The Ear

In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.

In the film, the creative forces of personalities from three spheres of art collide. The subtitle "The Game of Love and Hate" refers to the motivation of an old Czech medieval satire, the theme belongs to Antonín Přidal, an expert on this subject. His collaboration with Juraj Herz created a collage of past and present, an updated, sharp satire and a parable about the clash of human qualities that could not but end up in the vault. The music of the Prague Selection - Michael Kocáb and Michal Pavlíček - also contributed to the film's offensive provocativeness - the film was one of the reasons for their complete move to the underground. The dancing chorus of medieval citizens resembles more of a jumble of long-haired maniacs, the edge of a contemporary dump intrudes into the space of a medieval marketplace, and the characters oscillate between the past and the present, whether in their appearance, symbolism or behaviour.

A successful scientist dares to openly and forcefully criticize the unproductive activities of the institute in which he works. He draws attention to outdated procedures and also to the fact that scientific work must not fall into the abyss of mediocrity and everyday grayness, so typical of the entire society. Will his career withstand this situation?

Matylda, who lives in the Czech countryside, is trying to arrange burial plans for her dying husband, Jan. While Matylda hopes to have a funeral for Jan in the small town where they once lived, there are complications. Years earlier, Jan spoke out against the Communist government and was consequently expelled from the town. When Matylda fails to convince a local politician to allow the ceremony, she uses her husband's funeral as a public show of dissent.

A young teacher is sent to a rural reform school, where he is faced with brutality of the inmates.

A day in the life of Arnošt, a soldier staying in Josefov. A sense of desperation permeates the environment as well as the mind of the protagonist. It is sunday, and saturday left just a hangover. Days go by, nothing changes. A metaphor for the political situation in the Czech lands at a time where depicting a soldier as a drunk was considered out of place to say the least.

A television recording of a theatrical production of Alfred Jarry's absurd drama about the gluttonous, gluttonous, compulsive and unscrupulous Father Ubo, who, with the generous advice of his ambitious wife, gets rid of the Polish king and seizes his throne. He establishes a reign of terror in which he only cares about his own benefit, so it is not surprising that the people rebel against him. The recording was made at the end of July 1968 and, thanks to a copy saved from destruction during the normalization period, was first published in 1990.

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.

Jan 69

A run-of-the-mill family is terrorized by strangers dressed in military garb who invade their private realm.

At the break of dawn, teenagers Axel and Love are on the way home after a night out partying. As the sun rises, they start to see each other in a whole new light... Elin Övergaard's remarkably tender portrait of the struggle to say what you mean to the person you care for the most packs a considerable emotive punch in only just a few minutes.

In the French Basque Country, near Saint-Jean-les-Bains, young man Julien (Noriega) finds a corpse, buried with jewels, in an abandoned car near a ravine. Julien cannot resist the temptation and takes the jewels with him. He later learned from the press that the man in the car was killed. Maria (Galiena), the boarding lady who accommodates Julien, brings him into contact with a healer. Julien and Maria become lovers, cash in on the loot and flee. It is quite obvious that this does not lead to a happy ending and that the opportunistic amateur thief is confronted with professional criminals. Galiena, in particular, as an Italian hotel keeper, Maria, impresses in a beautiful drama written by Valérie Bonnier, Carlos Perez-Merinero, Luis Maria and Robert Valey.

Violinist Danielle Turner returns to her hometown for her final show of the tour. While home she sets out to repair her relationship with her sister, Heidi, but Danielle’s dream boyfriend, James the Conductor of the Orchestra, has a dangerous and obsessive wife, who is waiting to extract her vengeance on Danielle.