Films & Schedules - CZECH REPUBLIC

This riveting, unusual documentary takes a tour of 20th century battlefields through the eyes of those who kept the soldiers fed and fighting: military cooks.

This riveting film opens the door to the secrets of little-known historians to show a dimension of war not found in textbooks or archives. Cooking History presents portraits of various army military cooks from all over Europe who have witnessed the European wars of the 20th century. Their recollections tap into a subjective view of historical events, one that diverges in some respects from conventional beliefs. They take us on a journey through pivotal dates, facts, declarations of war, battles, and peace agreements. The tales they tell convey a sense of life and death in the “war apparatus,” as well as a sense of hope, longing, and survival in the midst of destruction and despair. Kerekes’ look behind “great moments in time” introduces a fresh perspective on European history.

Filmography: About Three Days in Monastary Jasov (94), The Mary-Valery Bridge (00), 66 Seasons (03).

Special Jury Prize, Toronto Hot Docs.

Sponsored by KINK.FM.

88 Minutes     Digital    

Interests: Documentary Views, Narrative Feature, French Language, History.

Set in Nazi-occupied Prague, Protector focuses on the fraying marriage of a radio personality and his Jewish wife. The film asks many questions about love and morality, most importantly, "Who would you betray to save the one you love?"

Set in Nazi-occupied Prague in the late 1930s, Protector is a stylish drama focusing on the marriage of radio journalist Emil (Marek Daniel) and his Jewish wife Hana (Jana Plodková), a famous film star forced to give up her career. While she must lay low, Emil seizes a chance for his own advancement and becomes the official mouthpiece of the Reich. While his position offers a measure of protection to Hana in an increasingly dangerous anti-semitic environment, there is a price to be paid. Their fraying relationship reaches a crisis point after the famed assassination of SS Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, for which Emil becomes a suspect. In Protector, writer/director Najbrt observes a couple suddenly divided along wartime lines to pose the question, “Who would you betray to save the one you love?”

Filmography: Champions (84), Invention of Beauty (94).

This year’s Czech submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

98 Minutes    

Interests: Oscar Submissions, Narrative Feature, Jewish.

Oskar is a devoted family man who, on a whim, decides to cheat on his wife. Thus begins a downward spiral of comedic tragedy that finds him out of a job and in a series of loveless, problematic affairs.

Oskar (Jirí Machácek) is a devoted father, beloved husband, and popular television weatherman. He seems to have it all, but decides that he has fallen out of love with wife Zuzana—mainly because her nose is too big. Oskar cheats on her with the family’s dim Hungarian nanny, his first step on a downward spiral that finds him out of a job and in a series of loveless, problematic affairs. Whatever mid-life quest Oskar is on is not yielding any satisfaction. In the meantime, Zuzana has no problem finding a new partner in divorced single father Matej, aided in no small part by Oskar’s parents. Matej likes her nose just fine. Full of fine details and subtle wit, Hrebejk’s “unromantic” ensemble comedy film skirts tragedy for farce as it explores the mysteries of the male psyche and the tensions between change and stability in a society that manifests both at the same time.

Selected Filmography: Divided We Fall (00), Pupendo (03), Up and Down (04), Beauty in Trouble (06), Teddy Bear (07).

88 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, Comedy.