Štěpán Skalský
Directing
Known For

American agents hijack a plane on the Ostrava-Prague route to launch a campaign against the People's Democratic Czechoslovakia. The plane lands in West Germany, but the Americans have an unexpected problem convincing the hijackers to stay in the West. Based on a true story.
Kidnapped

Mr. Angel goes winter sporting and at the same time investigates his son's fiancee.
Angel in the Mountains
The achievements of socialism must be protected by all means - and it can even be fun. The Svazarmov paratroopers convince the casual cooperative members that the military education of the population must not be underestimated; they simply carry out an ambush.
Návštěva z oblak

The plot begins in the Soviet Union showing first efforts to establish the Czechoslovak legion in 1942. The film also shows the assassination of Heydrich and the subsequent annihilation of Lidice. The main topis of the film is battles with German troops for Sokolovo.
Sokolovo

A film about a young sanitation worker who tries to prevent the pollution of a river, but pays the price...
Čistá řeka

Civil engineer Luděk Turna accepts an attractive offer from a Prague design office. He tries to get ahead even at the cost of deception, but he recovers in time and voluntarily leaves to build a motorway...
Hřiště

This feature film based on the events of 1938 is a chronicle of the futile efforts of the Czechoslovak president Edvard Benes (Jirí Pleskot), politicians and ordinary citizens, to save the independence and the territorial integrity of the state from the advance of Hitler's Germany. On the 29th of March 1938 the leader of the Sudeten Germans Henlein (Werner Ehrlicher) has a meeting with Hitler (Gunnar Möller). Hitler orders him to intensify pressure on the Czechoslovak government. On the 24th of April in Carlsbad, the Sudetendeutsche Partei (Sudeten German Party) decides upon eight demands that are unacceptable to the Czechoslovak President, since they would ultimately lead to the break-up of the Republic. Benes still shows a certain willingness to negotiate, and Henlein resents this. The Germans are determined to make further negotiations impossible through incidents and violence.
Days of Betrayal

In the era of normalization, even seemingly buried agent stories came back. This one takes place in the immediate post-war years and tells the story of the discovery of a spy network that an American diplomat was spinning on Czech territory. He was unsuccessful: first, a close associate, who was proven to have collaborated with the Nazis during the war, committed suicide, followed by the intervention of the vigilant Security Service. However, the fleeing Americans were joined "in return" by a Czechoslovak agent... This naive adventure story could hardly be taken seriously. The book, which served as the basis for the film, was written based on actual events that took place in 1948.
Quiet American in Prague

Several bittersweet stories set in a Prague apartment building.
At the Terminus

The sad hero of the story, Petr, an ordinary lawyer in a construction company, is crowded into a small apartment in Žižkov with his wife and grandparents, desperately struggling with the lack of money. One day he offers an old man a seat on a crowded trolley bus and is generously rewarded for his good deed, for the unknown old man is a fabulous grandfather. He gives Peter a magic bell and the opportunity to make three wishes, but the first two slip through his fingers. For the third, the astonished man must take time to think...
Three Wishes

The story of two communist friends, one of whom leaves as secretary to the district committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the other remains in the village as a party agitator.
Passing Through a Thick Forest

The family is connected with Prague's "Kolbenka", the ČKD locomotive factory. Grandfather Antonín, already retired, son Rudolf, a master in the locomotive assembly section and grandson Antonín, a promising football player. The film also tells the story of Rudolf's daughter Vera - each generation has its own ideas about life and cannot identify with the others. The film is linked by retrospective sequences from the lives of Antonín the Elder and Rudolf, especially from the war years. It is a realistic take on working-class life, unencumbered by ideology (despite the opening dedication), featuring well-known and time-tested actors in mainly male roles.
The Black Dynasty

As a young actor František Lukávec and his teacher Vladimir Tuma became enemies. František insisted that Tuma was dismissed from the school as a reactionary and hostile to the new government. Many years passed, and here they met again on the stage of a theater. František is assigned the role of Julius Fucik, Tuma plays the role of a Gestapo man in the same play. In the course of the action, the Gestapo man beats Fucik. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tuma beats up his old enemy during the dress rehearsal. Frantisek's face is bleeding, but he will still play. The rehearsal continues...
Zkouška pokračuje
Based on a real event - the shooting of a group of working-class children on 20 April 1930 in Radotín. Thirteen-year-old Boženka‘s mother works as a laundress, and Boženka and her two younger siblings are not living on a bed of roses.
Zakázaný výlet

Czechoslovak counter-espionage intercepts a coded message from the West German secret service ordering death for an unknown person on Czech territory.
The Angel of Blissful Death

A group of union members, impressed by the First World Festival of Democratic Youth, held in Prague in 1947, decide to found a dance troupe. However, they are looking for someone who can teach them everything they need...
Zítra se bude tančit všude

Sherlock Holmes likes to play violin and expects a great career in music. He gets a place in a spa orchestra, but he is again and again distracted by criminal cases. Therefore he is the only one who does not see that his violin has no future. He solves the criminal mysteries in passing but the final test shows that the famous detective is tone-deaf.
Touha Sherlocka Holmese
Approaches to important life values can vary: while the top athlete who has made it in cycling tries to monetise his talent, his brother cannot devote himself to his beloved sculpture because of his disabled arm and seeks alternative self-fulfilment. Moreover, the two are united - and at the same time divided - by a love affair with the same woman.
Všechno nebo nic
In a South Bohemian village in 1951, the local rich organize acts of sabotage and try to stop the establishment of an agricultural cooperative with threatening letters and arson. A kulak's son even secretly returns from the West to terrorize the village with his brother. However, the ordinary villagers stand up to them.
Přicházejí z tmy

Biography of Karel Čapek.