Josef Váchal

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.

The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.

Od začiatku až do kolísky – 80 rokov Petra Lipu

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

During his lifetime, he commanded the burning of his complete stock of works, letters and writings after his passing away. Fortunately, his publisher and friend didn't carry out his wish and has in this way saved a crucial piece of world literature. But who really was the graduate lawyer Franz Kafka? The TV documentary reveals that his narratives and novels were not as incomprehensible as many might claim. Several text passages are cinematically implemented and, by doing so, easier to understand. The documentary proceeds towards Kafka's stages of life. To Prague, obviously. To Vienna and to the Baltic Sea, where he eventually found his last love. Going further into the question why he never seemed to come to fulfillment with anyone, even though he was popular among women. Theatre and opera performances, «The Trial» at the Salzburg Festival complete the film as well as investigations at the «Oxford Research Centre», which targets Kafka in its studies.

An intimate documentary about the life and times of Swiss poet and folk singer Mani Matter (1936-1972), seen from his friends' perspective.

Edvard Munch was one of the most important artists in the period between the 19th and 20th centuries. His motif Skrik (The Scream), repeated in several techniques, became part of the 20th-century world subconsciousness – an image of fear and loneliness most people probably know, even if they have no idea who created it.

The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making of her groundbreaking album, Back to Black that catapulted Winehouse to global fame. Told through Amy’s eyes and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film explores and embraces the many layers of the iconic artist and the tumultuous love story at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.

A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

Impression and interpretation: A film that relies on sensory techniques to tell a story about depression, alienation and ultimately loneliness.

A cinematic portrait of farmer and writer Wendell Berry. Through his eyes, we see both the changing landscapes of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture and the redemptive beauty in taking the unworn path.

While looking for new tenants for his seaside villa, surrounded by a big garden, Andrea Ricoli, a 50-years old architect, meets Rossana, a newly 40-years old, anaesthesiologist at the local hospital, and married to Riccardo, ten years younger than her: he's an aspiring writer, temporarily employed as a salesman at a local shoe store. During an eventful New Year's Eve, Andrea introduces Riccardo to a Maghreb restaurant owner - who is interested in restoring an attic apartment - and his lovely sister Hikma. Months go by. Andrea discovers that Hikma is pregnant with Riccardo's child, while she's struggling with her old-fashioned, fundamentalist brother's mentality. He offers to help the couple and let them stay with him in his villa. Teaching him how to care for his garden, the young Hikma reminds Andrea of his wife Sofia, who passed away right there four years earlier, in unclear circumstances...

This is a story of a seemingly quiet and unobtrusive man, author of a colossal and partly unfinished literary work. We will try to trace back to the origins of his inspiration so as to understand why his work met and still meets with so much success. How did JRR Tolkien manage, through the power of words alone, to so widely instill wisps of magic in the midst of a particularly disenchanted 20th century?

On March 2, 1955, like every day, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old black girl from Alabama, bought her ticket at the front of the bus, but had to get on the back. If the front is reserved for White, when they have no more room, Black must give up theirs, to the rear. It's the law. But that day, the teenager refuses to give way to a White. Claudette Colvin says no. Arrested, she pleaded not guilty and sued the city, a first. However, we will not make an example of it. We will wait for Rosa Parks, a lighter-skinned seamstress, who, nine months after Claudette, will make the same gesture, soon supported by the young Martin Luther King. History is on the move. Claudette Colvin allowed everything, but she is the one we have forgotten.