The best of Czech cinema in North America
Come and see new and exciting films at the sixth annual Czech That Film festival showcasing the best of Czech cinema across the United States and Canada.
San Francisco will welcome this festival from March 31st – April 2nd, traditionally at the Roxie Theatre (3117 16th St, San Francisco, 94103). Get your tickets at: http://www.roxie.com/czech-film-2017/
Here is a list of all the films:
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Já, Olga Hepnarová (I, Olga Hepnarová) 105min | Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
Friday 3/31 | Little Roxie | 9:30 PM
Evil is part of every human. Olga Hepnarova was a young, lonely lesbian outsider from a coldhearted family who couldn’t play the part the socialist society expected of her. Her paranoid self-examination and inability to connect with other people eventually drove her over the edge of humanity when she was only twenty-two years old. The award-winning art film describes a real woman with her desires and worries without glorifying or downplaying the terrible crime she committed. Guided by her letters we delve into Olga’s psyche and witness the worsening of her loneliness and alienation as we reconstruct the events that led up to her disastrous actions.
Director: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
Cast: Michalina Olszańska, Marika Šoposká, Klára Melíšková, Petra Nesvačilová
Producers: Sylwester Banaszkiewicz, Marcin Kurek, Tomáš Weinreb, Marian Urban, Petr Kazda, Vojtěch Frič
Director of photography: Adam Sikora
Screenplay: Petr Kazda, Tomáš Weinreb
Length: 105 minutes
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Teorie tygra (The Tiger Theory) 101min | Radek Bajgar
Saturday 4/1 | Big Roxie | 4:30 PM
Jan, almost 60, is a successful veterinary doctor, however he feels he’s losing a grip on his life while being controlled by his wife Olga. The last drop for Jan’s decision to leave his wife is the suicide of his father-in-law who faced the same issues. Jan doesn’t want to end up on the same route, he longs for control of his own life again. His solution is an escape from the present life, even though he might need to go to a nuthouse.
Director: Radek Bajgar
Cast: Jiří Bartoška, Eliška Balzerová, Iva Janžurová, Tatiana Vilhelmová
Producer: Petr Erben
Director of photography: Vladimír Holomek, Petr Koblovský
*
Učitelka (The Teacher) 102min | Jan Hřebejk
Saturday 4/1 | Little Roxie | 7:00 PM
Since arrival of the new teacher, Maria Drazdechova, to a Bratislava suburban school in 1983, life has turned upside down for students and parents. Following a suicide attempt of one of the students, likely related to the teacher’s corrupted behaviour, the school‘s principal calls for an urgent parent meeting that will suddenly put the future of all the families at stake. The teacher’s high connections within the Communist Party makes everyone feel threatened. However, at this point, parents have to make a choice: will they dare to go against the corrupt system and stand up for what they believe in, or will they just remain silent and let things go by?
Director: Jan Hřebejk
Cast: Zuzana Mauréry, Peter Bebjak, Csongor Kassai, Martin Havelka, Zuzana Konečná, Ondřej Malý, Attila Mokos, Éva Bandor, Richard Labuda
Producers: Zuzana Mistríková, Ľubica Orechovská, Ondřej Zima, Jan Prušinovský
Director of photography: Martin Žiaran
Screenplay: Petr Jarchovský
Length: 102 minutes
*
Polednice (The Noonday Witch) | 85min | Jiří Sádek
Saturday 4/1 | Little Roxie | 9:15 PM
Eliška and her daughter start a new life in a remote house outside the village, while the father is “away on business”, as the mother claims. After the lie is disclosed, the mother daughter relationship begins to wither. At that time, the mythical Noonday Witch begins to materialise. She is coming closer and closer, however, the question is whether the danger is real or is it all in the mother’s crumbling head?
Director: Jiří Sádek
Cast: Aňa Geislerová, Karolína Lipowská, Zdeněk Mucha, Daniela Kolářová, Jiří Štrébl, Marie Ludvíková, Mikuláš Prošek
Producer: Matěj Chlupáček
Director of photography: Alexander Šurkala
Screenplay: Michal Samir
*
Malá z rybárny (Little From The Fish Shop) | 71min | Jan Balej
Sunday 4/2 | Little Roxie | 3:00 PM
Everyone’s familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the story of a love capable of forgiving even the greatest betrayal. In Jan Balej’s film – a work filled with wonderful animation, expressive puppet designs and an imaginative, shifting score from French composer Chapelier Fou – the fairy-tale romance is replaced with a bleak portrayal of life in a city harbor, yet its enduring message remains.
Director: Jan Balej
Cast: Oldřich Kaiser, Anežka Kubátová, Petr Forman, Ivana Chýlková, Barbora Hrzánová
Screenplay: Jan Balej, Ivan Arsenjev
*
Lída Baarova (The Devil’s Mistress) | 106min | Filip Renč
Sunday 4/2 | Q&A with the director Filip Renč | Big Roxie | 5:00 PM
To find a work in “Hollywood of Europe”, the Babelsberg Film Studios outside of Berlin, was a dream of everyone involved in filmmaking in 1934. Already well-known in her native Czechoslovakia, ambitious young Czech actress Lida Baarová has just obtained her first screen role in a major feature Babelsberg film. She’s well aware that she can only make a real acting career in Germany, however, she doesn’t yet know the price she will have to pay…
Director: Filip Renč
Cast: Tatiana Pauhofová, Karl Markovics, Gedeon Burkhard, Zdenka Procházková-Hartmann, Martin Huba, Simona Stašová, Anna Fialová, Pavel Kříž
Producer: NOGUP agency s.r.o.
Director of photography: Petr Hojda
Screenplay: Ivan Hubač
The annual Czech film festival titled “Czech That Film” has been established in 2012. Currently, it is the largest Czech cultural event in the United States. It is a film festival of best recent Czech films held throughout the United States every year, with a range of screenings and discussion with cast and crew. The four-month-long festival keeps growing every year. Its sixth edition will reach 15 major US and Canadian cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Austin, Washington, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, New York City, Little Rock, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto) in 2017.
Please see more information at: http://www.czechthatfilm.com/index.html