Topic: Czechoslovak New Wave

Direction Ján Kadár · Elmar Klos

Cast Josef Kroner · Frantisek Zvarik · Ida Kaminska · Hana Slivkova

Synopsis Tono Briko (Josef Kroner) is a slothful Czechslovakian carpenter. The time is World War II, and the occupying Nazis are nationalizing all Jewish-owned businesses. To please his ambitious family, Tono takes the job of "Aryan comptroller" for a rundown button...

Direction Oldrich Lipský

Cast Vladimir Mensik · Jaroslava Obermajerová · Josef Abrhám · Bohuš Záhorský

Direction Dusan Hanák

Synopsis Pictures of the Old World is an unquestioned masterpiece of European documentary cinema, with existential radicalism that offers a contrast to the shallowness of hundreds of other documentary films showing images from the outskirts of civilization...

Direction Karel Kachyna

Cast Iva Janzurová · Jaromír Hanzlík · Ludek Munzar · Vladimír Ptácek

Synopsis A WW2 story of a young Austrian soldier running from the Russian army and a woman whom he forces to come along in order to save his wounded mate.

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Josef Kemr · Magda Vásáryová · Nada Hejna · Jaroslav Moucka

Synopsis A minor Czech clan falls afoul of the King in medieval times, against the backdrop of Christianity replacing Paganism.

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Petr Cepek · Jan Kacer · Vera Galatíková · Zdenek Kryzánek

Synopsis Ondrej, a young boy who loves bees and bats, is introduced to his new mother, a woman much younger than his father. He brings her a basketful of flowers which she starts to throw in the air and then gives...

Direction Otakar Vávra

Cast Elo Romancik · Vladimír Smeral · Sona Valentová · Josef Kemr

Synopsis A very popular movie on the medieval persecution of witches (inquisition).

Direction Karel Kachyna

Cast Jirina Bohdalová · Radoslav Brzobohatý · Jirí Císler · Miroslav Holub

Synopsis Ludvik, a Communist official, arrives back home with his wife after spending the evening at a government function where he finds out that several of his colleagues have been 'relieved' of their responsibilities. Once he is inside he discovers that...

Direction Juraj Herz

Cast Vlasta Chramostová · Rudolf Hrusínsky · Jiří Menzel · Ilja Prachar

Synopsis Karl works at a crematorium in Prague. Obsessed with his duties, he believes he is not just cremating the dead, but liberating the souls of the departed. With Nazi forces gathering at the Czech border, he descends into a mania...

Direction Stefan Uher

Cast Marián Bielik · Jana Beláková · Olga Salagová · Pavel Chrobak

Synopsis The Sun in a Net is a lyrical story about the emotions arising among two young people who pretend cynicism and rejection towards society in an attempt to hide their insecurities, lack of experience and fear of adult life. It....

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Katerina Irmanovová · Anna Pitasová · Karel Smyczek · Vjaceslav Irmanov

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Miroslav Machácek · Vítezslav Vejrazka · Vít Olmer · Cestmír Randa

Synopsis The story takes place in the early 18th century when a priest arrives in a small town to investigate the rumors that a miller's family, who survived a house burning, are in league with the devil.

Direction Jiří Menzel

Cast Václav Neckár · Josef Somr · Vlastimil Brodsky · Vladimír Valenta

Synopsis At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and...

Direction Jan Švankmajer

Cast Ivan Kraus · Juraj Herz

Synopsis A nondescript man is trapped in a sinister flat, where nothing seems to obey the laws of nature.

Direction Jirí Weiss

Cast Vít Olmer · Karla Chadimová · Frantisek Smolík · Daniela Smutná

Direction Jirí Weiss

Cast Ivan Mistrík · Daniela Smutná · Jirina Sejbalová · Frantisek Smolík

Synopsis Pavel, a young student living in Prague in 1942, hides a Jewish girl in his apartment building's attic. Amidst the brutality of the occupying German army, love blossoms between the two. He is her only link to the outside world.

Direction Vera Chytilová

Cast Jitka Cerhová · Ivana Karbanová · Marie Cesková · Julius Albert

Synopsis Two teenage girls, both named Marie, decide that since the world is spoiled they will be spoiled as well; accordingly they embark on a series of destructive pranks in which they consume and destroy the world about them. This freewheeling,...

Direction Frantisek Vlácil

Cast Petr Cepek · Emma Cerná · Jan Vostrcil · Jana Krupicková

Synopsis In the aftermath of World War II, a former Czech soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family. He falls in love with the daughter, who is now a maid, and is forced to confront the...

Direction Jan Nemec

Cast Ladislav Jánsky · Antonín Kumbera · Irma Bischofova · Ivan Asic

Synopsis Diamonds in the night is the story of two Jewish boys who escape from a train transporting them from one concentration camp to another. Ultimately, they are hunted down by a group of old, armed home-guardists. The film goes beyond...

Direction Vera Chytilová

Cast Vladimir Bosak · Eva Bosáková · Jirí Kodet · Josef Langmiler