Our Countryside: Bedřichovice Upon Thames

Shock therapy through front-line reporting. Documentary filmmaker Jana Andert spent eight months with an elite unit of the Iraqi army on the front lines of the battle for Mosul, which was occupied by Islamic State fighters from 2014 to June 2017. A fearless report from a city in ruins, robbed of its soul by one of the greatest catastrophes of our times.

A documentary film about trying to save an antelope species known as the giant eland. For more than 15 years, a team from the Czech Republic has been fighting to ensure its survival. Why do efforts at saving exotic animals often come from Westerners and not from those who share the same environment as the endangered species?

A look at a forgotten chapter in modern Czech history. The “armed fist of the working class,” formed from various factory guard units on the instigation of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, began operating under the guidance of the Central Union Committee in May 1945. After the communist takeover in 1948, the People’s Militia was sent upon orders of the Communist Party to “defend” the borders or to act against students, farmers, the church, demonstrators protesting the currency reform. Their actions against anti-regime gatherings in 1969 resulted in several deaths. They also acted brutally during the demonstrations in Prague in 1988 and 1989.

Andy, Petra and Bára. Three life stories that met in prison in Světlá nad Sázavou. This is the prison where mothers can do their time together with their children, because a maternal bond could provide the strongest incentive to lead a better and more responsible life.

Although it is still a legal grey area, an increasing number of children in the Czech Republic are born to surrogate mothers who act as something like an incubator for the genetic material of other couples. But can you give birth to a child, hand it to someone else, and then go on with your life as if nothing has happened? What if the child “doesn’t turn out right” or if the couple has second thoughts about parenthood?

Architect Josef Pleskot can be described as one of the best known and most respected contemporary Czech architects. Pleskot has earned many awards since the 1990s, and his designs regularly represent Czech architecture at international exhibitions.

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.

A story of a poor girl Jarka from Cambodia who could not write and read at 12 years of age and lived in degrading conditions. She had to work hard, taking care of her siblings, suffering from hunger and often even physical abuse. But then someone appeared in her life – Tamara, a Czech woman, who was visited in her dreams by her dead cousin and asked to take care of his daughter born in Cambodia and so far kept secret.

Why does Russia lay claim to part of Ukraine and why do Ukrainians feel themselves to be the heirs of medieval Russia? The film does not address the current political situation in Ukraine, but tries to explain subjects about which many Czechs know very little: the historical and religious roots of the current conflict. The film was inspired by the award-winning and widely discussed book by literary historian M. C. Putna Scenes from the Cultural History of Russian Religiosity.

Jiří Trnka was one of the greatest Czech artists of the 20th century and one of the founding fathers of puppet animation. His poetic and imaginative work starkly contrasts with the dark era of the 1950s in Czechoslovakia. His work was used by the regime as evidence that the communist society was able to provide artists with great conditions for creating works of art. The ideological race between East and West was unavoidable and affected both children and their stories.

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.

A film about people with multiple handicaps who attend school at the Jedlička Institute, a secondary school that offers students a universal course of study along with practical education for everyday life. After school, the students transition into a halfway program that forms the main focus of the film.