Films 2020
AMNESTY | Amnestie CZ / SK / 2019 | Drama/Thriller | 130 min
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
The opening night feature is Jonáš Karásek’s gripping political thriller Amnesty which is inspired by true events of the 1989 Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution and president Václav Havel's controversial amnesty which saw the release of 23,000 prisoners. Not all inmates were granted amnesty even though many of them were political prisoners of the communist regime. This was also the case in Leopoldov – the cruelest of the communist prisons where emotions boiled over.
The film focuses on the fate of three families and captures a world controlled by the feared StB (State Secret Police), where dissidents communicate via secret messages. A world in which people inform on their family members in exchange for personal gain and freedom.
The hero, prisoner Drahoš Lupko (Juraj Bača) has to overcome enormous obstacles to fight for his rights. Surrounded by cruel, selfish and manipulative individuals, he rises to the challenge and takes full advantage of the second chance he is offered.
SHORT FILM: After / O tom co potom CZ | 2018 | Animation 5 min
ENJOY A FREE BECHEROVKA COCKTAIL ON ARRIVAL
WED 18 MARCH 7:00 PM
DIRECTOR Jonáš Karásek
LANGUAGE Slovak / Czech
English subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Juraj Bača
Natalia Germani
Aňa Geislerová
Marek Vašut
Jana Oĺhová
Martin Stránský
Roman Luknár
Ján Jackuliak
and others
OLD-TIMERS | Staříci CZ/SK 2019 | Road Movie/Comedy-Drama | 85 min
FESTIVALS: KVIFF
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Grumpy old men Vlasta and Tonda don’t have much longer to live but they do have one more important task ahead of them.
“You can’t just piss all over the truth,” says 90-year-old, wheelchair-bound Colonel Vlastimil Reiner (Jiří Schmitzer) as he is being washed by his friend Tonda (Ladislav Mrkvička). One last major operation of their colourful lives awaits these two old-timers: to find and kill the former communist prosecutor who sent the elite of the nation to their deaths. His crimes have remained unpunished, denied and forgotten.
The two ex-resistance men are forced to grapple with their old age, their families and with a world that they have long ceased to understand.
Martin Dušek and Ondřej Provazník’s Old-Timers is an unusual road movie about two former political prisoners. The story is loosely based on real events from the turn of the millennium, when the 81-year-old exile and former political prisoner Pravomil Raichl reconnected with a friend from jail, looking to shoot dead Karel Vaš, a heinous 1950s communist prosecutor with his help.
SHORT FILM: Hide ‘N Seek / Schovka CZ | 2019 | Animation 7 min
Guest of the festival, film director Martin Dušek will introduce the movie.
THU 19 MARCH 6:30 PM
DIRECTOR Martin Dušek, Ondřej Provazník
LANGUAGE Czech
English subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Jiří Schmitzer
Ladislav Mrkvička
Dušan Kaprálik
Michal Suchánek
Přemysl Bureš
Karel jirák
and others
LOLI PARADICKA | Loli Paradička SK | 2019 | Comedy/ Drama | 86 min
FESTIVALS: Art Film Fest Audience Award
A hit at the Slovak box office, the enormously popular Loli Paradicka, written and directed by father and son Richard and Víťo Staviarsky, is a bittersweet love story from colourful eastern Slovakia about an intense relationship between Veronka, a pretty gypsy girl and Milan, a seller at a fair.
When Milan discovers that Veronka has stolen one of his caramel slices out of hunger, he takes pity on her and decides to buy her lunch. In return, Veronka offers him her services as a sales assistant.
The spark between them leads to an incredible night as they fall for each other instantly and start making plans for a future together. Veronka does not mind that Milan has a missing leg and Milan does not mind that Veronka is a gypsy.
Both of them pursue their happiness despite society’s prejudices and the opposition of Milan’s mother.
The Staviarsky duo’s remarkable portrayal of these all too human characters and their stories makes this movie genuinely compelling viewing.
SHORT FILM: Daughter / Dcera CZ | 2019 | Animation | 15 min | IAFF Annecy 2019 Winner, Sundance 2020 Winner, Oscar Finalist
FRI 20 MARCH 6:30 PM
DIRECTOR Richard Staviarsky, Viťo Staviarsly
LANGUAGE Slovak
English subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Kamila Mitrášová
Michal Iľkanin
Michal Soltész
Kveta Stražanová
Fedor Vico
Dominik Doktor
BY A SHARP KNIFE | Ostrým nožom
SK 2019 | Drama | 89 min
FESTIVALS: Kerala
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
By a Sharp Knife is the story of a father who has to cope with not just his son’s tragic murder but also police inactivity, defamation from the media, as well as his own feelings of guilt. Ludovít is faced with an absurd situation of injustice. He struggles with an apathetic police force, an opportunistic judge but also with the fact that he was never really close to his own son.
The more he blames himself for his son’s death, the more his relationship with his wife Zuzana and younger daughter Janka falls apart and the more he tries to then influence the investigation.
Kuhn’s debut feature is inspired by the real story of Daniel Tupý, a Faculty of Arts student who was murdered on the banks of the Danube in 2005. It is not an ordinary whodunit crime story. It opens up among others, one of the most burning issues in modern Slovakia – a discussion on the topic of justice and its accessibility to ordinary citizens.
The seasoned Slovak actor Roman Luknár, who has been living in Madrid since 1991, gives a very convincing performance of a father tormented not just by events outside his control but also by his own inner demons.
SHORT FILM: One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Thousand / Sto dvacet osm tisíc CZ | 2018 | Feature 16 min
FRI 20 MARCH 9:00 PM
DIRECTOR Teodor Kuhn LANGUAGE Slovak
English subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Roman Luknár
Ela Lehotská
Dávid Hartl
Táňa Radeva
Marián Mitaš
and Jana Oľhová
THE MAGIC QUILL | Čertí brko
CZ / SK 2018 | Fairy Tale/ Family | 99 min
Marek Nabrt’s The Magic Quill is a classical fairytale that the whole family can enjoy. It is not so much a fairytale of princes and princesses but rather
a tale of unruly devils who almost cause chaos in the world.
To keep order in the world, each region has its own hell where a magic quill writes down all human sins. When a sinner’s ledger of sins fills up, a squad of devils then comes to take them away.
Lucifer´s son Boniface is sent to bring a new quill to Pitchfork, but gets robbed by the greedy Mr. Slime who uses the quill not only to hide his sins but to enslave the villagers and make them dig for a treasure he hopes to use to charm the beautiful innkeeper Margaret. Boniface becomes scared and so he sneaks a fake quill into hell. And when it doesn’t work, the devils become lazy.
How will things turn out in the end? Will good triumph over evil? There’s only one way to find out!
SHORT FILM: Cloudy /Pod mrakem CZ | 2018 | Animation 5 min
Happy Go Ducky are proud sponsors of this Fairy Tale.
SAT 21 MARCH 1:30 PM
DIRECTOR Marek Najbrt LANGUAGE Czech
English subtitles
AGE No restriction
CAST Jan Cin, Ondřej
Vetchý, Judit Bárdos,
Jan Budař,
Marek Daniel,
Jana Plodková
Václav Kopta
Tomáš Jeřábek
and others
JIŘÍ SUCHÝ-TACKLING LIFE WITH EASE | Jiří Suchý-Lehce s životem se prát CZ/SK 2019 | Documentary | 102 min
FESTIVALS: Karlovy Vary IFF
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Since the 1960s, the Semafor theatre has played an intrinsic role in the golden era of the Czechoslovak artistic avant-garde. The so-called ‘Theatre of Small Stages’ was founded by Jiří Suchý and his sidekick Jiří Šlitr in 1959 and many famous Czech artists started their career at this hugely popular theatre.
Theatre personality, musician, poet, writer, graphic artist, collector, self-professed clown, eternally young at heart – all this is Jiří Suchý, one of
the key figures of the Czechoslovak cultural scene over the last 60 years. He has put on 97 plays at Semafor theatre and has written the lyrics to 1,400 songs as well as the music to some 500 of them.
In her delightful documentary, the skilled documentary maker Olga Sommerová focuses on Suchý’s prolific creative and personal journey throughout his life and demonstrates her singular flair for capturing exceptional moments.
SHORT FILM: Music Box / Music Box SK | 2019 | Animation 6 min
SAT 21 MARCH 4:00 PM
DIRECTOR Olga Sommerová LANGUAGE Czech
English subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Jiřá Suchý
Jiří Šlitr
Jitka Molavcová
Karel Gott
Stanislav Štepka
Irena Zlámalová
Theatre SEMAFOR
Ensemble
KAREL, ME AND YOU | Karel, já a ty
CZ 2019 | Comedy/Drama | 111 min
FESTIVALS: Karlovy Vary IFF
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Bohdan Karásek’s film Karel, Me And You reflects on the stability of relationships, whether to choose to be with just the one partner for life and from a broader perspective, on life at thirty, both from a female and male point of view.
All of this is played out through the marriage of Karel and Saša which is at a standstill. Due to this, Saša has moved out for a while. She finds a temporary refuge at the home of Dušan, an old acquaintance who once performed at her wedding.
Karásek’s deliberately paced feature debut focuses on the spontaneity of both dialogue and performance. With discreet elegance and subtle humour, it portrays the world of thirty-somethings who seek, find and sometimes also lose their friends and life partners.
SHORT FILM: Chestnut boy / Gaštanko SK | 2019 | Animation 9 min
SAT 21 MARCH 6:30 PM
DIRECTOR Bohdan Karásek LANGUAGE Czech
English Subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Jenovéfa Boková,
Miroslav Faderholz
Miloslav König
Marie Švestková
Petra Nesvačilová
Lukáš Bouzek
Petr Marek
THE LADY TERRORIST | Teroristka CZ 2019 | Black Comedy | 95 min
BOX OFFICE HIT
Marie just wants to enjoy her peaceful life in the country. But when the local pub owner refuses her pleas to turn down the loud music and when even the mayor doesn’t help her against this source of local evil, Marie decides to take her revenge in this witty and goodhearted comedy. She gets a gun, but soon realizes that murder is complicated not just morally, but also practically…
Known also in English under the title ‘Shotgun Justice’, Radek Bajgar’s black comedy The Lady Terrorist stars the wonderful Czech cinema legend Iva Janžurová as the retired teacher and grandmother Marie, who is forced to turn to violence when the local authorities fail her.
SHORT FILM: Daughter / Dcera CZ | 2019 | Animation | 15 min | IAFF Annecy 2019 Winner, Sundance 2020 Winner, Oscar Finalist
SAT 21 MARCH 9:00 PM
DIRECTOR Radek Bajgar LANGUAGE Czech
English Subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Iva Janžurová
Martin Hoffman
Tatiana Vilhelmová
Pavel Liška
Eva Holubová
Jan Vondráček
and others
ECSTASY | Extase
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1933 |Drama/ Romance | 90 Min
FESTIVALS: Venice FF 1934, Venice FF 2019
Ecstasy is one of the leading Czechoslovak films of the 1930s. Innocent by today's standards, this film was banned in many countries when first released.
The film follows the newlywed Eva as she has her first taste of passion, not with her elderly husband Emil but with Adam, a young engineer. Against this simple story line, the director Gustav Machatý along with his cinematographer Jan Stallich put on an extravagant visual feast of passion for its time, rich in symbolism and accompanied by music from one of the most sought after film composers of the day, Giuseppe Becce. The role of Eva launched the international career of Hedy Kiesler, an emerging Austrian actress who soon after become Hedy Lamarr, one of the icons of Hollywood’s silver screen era.
Daring and sensual for its period, the film caused an uproar at the 1934 Venice International Film Festival. While it was eagerly embraced by the audience and Machatý was awarded the Cup of the City of Venice as Best Director, Pope Pius XI condemned the movie as pornographic, deeming it to be full of immoral parables. Ecstasy was later shown in France, Germany, Great Britain, USA and 50 other countries across the globe. Originally produced in three versions - Czech, German and French, numerous later ones appeared due to censorship cuts, editorial decisions or for other reasons.
A not to be missed screening of the film in the newly released beautifully digitally restored version.
SHORT FILM: Trust me / Ver mi SK | 2019 | Animation 6 min
SUN 22 MARCH 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR Gustav Machatý LANGUAGE Czech
English Subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Hedy Lamarr
Aribert Mog, Zvonimir
Rogoz, Leopold
Kramer
EVERYTHING I LIKE | Všetko, čo mám rád
SK/CZ 1992 | Drama | 90 min
AWARDS: Angers Procirep Award Winner, Cottbus FF Grand Prix, Prix Europa Winner
FESTIVALS: Angers, Cottbus FF
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
On top of his ex-wife’s demands, Tomáš (Juraj Nvota), a jobless divorcee in his late thirties faces a double crisis - his English girlfriend leaving Slovakia and his teenager son looking for ways to express himself beyond the usual limits of education.
Tomáš realizes that there’s no easy way out of the situation. A dilemma presents itself to him: should he leave his country and all the demands of daily life behind for some unknown freedom or should he stay?
Martin Šulík’s drama Everything I like produced in Slovakia in 1992, belongs to that transition period in cinema after the fall of the Iron Curtain when newly acquired freedoms gave filmmakers the opportunity to explore the limits of expression and style.
Some of the relationship issues tackled in the movie (between the adults, and between the adults and the teenager) don’t seem all that shocking today, but were certainly new for a cinema just made free from communist censorship and which had previously forbidden among other things, almost all sexual related subjects or even allusions.
This screening is proudly sponsored by the Embassy of the Slovak Republic.
SHORT FILM: The Kite / Šarkan SK | 2019 | Animation 13 min
SUN 22 MARCH 4:00 PM
DIRECTOR Martin Šulík
LANGUAGE Slovak/English
English Subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Juraj Nvota
Gina Bellman
Zdena Studenková,
Jiří Menzel,
Jakub Ursíny
Anton Šulík,st.
OWNERS / Vlastníci
CZECH REPUBLIC 2019 | Comedy/Drama | 97 min
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Owners is a comedy directed by Jiří Havelka which he based on his own screenplay. The story is based on his award-winning play The Society of
Owners.
The owners of apartments in a building meet at a regular owners’ meeting to resolve the necessary sale of attic space in order to fund emergency repairs in their building. But the seemingly simple vote is complicated by the fact that everyone has their own ideas, vested interests, and opinions. For anyone who has not experienced such a meeting, this will open their eyes to the very special kind of hell that such meetings can be.
According to Havelka, ownership of an apartment gives the owners a small, precisely calculated percentage of power that they can exercise only at joint meetings. And nowhere else do we have such an easy influence on the decision making process with such far-reaching consequences.
SHORT FILM: Sh_t Happens / Sh_t Happens SK | 2019 | Animation 13 min
ENJOY A FREE BECHEROVKA COCKTAIL ON ARRIVAL
SUN 22 MARCH 7:00 PM
DIRECTOR Jiří Havelka
LANGUAGE Czech
English Subtitles
AGE 15+ or accompanied by an adult
CAST Tereza Voříšková
Vojtěch Kotek
Jiří Lábus
Dagmar Havlová
Kryštof Hádek
Andrej Polák
Pavla Tomicová
Klára Melíšková