Ladislav Helge

Television series Golden Sixties examines new insights into Czech and Slovak cinema of the 1960s and the role of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Each episode focuses on a different filmmaker.

In southern Moravia, in the native village of Velka Samota, a ministry official returns from Prague to lift the declining JZD he helped establish.

A new teacher with high standards and a strong sense of duty replaces an easy grader. Once bad grades begin to pile up, a product of his predecessor's subservience to the system, the new teacher has to stand up for himself and his students.

Autumn 1944, the Slovak National Uprising is suppressed and the fighters must withdraw to the mountains. Commander Repta’s unit takes along the thirteen-year old Zuzka, who lost her home and all her relatives in the rebellion. But the enemy brutally pursues them and Repta therefore must divide his unit. The withdrawal is covered by the group commanded by Peter, whose members almost all die in an exchange of fire with the German soldiers. The only one to survive is the severely wounded Peter. Zuzka, of whom everybody forgot in the zeal of the fight, hides him from the Germans. As soon as Peter is able to walk, he and Zuzka set off to meet their co-fighters.

Frona Filípková, out of a desire for a better life, married Floriš Zobač on the land. However, the ownership of the land has affected both her husband and her father-in-law, who, out of hatred, intrigue against the emerging agricultural cooperative and against each other, so Frona looks for a way to free herself.

People in Czechoslovakia perceive the events of February 1948 differently. This movie tells how they behave depending on their views, beliefs and character.

The family of Prague greengrocer Pavlas was among the first immigrants to settle in the border village of Severov. Together, the new residents manage to harvest their first harvest on time and successfully - but they will have to uncover a German saboteur posing as the manager of a sawmill...

Thirty-year-old worker Oldřich Olejník is a pub and wine bar worker, because he is celebrating the birth of his son. It is no wonder that he ends up in the detention center. This is how he meets seventeen-year-old Jirka Kouba. The troubled young man, who was nicknamed Žluťásek because of the color of his favorite T-shirt, left his job after numerous conflicts. His father disappeared for no apparent reason and his mother could not cope with it. Therefore, Žluťásek spends most of his time in a gang led by the bankrupt actor Ancek. Oldřich, in whom paternal qualities have awakened for understandable reasons, begins to take an interest in and care for Žluťásek. In addition to breaking through Žluťásek's initial distrust, this will also mean getting to know Ancek and his dubious gang...

Karel Doležal, insurance clerk and exemplary father of a family, leaves for a business trip with his secretary Vlasta. After spending the night together, they both return home. However, thanks to a small moment of inattention, they run over the boys. Karel runs away from the scene of the crime. He won't tell anyone what happened. Then when he reads in the newspaper that the boy did not survive the accident, he begins to feel guilty. He confides in his wife about the accident, not the infidelity. Their son Jirka overhears everything. His father has always been his role model, and that's why he doesn't want to accept his guilt.

The drama offers Arnošt Pánek, chairman of the National Committee, as the protagonist of the story. Pánek is disturbed by news of the arrest of his protégé Kvasil – chairman of a JZD agricultural cooperative in the nearby village of Spádová. He is responsible for the revival of a neglected village, but is now accused of theft, fraud, and – on top of that – the rape of an under-aged girl.

An outdated fireclay factory is due to close, but its long-time employees can't imagine stopping what has fed them all their lives and what they do best...

Orphan Jirka lives alone with his grandfather by the river. He spends all his free time by the water and does not grow up with the other children. His biggest dream is to catch a big pike, which he knows that he can't do without friends. ► International Film Festival of Documentary and Experimental Films Montevideo - 1956 - 1st Main Prize (Distributor's Official Text)