Martin Duba

A story of love, friendship, and solidarity, aspects of life that allows us to live with dignity even at the most difficult of times. Set within the walls of a Communist prison of the 1950s, a tale unfolds of a young couples' fragile love. An angry young man Lubos always felt defiance toward everything around him, and eventually this trait lands him in court. The verdict is clear and the punishment long and hard. But even in prison Lubos is unable to tame his love of jazz or the eternally blazing flame of rebellion he carries inside. There is no place on earth where love cannot grow. Lubos meets Dana in prison. Out of solidarity and support, their fellow prisoners hatch a small rebellion to help them fulfill their love - a love which has appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Just as good music can be played by a large symphony orchestra or a single blues musician with an old guitar, a good film can be made by large production companies or at minimal cost. Cameraman Martin Duba chose the latter path. He took his wife, children, animals, and friends, and together they shot a pleasant feature film on a literally family budget. Martin Duba's family plays Mr. Kuba's family, and their friends play their friends. The Kubas live on a farm during the summer, where they run a pub and breed horses. The father is an entrepreneur, but he is clearly not doing well. The farm is falling into disrepair. It is only with the arrival of the mysterious young man František that everything takes a turn for the better, and the story continues in an atmosphere that allows for miracles every day.

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Black comedy about three old friend, who rent a tomb.

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A fairy tale based on motifs taken from Josephine tales. Like Josef II, the fictitious emperor Maxmilián often disappears from the castle in disguise in order to find out how his vassals live. On one of these 'trips' he meets a drummer returning home from his stint in the army. They live through various adventures together, meeting bandits as well as human foolishness and perfidiousness which almost leads them to the scaffold.

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Capturing the dark humor of Czech author Michal Viewegh's chronicle of life after the Velvet Revolution, this black comedy chronicles three decades in the life of a small Czech family. While the original novel centered on the protagonist Kvido from his conception through his adulthood, first time director Petr Nikolaev and screenwriter Jan Novak changed the focus to his parents Milena, an extremely self-effacing lawyer who acts on stage in her spare time, and Ales, a rather aimless government worker who tends to drift wherever the wind takes him. The lives of Ales and Milena change dramatically following the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968.

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Father Holy, a village priest, battles against the state and religious bureaucracies of 1980s Czechoslovakia in his fight to raise money for a new church roof. Permeated by his love for the villagers, his encounters are marked by his good humor. In his losing battle against Church and State, Holy is ordered to be transferred away from his parish and his allies. The Czech-American, Milena Jelinek, adapted this moving story from the the novel The Forgotten Light, by the 1930s Czech writer/poet and Catholic priest Jakub Deml. (1934)

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An absurd comedy about terrorism in the Czech Republic.

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Short musical comedy from Tomas Vorel.

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Vladimír Michálek chose an unconventional adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel for his feature debut. Artistically reminiscent of the classic films of Karel Zeman, the director reinterpreted this dark story of a man vainly seeking a place in a rigidly ordered society by changing the desperate conclusion into a happy end. The film provided Czech comedian Jirí Lábus with a new kind of role: that of the despotic uncle of a main hero Karel Rossman (Martin Dejdar).

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The full-length film which, though based on Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, is more about the complexity of the time and the world. We witness the creation of a modern production of Don Giovanni, reflecting the controversial present. Mozart's exciting music, uninhibited erotic, and the eternal struggle against evil which constitutes the energy of our existence.

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The film is based on a legendary school film of Tomáš Vorel, called INg (1985). The storyline stays the same - a young engineer finds a new job and wants to work, this proves to be impossible in the last days of the communist era.

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