Film

Febiofest, the international show of film, television and video, starts this Thursday. Almost 20,000 tickets have been already sold during the first three days of the ticket sale. Visitors can look forward to many celebrities and 272 films from 60 countries all over the world.

Among celebrities coming to Prague are Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski, Italian director Mario Monicelli, or French director Bruno Dumont. Febiofest will present also films by Sydney Pollack, Sofia Coppola, Lars von Trier, or Robert de Niro.

The opening ceremony will started with Otar Ioseliani’s latest film Autumn Gardens. Film by Marc Forster Stranger Than Fiction will be presented there many days before its official premiere.

Febiofest in Prague is held in Village Cinema at Andel from 22th to 30th March 2007. Then it continues in 10 other cities in the Czech Republic.

We already informed you that the makers of a new film Babylon A.D. were going to shoot in Prague, in Prague Barrandov film studio. They have already arrived, and the studio is now being changed into many scenes for the movie with Vin Diesel.

One of the scene shot in Barrandov film studio shows a submarine in an icy ocean, others show a Brooklyn square, markets and the railway station, the interior of the submarine, as well as the interior of a train and an armour transporter.

The story of Babylon A.D. tells about a mercenary who has to transport a young woman infected by a virus from Russia to Canada. A group of fanatics want to use the woman for creating a saviour. Next to Vin Diesel you can see Michelle Yeoh, Gerard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling.

David Mrnka, U.S. film producer of Czech origin, is going to make a film about one of the symbols of resistance against Communism, Milada Horakova. She was arrested and, after a show trial, sentenced to death. She was, as the only woman, executed in 1950, even though many world personalities, such as Churchill or Einstein, petitioned for her life.

The film will focus on her personal life as well as the key events of her sad story. The screenplay is now being written by Lorie Hope, actors and the director are still discussed. Mrnka would like to cast either Annette Benning, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, or Cate Blanchett.

The film will be shot in two years, probably in Prague, east Bohemia and Los Angeles studios. Thanks to Jana Kanska, the daughter of Milada Horakova, and her husband, the film-makers have access to personal belongings of the family.

Besides the actors from Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, a film that follows very successful The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prague Barrandov studio will host another Hollywood star soon. It’s Morgan Freeman known from many films, such as Seven, Bruce Almighty, Million Dollar Baby or Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Morgan Freeman will arrive in Prague in April and will spend there 12 weeks. The director Timur Bekmambetov chose him and James McAvoy, who acted in The Last King of Scotland, for his new film Wanted.

The story for Wanted was adapted from Mark Miller’s comic book series. The story tells about Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) who finds out that his father is an assassin. After his father’s death he joins a secret organisations of assassins. He is trained by lead-assassin (played by Morgan Freeman) to become a killer just like his father.

Millions of people all around the world will watch the prestigious Oscar Awards ceremony that will start this Monday at 1 a.m. local time. HBO company decided to broadcast the event on a large screen of the multiplex cinema Palace Cinemas Slovansky dum (Na Prikope 22) in Prague.

All who do not want to miss watching the Oscar awards ceremony live, can go to the cinema for free. Each visitor will also get a popcorn and a drink for free. However, thanks to the high demand, people have to register at HBO websites in advance. The organizers consider opening more halls for the viewers, as more than 1300 people has already singed in.

The evening at the cinema starts at 22:00 by showing some HBO serials. The Oscar ceremony will be interpreted into Czech language by film critics Frantisek Fuka and Tomas Baldynsky.

A few days ago American cinemas showed the premiere of a new film about cannibal Hannibal Lecter. The film mapping the youth of Hannibal was mainly filmed in the Czech Republic and many Czech actors and extras play in it.

The gala premiere will take place in Prague’s cinema Village on 20th February 2007. People can expect the director of the film, Peter Webber, who directed also Girl with a Pearl Earring. Then the main character who is interpreted by Gaspard Ulliel known from Very Long Engagement or Brotherhood of the Wolf.

The first film where the character of Hannibal Lecter appeared was Silence of the Lambs, followed by Hannibal and Red Dragon. The films were inspired by Thomas Harris books. This film called Hannibal Rising focuses on the motives why Hannibal Lecter became such a monster.

As a big cultural event can be called the premiere of Milos Forman’s new film Goya’s Ghosts in Slovansky Dum in the centre of Prague yesterday. Milos Forman, born in the former Czechoslovakia, introduced his new film 7 years after the last one. Milos Forman is known worldwide by films Amadeus, Valmont, or The people vs. Larry Flynt.

People outside the cinema and inside in three full halls were waiting for the stars of the film. Together with the director Milos Forman they could see the actors Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrier and one of the composers of the film music Varhan Bauer.

The guests invited for the premiere were Czech celebrities, such as Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, actor Zdenek Sverak (Kolja), singer Karel Gott or writer Michal Viewegh. Film is shown today in 25 cinemas in the Czech Republic.

Natalie Portman, a Hollywood star, can be met these days on the streets on Prague. Natalie (25), known from films V for Vendetta, Star Wars or Free Zone, will be present at the premiere of her new film Goya’s Ghosts in Prague.

The premiere of the film is scheduled on 1st February. This film, directed by Milos Forman, focuses on the dark side of Spanish history. It tells the story of Francisco Goya at the last years of Spanish Inquisition when many Jews were tortured and executed.

Natalie is now staying in Four Seasons Hotel and can be seen in many luxurious shops. Spanish star Javier Bardem, who also acts in the movie, will come to Prague as well.

Prague has the biggest film studio in Europe now. The new complex of soundproof studios Barrandov is situated in the southwest of Prague. It cost about 200 million CZK, which is the biggest investment in last 60 years.

The new complex consists of 3 halls having together 4 000 square meters. They can be connected together. The highest hall is 14 meter high. The biggest film studio used to be British studio 007 in Pinewood. It burned down while finishing the new James Bond movie.

Film studio Barrandov has contracts with foreign productions for a year, but it seems now that the studio will be busy the next three years. New films Babylon A.D. and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will be shot there soon.

Among films shot in film studio Barrandov are, among others, Casino Royal (2006), The Omen (2005), Hostel (2005), The Illusionist (2005), The Brothers Grimm (2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2002), The Bourne Identity (2001), Hart’s War (2001), A Knight’s Tale (2000) or Jeanne d’Arc (1999).

American film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has earned 750 million USD in the whole world. The continuation of the film called Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will be shot in Prague again. The premiere of the film is scheduled on 16th May 2008.

The film Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is based on C.S. Lewis’s novel Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia, the second published novel in children’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Companies Walt Disney and Walden Media decided to use new Barrandov film studio in Prague, the biggest soundproof film studio in Europe, and Czech forest for many scenes. The film will be shot in Ireland and New Zealand as well.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is not the only American film that is going to be shot in Prague (by the way the budget is for the film is 100 million USD). Shooting of the film Babylon A.D. with Vin Diesel starts on 11th December.

Companies Palace Cinemas, Cinema City, Village Cinemas, Multiplex cinema Ladvi and several other cinemas want to attract people to go to their cinemas instead of buying presents or cleaning their houses. They offer tickets for 50 CZK to all their movies.

This offer is valid only from Thursday 7th December to Wednesday 13th December. The cinemas will show their regular programme with new premieres. Visitor can see, for instance, Casino Royal, A Good Year, Happy Feet, Asterix and the Vikings or Flushed Away.

The initiator of this action is Palace Cinemas owning the net of multiplex cinemas. The detailed programme of the cinemas can be found on their websites.

Ekotopfilm is an International Festival of Professional Films, held in the Slovak Republic, whose aim is to provide an opportunity for a successful communication among the experts from different branches -technicians and environmentalist – to achieve sustainable development in the world.

The representative show of winning films of 33th Ekotopfilm will start today at 18:00 (finishes tomorrow) by the opening ceremony in the Slovak Institute (Slovensky institut) in Jilska 16 street in Prague. The Minister of Environment of the Slovak Republic, Jaroslav Izak, and Deputy Minister of Environment of the Czech Republic, Rut Bizkova, will be also present today at the ceremony.

Among the awarded films are, among others, Wild Chronicles – Crittercam from the USA, From Plague to Hunger from Poland or Chernobyl: The Invisible Thief from Germany.

Official premiere of the new James Bond film comes in few days, on 14th November in London to be exact. A day later the 21st film story of British agent 007 will be on in the multiplex Palace Cinema in Slovansky dum (Na Prikope street). For the first time in history this popular film was shot in Prague and other cities of the Czech Republic.

If you watch attentively, you may see Prague main railway station, Parler street, library of Strahov Monastery or the memorial at Vitkov Hill. The new actor chosen for the James Bond character, Daniel Craig, shot also in Karlovy Vary.

Lots of films has been shot in Prague so far. Let us name League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Sean Connery, Blade with Wesley Snipes, Mission: Impossible with Tom Cruise, Hart’s War with Bruce Willes, Jack The Ripper with Johny Depp, xXx with Vin Diesel, The Brothers Grimm with Matt Damon or Everything is Illuminated with Elijah Wood.

German commercial TV company RTL has been filming in Prague since Tuesday. The film will be about dramatic events that happened in autumn 1989 when communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe started to break down.

The film will focus on people from East Germany who escaped to the Embassy of West Germany in Prague and required to be taken to the West. Finally 4000 people succeeded.

The filming will last until 19th November. German RTL plans to show this film next year.

Eskapady 2006 is a project whose aim is to represent high-quality Czech and Czechoslovakia films to general public. Each film is either with English subtitles or interpreted into English and therefore is available for everybody who does not master Czech language.

The film show starts today at 18.00 by a silent film called Stavitel chrámu accompanied by life music. This project lasts 10 days and visitors can see well known films such as Lasky jedne plavovlasky (M. Forman, 1965), Skrivanci na niti (J. Menzel, 1969) or Obecna skola (J. Sverak, 1991). Eskapady 2006 presents also a comedy called Happy End by O. Lipsky. The magic of this film is its narration backwards; from the end to the begging of the story.

Films are shown in the afternoons and evenings in Atlas cinema in Prague (Sokolovska 1) in the small hall (Maly sal); for more information about the program click here.

A new festival will be in Prague from 4th to 8th October. It has a name Der Film and it is a presentation on German-speaking cinematography. Movies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will screen in Aero and Svetozor cinemas. The festival will have also
support program concerned on German music and theatre.

The festival will have 15 full-length pictures plus many documents. The festival will present many movies, but there will be one unique. The silent movie called Mysteries of Human Soul from 1926 will have special projection, because the screen will be followed by live music specially compound for the movie.

Prague’s Svetozor is a premier art cinema which targets foreign tourists and anyone who does not speak Czech but would still like to see Czech classics in a movie theatre. This is therefore a great opportunity for all those who would like to learn a bit more about the Czech culture and simply to gain a deeper insight into Czech mentality.

Loves of a Blonde (1965) are on tonight at nine o’clock. This film combines two anecdotes with slightly bitter flavour and documentary features. The director, Milos Forman, is well known – for example for his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which won five Academy Awards.

From tomorrow onwards the visitors can see Jan Sverak’s The Elementary School. This film is set in the time immediately after the Second World War and deals with one disobedient class which is given a new and very just teacher with an interest in young ladies. This movie was nominated for the Academy Award and his director is probably most famous for his Kolja – a film which won the most prestigious film award.

Svetozor cinema has two screening halls and can be found just next to the Wenceslas Square in Vodickova Street (41). It represents a unique alternative to commercial films since its programme includes art films, documentaries and also pieces of experimental genres. You can have a look at the programme of the cinema here.

Summer months are unmistakably associated with relaxation and holidays but the famous film studios Barrandov are kept rather busy. Recently two foreign films were added to the shootings of three Czech films – one of them, Menzel’s I Served the King of England, has already been finished.

The two foreign directors, who chose Prague as the place to shoot their films, both prepare movies with the same subject matter – the war.

French director Alain Wermus prepares La dame d’Izieu. This film will be shown on television and it is about a nurse, who managed to save over two hundred Jewish children from their almost certain end in the concentration camps.

The second film is German and bears the title The Red Baron. It is set in the time of the First World War and as the name implies it focuses on a fight between two pilots – one of them being the legendary German Red Baron. Almost twenty bi-planes, a trio of monoplanes as well as numerous wrecks of aircraft and other props are thus keeping the the renowned Prague film studios occupied.

This review invites you to spend one of your evenings in a summer movie theatre. There are actually three to choose from in Prague – one is to be found on Strelecky (Sharpshooters’) Island, the second one is summer movie theatre River City Prague which shows Czech movies for free. The trio is completed by Karlin Film Summer 2006. There is also the opportunity to pay a visit to Namesti Miru and watch one of the three films shown there that you could read about recently.

This review will detail the last summer theatre, where I saw yesterday a very interesting German film The White Masai about love at first sight between a Swiss young woman and Samburu warrior . The programme offers very good films such as the dark comedy Keeping Mum (tonight), fantastic Chronicles of Narnia, the great Ice Age 2 or the documentary Super Size Me to name at least some of them. The last August evening is reserved for The Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man´s Chest.

One ticket can be purchased for 25 crowns and the films start at half past eight during August. The garden of CRo Regina in Karlin is very conveniently accessible by public transport – concretely there is tram station Urxova nearby (8 and 24) and also metro station Invalidovna (yellow line B). The cinema has very good sound and there is a also stall there with a wide range of refreshments to make the evening perfect.