Stories of 20th Century - Frontier Guards

Not many people know that the self-immolations of Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc were followed by the same tragic act of protest committed by Evžen Plocek in the early April of 1969 in Jihlava. What was the meaning of his deed back then and what can we see in it today? A documentary about the meaning of human sacrifice and about the incident that was long kept secret by the communists and still remains largely undiscussed.

In 1978, Ieva Lesinska was an ordinary university student who lived with her mother in then-Soviet Latvia. Her father worked officially as a translator for the UN in New York, but was also a KGB agent. When Ieva got permission to visit her father in the United States, he told her that he was about to "flee again" with his second wife. Ieva decided to stay with her father. The new family officially became East German emigrants with new identities: Peter and Linda Dorn with their daughter Evelyn. Today, Ieva is trying to reveal the incredible life and strange death of her father, a KGB agent who defected to the CIA, in a feature documentary.

A pictorial "féerie" (fairy play) documentary evoking the long-gone landscape of the Prague periphery around Botič. Becoming a model for confrontation with its modern appearance is this unfinished screenplay by director Jiří Lehovec, photographs by Josef Sudek and pictures by Kamil Lhoták.

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. 

We have more in common with our Polish neighbors than we might think. A similar history, similar fates suffered by our heroes, and Karel Kryl. A parallel biographical look at the lives of Karel Kryl and the director Krystyna Krauze, who was born in the Polish town of Oliwa. A few years after her birth, Kryl’s song The Organ in Oliwa would become the unofficial hymn of Poland’s Solidarity movement.

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.

Traveler and explorer Dan Přibáň and his unconventional team set out on their most demanding trek to date, which takes them across Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The crews of the yellow two-stroke cars spend half a year testing their abilities, interpersonal skills, and friendships under extreme conditions.

This film is a portrayal of one of the leading Czech directors, Miloš Forman. Forman, a creator and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning film, Amadeus, and Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest, an adventurous man with great charisma who's not afraid to doubt himself. This documentary by directors Helena Třeštíková and Jakub Hejna summarizes Forman's life journey where both fame and the wounds of fate collide with personal discovery and uncertainty. It is a collage of often unseen, private and official archives, as well as an autobiographical recollection spoken by the director's son, Petr Forman.

Martin Rajniš, the “enfant terrible” of Czech architecture, refuses to accept the current state of his field and of society in general. He is just as “terrible” as the French architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who designed Washington, D.C., for President Thomas Jefferson. According to one version, the expression “enfant terrible” was inspired by the fact that L’Enfant was extremely difficult to work with. Today, however, it often describes someone original, daring, and direct. The documentary captures Rajniš’s inspirational approach and his working process – both at his studio in Prague and at his country cottage in the village of Maxov in the Jizera Mountains.

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 work of Pavel Brázda is characterized by perfect craftsmanship, a distinctive sense of the grotesque, and dark humor. Besides being marked by a simplicity of form and diversity of colors, many of his recent works are created as digital prints. This portrait of a distinctive Czech artistic personality looks at his relationship to pop-art, and was shot to mark the artist’s 90th birthday. 

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.