides towards freedom amidst communism.
King Skate
Šimon Šafránek
Czech Republic / 2018 / 90 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
Three stories about the youngest generation of “digital natives” for whom the Internet became an endless source of entertainment and communication as well as of new dangers. Most today’s children can use a computer or a mobile phone before they learn to tie shoelaces and ride a bicycle. New generations of children who spent much more time in a virtual world than on a playground are growing up all over the world.
Children Online
Kateřina Hager
Czech Republic / 2017 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
A portrayal of 11-year-old Rozárka who decided to stop eating meat. She does not like that 50% of animals in factory farming are slaughtered for no reason. The film explores the subject of openness and consideration towards the planet and nature through her story. Compassion, which is the driving force behind Rozárka’s decision not to eat meat, is naturally transferred into a wider social context when the girl chooses to meet cooks from the vegan restaurant Kuchařky bez domova (Homeless Cooks).
Rozárka and Homeless Cooks
Theodora Remundová
Czech Republic / 2017 / 15 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
The largest antelope in the world, the giant eland, lives in the Senegalese savannah and is on the verge of extinction. Its numbers hover somewhere around the last two hundred individuals. A team led by engineer Karolína Brandlová has managed something unprecedented: At the Bandia Reservation just a few kilometers from the country’s capital, they have succeeded – through careful breeding and with the help of Senegalese preservationists and the operators of a local safari – to turn a group of just six antelopes into a herd numbering several dozen animals. The second episode of a documentary series hosted by Dan Bárta about endangered animals throughout the world.
Czechs Save… Antelopes in Senegal
Zdeněk Suchý
Czech Republic / 2017 / 26 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
International Premiere
A survey of the historical and contemporary significance of the work of Bohuslav Fuchs at home and abroad, this documentary describes the birth of the unique tradition of Brno’s Functionalism through the life of its main representatives, whose most famous buildings in Brno include the Zeman Café and the Hotel Avion.
European Architect Bohuslav Fuchs
Pavel Jirásek
Czech Republic / 2016 / 57 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
This black-and-white film combines re-enactments with original footage from Operation Neptune, one of the Czechoslovak secret police’s first attempts at media manipulation, during which a group of reporters comes across secret Nazi documents at the bottom of a lake. The film’s focus, however, is on the struggle between a skeptical journalist and a high-ranking police official, and the failed attempt at revealing the state-sponsored disinformation.
Neptune
Adéla Babanová
Czech Republic / 2018 / 38 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
World Premiere
A documentary look at this current political issue presents unique scenes of life in the annexed territory where foreign journalists and television crews are not allowed. The film is a mosaic portrait of several men and women, whose everyday lives have been affected by the political crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Just as international pressure and sanctions have made the Crimean peninsula a de facto island, so too are the supporters and opponents of Russian annexation isolated (pen)insulas in search of their identity within the sea of a divided society.
The Crimean (Pen) Insula
Jaroslav Kratochvíl
Czech Republic / 2018 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
World Premiere
Lada, once the largest and best manufacturer of automobiles in the Soviet Union, is today a financial disaster. In comes a seasoned Swedish manager with the job of bringing back the company’s golden era. At a meeting in the town of Tolyatti, deep in the heart of Russia, everyone comes with their own vision of the future that they do not want to compromise. The Russian Job is the story of great plans and even greater absurdity.
The Russian Job
Petr Horký
Czech Republic / 2017 / 64 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
Rooting for something or someone has always been part of human culture. It would be hard to find a single human being who does not support anything and anyone. Sports fan form a special category, but unfortunately we mainly hear of them in the context of violence at stadiums or in the streets. But there is a poetic side to this fandom that often remains hidden to the eyes of TV news audience.
Folklorika Series: Everybody Roots for Something
Milan Hodek
Czech Republic / 2017 / 26 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
Painter, wood-carver, typesetter, printer, writer, and poet Josef Váchal was one of the most distinctive artists of the 20th century. He left behind an extensive body of work, in which his monumental book – a kind of modern codex devoted to his great love, the Bohemian Forest – holds a remarkable place. With The Bohemian Forest: Dying, Romantic, the inveterate wanderer and pilgrim Josef Váchal offers an enduring testemony of the ancient face of the Bohemian Forest and its inimitable and disappearing beauty.
Don’t Give Up: All Around Me Lives and Feels Like Me
Karel Čtveráček
Czech Republic / 2017 / 26 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
One of the best Czech composers of film soundtracks is often described as a genius of film scores. He was not afraid to experiment and the timelessness of his work is proven by the admiration of the world, including the generation who came to know his music only after his death.
Music by Zdeněk Liška
Pavel Klusák
Czech Republic / 2016 / 52 min.
section: Czech Television Documentaries
