That Moment: Classmates Among the Tanks

Professor Josef Koutecký founded, built up and institutionalised a brand new medical field – paediatric oncology – first in Czechoslovakia, later in the Czech Republic. He has been the head of a clinic, a dean and a vice-chancellor and has trained a vast number of paediatric oncologists. But this documentary is not about him as a professor but rather about him as a man. It is not about his successes but about love and faith. It is not about an elderly man but about someone who has always stood upright.

Vlasta Šrůtková has lived through many ups and down not just in her own life, but in the life of her country. She is exceptionally vital for her age, living on Prague’s Kampa Island, a perfect place for reflecting on Czech history, identity, the nation. Her life is an exceptionally strong story in which the central event of our country are also key moments in her own life. 

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.

They all wish to lead an ordinary life. What happened after the wedding was beyond their imagination. This documentary tells a story of five women who were psychologically and physically abused by their partner/husband and found the strength to talk about their horrifying experience.

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.

Zdarsky’s ski binding, skiing style, a bivouac sack, a mountain in the Antarctic, a chalet in the Alps, a museum, several street names – this is the list of things and places that bear the name of Mathias Zdarsky, a native of Třebíč and a founder of Alpine skiing. Thanks to him the magic of snow covered slopes enchanted first crowds from Vienna and later skiing enthusiasts from all over the world.

The Bikes for Africa charitable project has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2012. Its mission is to offer African children a way of getting to school. The project is founded on the principles of giving, volunteerism, cooperation, and people’s personal initiative. One interesting paradox is the fact that the project involves people from the margins of society (prisoners, homeless people), who recieve a “second chance,” thus giving the project not only a humanitarian, but also an environmental dimension involving the “ecology of the soul.” The film shows all these aspects of the project, set against the journey of one particular bicycle donated by a Czech girl to her Gambian peer. 

Perhaps everyone knows of the footage of the crackdown on demonstrators at Národní třída on November 17th, 1989. Jan Slezák, Milan Danišovič and Jiří Laňka were involved in suppressing the demonstration on November 17th, 1989, albeit to a different degree. Jan Slezák was the commander of the company of the Emergency Regiment for Public Security and at the time of the crackdown, he waited in the emergency room as a backup. Milan Danišovič commanded the entire intervention. Jiří Laňka was a member of the special unit of the Ministry of the Interior, known as the "red berets."

Mirka and Kuba met at a techno party, had a daughter together, and decided to get married. With a wedding begins seven years of happiness, love, and rough patches. The young couple are not only confronted with age-old challenges, but also with the temptations and intricacies of life in today's Czech Republic. Moving to the big city, having a second child, getting a mortgage, having a mid-life crisis. But can the family manage to overcome the biggest obstacle of all, together? Using her time-lapse method, Hana Třeštíková captures private dramas in a captivating way. It continues the work of her mother Helena, who made a name for herself with this format.

A documentary portrayal of tennis player Radek Štěpánek takes a look at his determination during tennis matches and offers an insight into the private life of this fascinating sports figure. The time-lapse documentary includes comments of his friends, e.g. Petr Čech, Pavel Nedvěd and Jaromír Jágr.

Míla and Kamil could not have their own children so they decided to adopt. Eventually, they have adopted or fostered 8 children. Their daughter Petra who suffers from autism faces problems that are trying for the whole family. The 6-part documentary series chronicles six different pathways where parents meet with abandoned and wounded children who come from care centres and children’s homes to live with them temporarily.

They have spent nearly their entire childhood growing up in institutions. They have no home and no family, no idea where they will leave or how they will earn a living. Lukáš wants to be a famous hip-hopper, Simona is planning to get a sex-change operation, and Jarda would like to have a big family. This longitudinal documentary follows the lives of three young people as they leave the children’s home where they have been living, and try to go it alone.