Jan Palach - We remember
The prelude to České dny was the screening of the entire series "Burning Bush", dedicated to Jan Palach, made by Agnieszka Holland for HBO. The six-hour production had excellent reviews, and the Czechs appreciated that a citizen of another country can tell their story with a feel. It's not the end of the issues related to the tragic death of a Prague student, Jan Palach, who committed self-immolation on 16. January 1969 in Wenceslas Square in the centre of the Czech capital, and died three days later - on 19. January. In his dramatic gesture he expressed his objection, because at the end of 1968 the Warsaw Pact troops entered Czechoslovakia.
Snapshot from "Czechoslovak Film Weekly"
The Jan Palach Day will be celebrated during České dny on Thursday, 19. February. Starting at 19:00, presented will be documentaries - Stanislav Milot's "Jan 69", about the funeral of the philosophy student, "Silence" by Milan Peer, about the feelings of people on the news of the death of Palach, two episodes of the contemporary chronicle - "Czechoslovak Film Weekly," and its propaganda, "History of Jan Palach's Grave " by Dobroslav Zborník and "The Message of Jan Palach," the director of which, Kristina Vlachová will be present during the screening.
Czech documentaries
Journalists working in tabloids, the story of Olga Havlová, the film version of Mariusz Szczygieł's "Gottland", two films about architecture (about architect David Kopecki and the spatial development plan in Prague) and the Prague Roma ghetto, seen through a reporter's eyes - these are the subjects undertaken by Czech film makers who want to show the surrounding reality, or to document the past one. Viewers will surely appreciate "Gottland" (21. February, 16.15), because the collection of non-fiction essays by Mariusz Szczygieł - the film's literary original - has been ever so popular.
Snapshot from "Gottland"
The writer has described in excellent style the Czech symbols most known among Poles (Karel Gott, or shoes by Bata), but also those less known, yet quite revealing the mentality of Czechs. After "Plan", the film on spatial planning (Saturday, February 21., 20.00), MIASTOmovie welcomes to a discussion about urban planning. It will feature both the film's director, Benjamin Tucek and a cycling activist, Martin Kontra.
Vaclav Havel described
Also, a première of "Havel. Revenge of the Powerless", a book by Aleksander Kaczorowski, will take place as a part of the České dny, on Wednesday, February 18. The event will feature the author, who is an essayist and an excellent translator of Czech prose. The subject of the former Czech president will also include a presentation of "Citizen Havel", a film by Miroslav Janek and Pavel Koutecky.
Tickets to České dny screenings are 12 PLN each. A detailed programme of České dny is available here.
