Czech Television Documentaries

A few years ago, Michal Kody Kislicki left for Ukraine to search for his true self. Soon after his arrival he decided to help in the war-torn region of Donbass where he set up NGO Chuť pomáhat. Finally, he found much more than he had expected – the meaning of life, faith in God and his wife Ksushu.

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. 

Their parents came to Czechoslovakia in August 1968 along with the occupying forces. Today, these “children of Milovice” find themselves on opposing sides in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. These “brothers,” destined for “friendship for all eternity,” are now shooting at one another. How do the children of the former officers stationed in Milovice see the contemporary Czech Republic and Russia? 

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.

The private life and the career of Soňa Červená were affected by stormy history of the 20th century and its two monstrous totalitarian systems: Nazism and Communism. The documentary looks back at the milestones of her journey, using reflections and historical evidence. Červená talks openly about the difficulties encountered throughout her life. The feature documentary about a world famous opera singer and actress was directed by Olga Sommerová.

Issues related to gender equality in the Czech society are discussed on many levels, with much stronger intensity and on a much larger scale than what was previously imaginable. Helped by growing media coverage, several recently founded associations and organizations try to raise awareness towards such issues among general public. These groups are often rejected by our society, much more often than politicians with their controversial statements. The documentary tries to stir the still waters of stereotypical attitudes through the “parades” of the male and female members of feminist groups.

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 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.

The documentary series Czechs Save… with host Dan Bárta looks at endangered animals all over the world and the Czech naturalists who, often thousands of kilometers away from home, are working to save them. The first episode of the series focuses on the work of the young biologist Hana Svobodová, who is trying to protect sea turtles on several islands around Borneo. Although there exist other breeding stations, her extensive knowledge of the turtles lives allows her to help them more effectively.

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. 

Energetically sustainable communities are unique and far between in our corner of the world. The standard situation is that the biggest chunk of money from municipal budgets reserved to pay for gas and electricity, goes to energy giants and monopolies, and other options are not even considered.

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. 

The Arhuaco are an indigenous tribe that has resisted fate for more than 400 years, but that today, because of the advanced technology of mining companies, politicians’ arrogance, and the spread of tourism find their existence threatened. Their houses are demolished by giant bulldozers. In July 2017, some 180 families were forced from their homes, and today they live in squalor in a park in the town of Puerto Bello. Their sacred sites have been burned. In response, an organization was founded in the Czech Republic to try to help the Arhuaco purchase their original lands, so that they can return… 

The current, widespread bark beetle infestation shows clearly that the spruce monoculture in the Czech landscape is a great problem. And yet, spruces are being replanted in places where forests should never be. The illegal planting of forests is a trend that people involved in environmental protection have been observing for several years now. Owners of land classified as meadows and pastureland are planting woodlands, primarily spruce, in defiance of the law, thus driving out endangered species of plants and animals, changing the traditional character of the landscape, and making it less attractive for visitors. 

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.

After its successful documentary film featuring interviews with five abused women, Czech Television takes a look at another side of domestic violence. The stories of the film’s four male protagonists show that although the methods of violence are similar, the victims’ are in a much different position: Violence against men is usually questioned, and their partners, however manipulative and aggressive, are in a much more advantageous position, since the men, as representatives of the supposedly stronger sex, are generally not believed. The film is the first ever documentary to look at this socially taboo subject. 

They are driven by forces we are unable to control. No one knows what they actually experience or why they are so much affected by the Moon. They live among us, entrenched in their everyday hell on earth – families and children with severe autism. This form of autism is called low-functional. It is one of the most demanding and worst manageable health impairments. Those who suffer from the disorder have great difficulties to become part of our society. The documentary portrays four families with children of various ages and their situation.

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.

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.

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.

After fifteen years, Czech Television has filmed a sequel to its successful documentary cycle Infiltration. This time around, the filmmakers focused on psychosomatic medicine in the Czech Republic. Unhappy with the quality of medical care and with doctors’ lack of empathy and time, many patients have turned to “alternative” treatments. But if “alternative” treatment is offered by academically certified doctors and psychologists, are they just as responsible for their actions in non-medical facilities as they are in regular doctors’ offices and hospitals? The documentary uncovers the scandalous medical practices at one Prague facility, shot over the course of one year using a hidden camera.

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.

Petr Kotík is one of the world’s most distinguished and renowned authors and tireless promoters of European and American contemporary music. A composer, conductor and flautist on his way between New York, Prague and Ostrava in the documentary by Adam Oľha.

Rock legend Vladimír Mišík has his own little planet. It was discovered in 1995 by Czech astronomers from Kleť Observatory who named it in Mišík’s honour. And it is mostly on this very planet that Jitka Němcová’s new documentary about Vladimír Mišík and his beautiful songs takes place, reminiscing on all the weird things that happened in his life and recounting a rather thrilling search.

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.

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.

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.

Director, cinematographer and photographer Jaroslav Brabec has been mapping the domestic art scene for many years, as evidenced by his photobook Orbis Artis. Based on the book, Czech Television commissioned a documentary series of the same name, introducing Czech artists whose work we should respect and be familiar with.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

They like to travel and take pictures. But how to use a camera as a professional photographer and take photos that blow your mind? Jan Šmíd, who will be our guide in Budapest, asked his friend, photo reporter Jan Šibík, to help him. Together, they will explore Secessionist coffee houses as well as trendy bars and night clubs that spring up in the courtyards of old and abandoned burgher houses of the Hungarian capital.

Fifty years ago, they lived through the invasion of Czechoslovakia; now they revisit moments captured on film. Věra Křesadlová and her young sons quickly left to be with her husband Miloš Forman in Paris. Petr Semerád witnesses soldiers shooting into crowds of people by the main radio station in Prague. Czech Television’s documentary series on the 50th anniversary of the 1968 invasion was inspired by the popular Israeli series Capturing the Moment, which has been adapted in eight different countries.

They met on a Friday and got married on the Sunday.  They had to run away from home to flee from their parents' fury, so they went on a honeymoon to the cannibals. There, they lost their illusions, their camera and nearly their lives as well.  Where others would've given up, American filmmakers Martin and Osa Johnson risked their lives to narrate an account of a vanishing wilderness. Their story is an authentic imprint of times when filming Africa was more dangerous than all the local predators and malaria. Their work fascinated the public including Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin and the British Royal Family. However, our era has forgotten them...

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. 

Alois and Ladislav Rašín, who paid for their lives for their patriotic endeavors, did not get the recognition they deserved, and after the communist takeover in 1948 their names were erased from memory. Their forgotten lives are now recalled in a historical docudrama featuring Alois Rašín’s great-granddaughter Karolina Breitenmoser. 

Věra Bílá was once one of the largest celebrities on the Czech music scene. Together with the band Kale, she went on numerous tours of Europe, the USA, and Japan. But after leaving the band in 2006 she no longer performs in public, and her passion for gambling machines caused her to fall into debt. In 2013, her only (adopted) son passed away, followed soon after by her husband. She spent Christmas 2016 all alone in a small room. Nobody gave her any gifts. She remembers her grandmother, who survived Auschwitz, and the many downturns and insults she has had to suffer. And yet she looks forward, with faith in a new project, new energy, hope…

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.

This documentary analyses the quality of infowar and the effects of disinformation in the Czech Republic. It tries to find out who is behind false reports that spread mainly through social networks and so called conspiracy webs. The film also tries to answer the question whether these false reports, stories and emotions are spread as part of Russian propaganda and whether those Czechs who are for various reasons unhappy with the direction their country chose after 1989 are in on the scheme.

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 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.

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.

Being a civic activist, Ukrainian film director and screenwriter of Russian origins Oleg Sencov openly spoke up against the annexation of Crimea. Subsequently, he was arrested by the Russian Security Service and accused, among other crimes, of planning terrorist attacks. The evidence produced and the development of the trial made many doubt his guilt and caused a number of international protests. The current Russia and a chilling probe into the way how its legal system operates.

An intimate insight into the life of a legendary singer during his tour with Fragile. The documentary delves deep into his momentary feelings, strongly affected by bipolar disorder from which he has suffered for many years. The authors also probe his past, looking at the part of his career linked with drugs and volatile relationships with women.

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.

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.