Jan Šmíd

Probuzení

During the Nazi occupation of a Czech city civilians are being rounded up on the slightest of pretexts and shot. One day three high school boys who crack jokes about a recently deceased "hero of the Reich" are pulled out of school by the Gestapo.

Chicken on Travels

In Vražda v hotelu Excelsior, the interwar period homicide detective squad from Prague investigates the murder of a wealthy woman, Mrs Matoušová, which threatens the reputation of the eponymous luxury hotel popular with Prague’s elite. Even the retired police inspector Mrázek (František Filipovský), who works at the Excelsior as a hotel detective, is unable to help at first. Although the investigation inevitably uncovers the hotel staff’s scheming, Vacátko and his team unerringly follow the trail that leads them to the murderer…

Šťastný domov

Osení

Czechoslovakian Zbynek Brynych directs this psychological drama set in World War II Terezin ghetto. A dark, visual portrayal of the trials and tribulations the Theresienstadt people faced on a daily basis presented in a series of memorable stories. Their hopes and dreams unfold against the perpetual threat of deportation (or worse) by the Nazis. Based on the novel "Night and Hope" by Arnost Lustig.

In a wooden hut used as a canvassing center, members of a children's puppet-theatre group are rehearsing for a production about a journey to the Moon. The goings-on inside the hut and outside are being closely followed by amateur detective Pepik Barnabás. He, however, is the first to be under suspicion when a trunk containing puppets goes missing. The children follow him but, when they catch up with him, they discover he hasn't got it. Pepík offers to help them in their search.

The happenings in a shoe factory serve as a not very thinly veiled examination of the pros and cons of both socialism and democracy.

La Chanson du mal-aimé

Hříšní lidé města pražského