Among the first fests to suffer the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival has also been one of the most proactive in adapting to the lockdown mode. Earlier this March, Tiff’s docs-only spinoff, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, turned its 22nd edition into a digital-only gathering scheduled to go live between May 19-28. And in early April, Tiff announced the launch of “Spaces,” a new online series showcasing short films by world renowned auteurs inspired by—and made during—the quarantine. Borrowing from Species of Spaces, a collection of essays from French author Georges Péréc, Tiff reached out to 8 Greek and 14 international filmmakers to commission short films grappling with the pandemic-induced confinement, all shot from the confines of home. In the words of Tiff artistic director Orestis Andreadakis, the project “was meant to remind us that art, and film, can fill any space with meaning, and disperse our solitude.
- 5/13/2020
- MUBI
Director who was part of the ‘Czech film miracle’ in the 1960s but made his masterpieces in Hollywood
Ivan Passer, who has died aged 86, was one of the new wave of Czech film directors who emerged during the social and cultural democratisation of the mid-60s that afforded them unprecedented artistic freedom. With his childhood friend Miloš Forman, Passer co-wrote A Blonde in Love and The Firemen’s Ball (1967), and directed Intimate Lighting (1965), his brilliant feature film debut.
In that short period, Passer, Forman, Vera Chytilová, Jirí Menzel and Jan Němec, among others, made films that rejected the official state socialist-realist aesthetic and produced eclectic, highly assured features that captured the world’s attention.
Ivan Passer, who has died aged 86, was one of the new wave of Czech film directors who emerged during the social and cultural democratisation of the mid-60s that afforded them unprecedented artistic freedom. With his childhood friend Miloš Forman, Passer co-wrote A Blonde in Love and The Firemen’s Ball (1967), and directed Intimate Lighting (1965), his brilliant feature film debut.
In that short period, Passer, Forman, Vera Chytilová, Jirí Menzel and Jan Němec, among others, made films that rejected the official state socialist-realist aesthetic and produced eclectic, highly assured features that captured the world’s attention.
- 1/17/2020
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Last week we learned, via the National Film Archive (Czech Republic) that Janus Films (and the Criterion Collection) had just signed a new deal with plans to bring 30 classic Czech films to the Us.
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
- 7/12/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
“The Devil’s Mistress”
Presented by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles, Czech That Film festival (Ctf) in Los Angeles is now in its 6th edition and is bringing an exciting mix of films to the city this spring, and will be followed by a new traveling film series.
15 venues across North America will screen a wide selection of critically acclaimed films from poignant dramas to unique animation as part this year’s Czech That Film.
Pavol Šepeľák, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles explained, “C.S. Lewis said that art is something of a “window” into worlds unseen. The films that you will see during this edition of the festival are exactly that: “windows” to times and places that are out of reach, yet so significant for better understanding our daily lives. We would like to thank and honor the talented Czech directors...
Presented by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles, Czech That Film festival (Ctf) in Los Angeles is now in its 6th edition and is bringing an exciting mix of films to the city this spring, and will be followed by a new traveling film series.
15 venues across North America will screen a wide selection of critically acclaimed films from poignant dramas to unique animation as part this year’s Czech That Film.
Pavol Šepeľák, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles explained, “C.S. Lewis said that art is something of a “window” into worlds unseen. The films that you will see during this edition of the festival are exactly that: “windows” to times and places that are out of reach, yet so significant for better understanding our daily lives. We would like to thank and honor the talented Czech directors...
- 3/23/2017
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Above: Italian 2-foglio for Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1965).As the 54th New York Film Festival winds to a close this weekend I thought it would be instructive to look back at its counterpart of 50 years ago. Sadly, for the sake of symmetry, there are no filmmakers straddling both the 1966 and the 2016 editions, though Agnès Varda (88 years old), Jean-Luc Godard (85), Carlos Saura (84) and Jirí Menzel (78)—all of whom had films in the 1966 Nyff—are all still making films, and Milos Forman (84), Ivan Passer (83) and Peter Watkins (80) are all still with us. There are only two filmmakers in the current Nyff who could potentially have been in the 1966 edition and they are Ken Loach (80) and Paul Verhoeven (78). The current Nyff is remarkably youthful—half the filmmakers weren’t even born in 1966 and, with the exception of Loach and Verhoeven, the old guard is now represented by Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodóvar,...
- 10/15/2016
- MUBI
Intimate Lighting is a complex mixture of absurdity and regrets. Photo: Courtesy of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Crowds gather in the shadow of Hotel Thermal Photo: Amber Wilkinson The history of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival may stretch all the way back to 1946 - when it was co-hosted by fellow spa town Mariánské Lázne - but it understands the importance of the fountain of youth, attracting an audience that is predominantly young and enthusiastic. As you arrive in the town, which lies around an hour and a half to the west of Prague, the festival atmosphere is immediately apparent.
Crowds gather in the shadow of the Functionalist/Brutalist Hotel Thermal, its tower dominating the skyline, to hang out by the River Tepla until late at night, sharing gossip and views about the day's films and stars over a beer or, this year, even a vodka-filled coconut - all somewhat more tasty,...
Crowds gather in the shadow of the Functionalist/Brutalist Hotel Thermal, its tower dominating the skyline, to hang out by the River Tepla until late at night, sharing gossip and views about the day's films and stars over a beer or, this year, even a vodka-filled coconut - all somewhat more tasty,...
- 7/11/2016
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
World premiere of Intimate Lighting restoration, a focus on Mexican female directors, a tribute to Otto Preminger and the first Eurimages Lab Project Award set for 2016 edition.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled the first wave of titles and industry initiatives set for its 51st edition (July 1-9).
The festival, hosted in the picturesque Czech spa town, will world premiere a digital restoration of Ivan Passer’s Intimate Lighting. The bittersweet comedy about an encounter between two former classmates and musicians is described one of the most striking films of the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s.
The 82-year-old director, who was honoured with Kviff’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema in 2008, will be present at the premiere on July 2.
Mexican female directors
Semana Santa
Kviff will also spotlight Mexican female directors, screening nine features and one short from the past five years. The filmmakers include Elisa Miller, who won a Palme...
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled the first wave of titles and industry initiatives set for its 51st edition (July 1-9).
The festival, hosted in the picturesque Czech spa town, will world premiere a digital restoration of Ivan Passer’s Intimate Lighting. The bittersweet comedy about an encounter between two former classmates and musicians is described one of the most striking films of the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s.
The 82-year-old director, who was honoured with Kviff’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema in 2008, will be present at the premiere on July 2.
Mexican female directors
Semana Santa
Kviff will also spotlight Mexican female directors, screening nine features and one short from the past five years. The filmmakers include Elisa Miller, who won a Palme...
- 4/26/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos’s 1965 film The Shop on Main Street, which was the first film from Eastern Europe to win an Academy Award, celebrates it’s 50th anniversary this year. The Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino, CA will be holding a special one-night-only showing of the 128-minute drama on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 7:30 pm. Scheduled to appear in person are film director Ivan Passer and Michal Sedlacek, Consul General of Czech Republic in Los Angeles.
From the press release:
The Shop On Main Street (1965) was the first film from Eastern Europe ever to win an Academy Award. Fifty years ago this powerful Czech drama won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, it was one of the key films in the Czech New Wave that flourished in the 1960s, before the Soviet invasion of 1968 stamped out this vital movement. Josef Kroner...
From the press release:
The Shop On Main Street (1965) was the first film from Eastern Europe ever to win an Academy Award. Fifty years ago this powerful Czech drama won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, it was one of the key films in the Czech New Wave that flourished in the 1960s, before the Soviet invasion of 1968 stamped out this vital movement. Josef Kroner...
- 6/6/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The French New Wave was not the only new wave of the 1960s: during a temporary loosening of the Communist regime’s hold on culture, Czechoslovakia had its own new wave that produced films just as beautiful, witty, exciting, innovative and thought-provoking as the French. The 1960s saw two Czechoslovak winners of the foreign language Oscar: The Shop on Main Street in 1965 and Closely Observed Trains in 1967. Like the French New Wave filmmakers, Czech New Wave directors such as Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová and Jan Němec were well-versed in film history. Although Communism had restricted their access to more recent international trends in film, philosophy, politics, art and literature, during the 1960s Czechoslovak students, artists and intellectuals had greater access to contemporary movements and ideas and embraced them enthusiastically. The country was also able to reconnect with its own artistic and cultural past, formerly repressed by Communism: one major example is the work of Kafka,...
- 2/26/2013
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
★★★★☆ Many a film fan may have gone through life thus far without lavishing an abundance of attention on the cinema of Czechoslovakia - or even, for that matter, being aware of the Czech New Wave. This movement saw films of previously unseen quality coming from the country in the 1960s, including highly regarded work from directors such as the acclaimed Miloš Forman. Now, esteemed UK world cinema distributors Second Run are releasing a collection of three titles from this period: Diamonds of the Night (1964) directed by Jan Němec; Ivan Passer's Intimate Lighting (1965); and The Cremator (1969) by Juraj Herz.
Read more »...
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- 11/27/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
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