FAMU Presents

It was close to work. The situation of Dita, who found herself prematurely and unnecessarily at the end of her life, and only because of her doctor. An intimate reflection not only on the relationship with the doctor who signed Dita's death warrant, but above all on past beauty and wishes. Footage from between the pillows with an awareness of one’s last few days in the context of the issue of oncology as a moneymaker.

A film about plants and cleaning. The two protagonists are separated not only by distance and age, but also by how they relate to their work, cleaning offices and public toilets. They conquer these spaces and create their own worlds of objects and ideas.

A report on carousel operators, what their profession means, and if it has a future at all. Big business, but also small genuine smiles. What's the most important part of all this?

How aware are we that despite the constant flow of information, we only perceive our own clutter of information through which we form our worldview? And why are we so sure of it? Through all this awareness, how much do we really perceive that the news from our media space is just an approximation of real events? And isn't the real news just over the hill? … A report about a shepherd, sheep, and a radio in the high mountains.

A reflection on feelings of compression, body constriction, and its subsequent release. The parallel between human skeletons and tree spines. Us and nature, hell and freedom.

The film is a portrait of cinematographer Tomáš Šťastný, from whom the director inherited his name and profession. The director combines archival family materials and personal videos with a feature dramatization that is an intimate insight into his memories and an attempt to understand his father.“I’m not saying goodbye to you with this film because I know I’ll keep discovering you.” — Tomas Stastny Jr.

Residents of the South Bohemian town of Paštiky wonder if a thief can have a conscience. A few days after granite skulls were stolen from the cemetery gate, someone returned them, placing them carefully back in front of the church wall. The mysterious return of the stolen sculptures leads locals to wonder about the perpetrator's motives. The film is a varied mosaic of testimonies and witness statements into which they project their own ideas.

Eva Eisler is an important Czech designer and jewelry maker. The short film shows her creative process from ideation to the realization of her ideas and presents the basic building blocks of her work: purity, elegance, and minimalistic originality. All the while her metallic structures contrast with the dreamy, tender aesthetics of the film.“Both in life and in work – if we want to be honest – we should constantly be looking for the essence of things and ourselves.”---Source: Interview with Eva Eisler, Heroine, 15. 9. 2020. https://www.heroine.cz/kultura/3049-ceska-stopa-ve-svetovem-designu-sperky-evy-eisler-nosila-i-zaha-hadid

The operation of the Turów brown coal mine and electric plant in the area around the Czech-Polish-German tripoint has been springing tensions in international relations. For the Polish, Turów is a means of livelihood, while local Czechs fear an eventual expansion of the plant would lead to drinking water deficiency and other ecological problems. This conflict, seen from a distance, is symbolized by the Czech-Polish contest for the best homemade potato salad, in which Teresa, whose family is employed at the plant, takes part.“You know, we are just ‘lowly humans’, we don’t decide anything. It would be very bad if we didn’t have water here, but we don’t understand these things, it’s a game amongst those at the top.” – Anonymous protagonist

Exposure has multiple meanings in the senses of exposing something or being exposed (to) something: 1. Public appearance, notice, attention, mention, or discussion, especially in the media. 2. The total amount of light received by a photosensitive surface. 3. Exposing the camera sensor to light from the captured environment. 4. The degree of action of a substance on a living organism. 5. A putting out or deserting without shelter or protection. 6. Orientation of rugged terrain relative to light and sun. Exposure of first-year students of the Department of Documentary Production to the ethics of documentary filmmaking.

Public space is a battleground for attention. More colorful facades, larger signs, and more aggressive advertising messages win. Alongside these exists the language of graffiti, which forms an integral part of the identity of almost all contemporary cities. It appears and disappears again.

My hair isn’t an invitation for conversation. My hair doesn’t want to be touched. My hair doesn’t ask for compliments. My hair just exists, and there’s nothing you can do about it. And you can’t do anything about me. A stylized and claustrophobic articulation of the boundaries of the body and personal space.“You have beatiful hair.”

Two apartments where he lives alone. A vacation he would like to die on. The astrological intervals he assigns to the planets when composing. Composer Jan Klusák has written music for the greatest films of the 1960s. But even in his nineties, he does not lose his unique sense of humor and insight.“When I was a child, decent people died at the age of 57, and that was it.” — Jan Klusák

A girl stands in front of the mirror applying cosmetics. But her beauty products bear the traces of animal testing in the laboratory. The clash of sweet ignorance and the reality of trapped creatures takes place in a bathroom / … in a cage.

The film searches for a long-forgotten family member who lost contact with his family after emigrating to Australia in 1948. All that was left of him were letters and my grandmother, his sister, who could tell me his story. But whose story is it? And how do the found letters interfere with it?

The report uncovers the anxieties that a woman/the director suffers in the metro and confronts them with the engineer Peter and his own view of the profession and the environment in which he must work every day. Their conversation gradually becomes a kind of therapy and a space for sharing their own inner fears, insecurities, and concerns.

The editor of internationally acclaimed films, e.g. Ida, Cold War or Quo vadis, Aida?, is Jarosław Kamiński, a FAMU graduate. A native of Łódź, Poland, he takes a walk through his city in this short, refined film portrait, remembering his childhood when he used to run away from school to the cinema, and reflecting on his ties with today’s Poland and yesterday’s Prague alike. “I remember one day when I ran away from my school to the cinema. It was a French film.” — Jarosław Kamiński

We are constantly trying to please everyone, to be the best version of ourselves for others, but in the end, we are still just ourselves. A metaphorical record of how the environment influences us and we gradually become its projection. An object for everyone and for no one.

An exhibition of the STOP GENOCIDE organization has sprung up in front of a secondary school in Brno. The demonstrators, Jan and Vladimír, use drastic photographs to discourage secondary school students from living irresponsible lives – and to collect signatures for a petition to ban abortion in the Czech Republic. The story follows their efforts during one school day.

Animals exhausted by the unbearable weight of existence, existential frustration and everyday squabble. Humans as empty puppets waiting for the command from the director or romping actors frenziedly protecting their fragile egos. A theatrical, multidimensional performance inspired by the author’s frustrations and artistic (dis)illusions.“We have a problem with you; we have a problem with us. We’re afraid to speak without metaphors.”

The protagonist of the film is Pavel, a pensioner who keeps hoarding things in his apartment. Pavel is convinced of the value of his collection although he doesn’t actually know it. The film is a meditation on the issue of hoarding and the need to own things in general. The filmmaker enhances the image with the help of rotoscoping, intensifying the emptiness of the captured space.“I figured out I’m my own worst enemy. To fight your own self is the hardest.” — Pavel, the protagonist

Martin Imrich lives and studies in Prague. But he comes from South Moravia, where he makes a pilgrimage on foot to overcome the contradiction between “tím, kým jsem, a tím, kým jsu” (“who I am” in Czech and the Moravian dialect), as he says. His video diary, accompanied by a frank off-screen commentary, captures in fragmentary form the journey to the roots and the search for the meaning of such an artistic project.“Vlašim and Benešov are the most disgusting places in the world, and I pity all the people who have to live there.”

Footage shot between 2020 and 2022 gives a vivid picture of the anti-government demonstrations that took place during the coronavirus pandemic. Among the opponents of vaccinations, masks, and politicians, there are representatives of various layers of Czech society who present their personal opinions in authentic interviews. “A nation that sleeps in a democracy wakes up in a dictatorship.”

A film about the journey of a book that overcomes many obstacles before it reaches its reader.