I. občasník

synopsis

Directed by: Jiří Menzel (Praxe), Věra Chytilová (Říkanky), Pavel Mertl (Samoobsluha), Jan Schmidt (AVU), Evald Schorm (Kostelník), Jiří Hraběta (Reklama), Karel Němec (Mikuláš FAMU)

This work is a collaborative project by fourth-year students of directing, cinematography and production. Taking the form of a satirical and tongue-in-cheek magazine, it contains seven contributions in various styles on a range of academic and social topics: the compulsory work placement at DAMU, bicycles and scaffolding on the streets of Prague, shoplifting in self-service shops (under the slogan “serve yourself”), AVU students’ sculptures on campus, a church employee tempted by consumerism, misleading advertising for pedicures, and a St Nicholas Day party at FAMU. The individual segments are separated by a striking visual motif of a camera resembling a machine gun aimed at the audience, emphasised by the opening intertitle reading “bullet hole” and the final pile of bodies set against the din of bombs and explosions. The St Nicholas Day episode features personalities such as Věra Chytilová and Jiří Menzel. The film was made in collaboration with students from DAMU, HAMU and AVU. It is sometimes credited under the title FAMU Journal.

biography

Jiří Menzel (1938–2020), Věra Chytilová (1929–2014), Pavel Mertl (1937–1996), Jan Schmidt (1934–2019), Evald Schorm (1931–1988), Jiří Hraběta (1937–2019), Karel Němec (1934): fourth-year students of directing and cinematography (in the 1960-61 academic year), who graduated between 1957 and 1962 and belong to the legendary New Wave generation.

film details

director:	Věra Chytilová, Evald Schorm, Jan Schmidt, Josef Hraběta, Jiří Menzel, Pavel Mertl, Karel Němec
producer:	Lukáš Hanzal