David Čálek

A look at the legendary Czech sound designer and his profession. Editor and documentary filmmaker Adéla Špaljová has her father Ivo Špalj talk about his life, career, and working methods. Over the course of his long life, sound designer Ivo Špalj (*1940) has collaborated on hundreds of films and become a mentor for at least one generation of men and women behind the mixing board. This gentle documentary also shows “Engi” (as he is known to his colleagues) again working with Jan Švankmajer, whose films he has lent their typical, dense, and sophisticated sound mix.

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We had a unique moment. Czech Republic without tourists, mountains without skiers, empty streets, shops, all of this suddenly seemed almost magical. A different view of reality opened up to us. Free from descriptiveness, focused on the essential things that make life worth living. The main heroes of the film are frozen time, David Chmelař, a tugboat driver, Vanda Hybnerová, an actress, Tomáš Halík, a priest and philosopher, Havel Parkán, a café owner, and Radůza, a singer. They all agreed at the beginning that this is a time that is an opportunity to make a difference.

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The budget for the program to colonize Mars was so drastically cut back that settlements never appeared on the faraway planet. Now the only reminder of the ambitious plan is an abandoned base inhabited by a very lonely robot. The silence and tranquility of the red planet is eventually disturbed, however, by a privately-funded Czech crew, whose members have taken on the mission for very different reasons...

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An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.

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The film reveals the plight of Somali pirates, mostly former fishermen, who, as a result of the global fishing industry, can no longer make a living from the sea as they once did and have to join up with pirate cartels in order to feed themselves and their families.

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Prague faces the challenge of a new zoning plan. The city's development leads to conflicts between the private developer lobby, city residents, and elected officials. By following several years of town council meetings, the film paints an image of a public policy apparatus that ignores the role of the urban planner. Using a journalistic approach, the filmmaker attempts to depict all points of view, although in the end the dominant perspective is of those who believe in the city as an expression of culture and quality of life.

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What was the iconic theater scene and its creators like? The final stage of the Prague Chamber Theater, which provoked, shocked, and fascinated audiences for ten seasons at the Komedie Theater.

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A doc presenting portraits of four people unafraid to reveal their particular lifelong penchant for sadomasochistic practices: Altair, whose orientation links him to the world of horses, latex lover Fronéma, the provocative Lenka, and government employee Terezie.

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The four stories in the film form a mosaic of the fates of several married or partner couples who, at a certain turning point in their lives, are dealing with issues of wanted, unwanted, desired, or thwarted parenthood. The intention of screenwriter and director Alice Nellis is to use the parallel narration of several stories to show that the problem of modern parenthood is broader and deeper than the specific situation of any individual character. The number one domestic director once again comes up with a story that can touch viewers regardless of age or status. Each of the stories told about the desire for a child, the fateful decision of whether to have a child or not, or the effort to cope with the pitfalls that life has placed before us, could be your own.

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The episodic film MARBLES consists of several short stories about how women manipulate with men. About subtle blackmailings, about crying, about tears, about the ability to sacrifice oneself for a dream, about sex as a service, about the way we can use empathy. It all starts on the playground among children and death does not equal the end. As time goes by, a feminine mechanism of manipulation develops, shapes up, ripens until it reaches the stage of perfection. Individual short stories take place at a techno party as well as in a Catholic parsonage and they conclude in a content domestic routine of two old people which cannot be disrupted by anything – not even by death. The short stories about women of different age and lifestyle put together a story of one complete human life which was, thanks to the manipulation with others, lived according to the plan and at the same time and from the same reason wasted away.

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Documentary about crisis in Czech TV during 2000/2001.

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Ester Krumbachová - a costume designer, screenwriter, director; one of the boldest personalities of the Czech New Wave. She worked in theatre, she was a writer and an illustrator. She co-created films such as O slavnosti a hostech (1966), Sedmikrásky (1966), Vsichni dobrí rodáci (1969), Pension pro svobodné pány (1968), Valerie a týden divu (1970), Slamený klobouk (1972) and many others. In the 1960s, she was a 'pivot' of the art scene in Prague, attracting artists who were on the threshold of their career, just setting out to find their own form of self-realization. Those who underwent her tutelage remember her forever. Director Vera Chytilová talks to those who knew Ester Krumbachová, who worked with her, befriended her, loved her. She sets off on a search that is to end by answering the question: Who was Ester?

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A film about various forms of drugs – American cinema, rock music, and heroin. Together with the protagonist, we experience the bohemian life of young filmmakers, shocking erotic experiences, and the first drastic attempts with drugs. From the initial cool experiment with drugs, we then go through hell and purgatory. A good friend can help with the return, but so can the will to start over, to forgive those who (perhaps) wronged him, to realize that I am mainly to blame for everything...

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A film about fatal love, bad dreams, normal madness and unnecessary death.

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