Václav Erben

Biography of the life of Guillaume Apollinaire.

During the First World War, the crooks Scholef and Krumka sell weapons on the black market. After the collapse of the monarchy they try their hand at speculation on a grand scale.

An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writings by Bohumil Hrabal.

A loose sequel to the 1976 comedy Stormy Wine. The screenwriters and the director recreate on screen a number of characters from the South Moravian town of Pálavice, characterised by their different attitudes and approaches to work and private life. A number of serious issues touching on the times emerge around the story of the con man. The fundamental dispute between the vice-chairman Janák and the chairman of the merged cooperatives ing. Urban, as well as the satirical theme of illegal machinations and bribes, are undoubtedly of general validity.

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.

At the center of the crime story is the very large Kremp family, living in the family villa with other relatives and a subtenant. The parents had four adult children, two sons and two daughters, one of whom recently died. The investigation focuses on the recent death of their son Jan. The young man was considered the family "fool", whom no one except his mother liked, because he played various mischievous tricks on everyone. However, his death, as Captain Exner investigates, was not an unfortunate accident, but a murder. Who could have been interested in his death? Was the murderer someone from the immediate family? Captain Exner is looking for a motive...

A detective story revolving around an ancient treasure from the ninth century, believed to have been destroyed during World War II, takes place in an archaeological environment. Its main character is, alongside Captain Exner, who is investigating a strange murder committed on the premises of a scientific institute, a young student at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Slovak Republic, Kamila Housková, who discovers that the treasure was not destroyed, but most likely stolen. The bright girl continues her search for the treasure against Captain Exner's will and leads the investigators to a trail that proves the connection between the lost treasure and the murdered woman...

The popular Moravanka brass band performs at the fair. Vasek Pivoňka, the bandleader of the local brass band Kulatěnky, which broke up, decides to put the band back together. The village musicians are sceptical at first, but later they start rehearsing with vigour. Standa, a Prague resident who is working in a pig farm to cure his nerves, helps them to organise the concert. He really likes Evica Kocourková, but her father keeps an eye on her. Young Šišák tries to charm the teacher Olina. Before the performance can begin, the band must succeed before the cultural committee. However, they fail to do so. The disappointed musicians play for themselves at the station and suddenly they are successful. Standa comes up with an idea how to push Kulatěnka through without the permission of the commission. A concert of Moravanka is being prepared in nearby Nechvalin.

In a chateau near Prague there is a chantry and brothel Riviera, designed for the clientele from the higher circles. Mrs. Gábi Stolařová, called Madame, keeps a close eye on order, but otherwise she runs the place in a family spirit and makes sure that the customers are satisfied. A new employee, the beautiful Renata, disrupts the order of things and immediately draws the attention of all the guests to herself. But beneath her angelically innocent exterior, she hides a fierce ambition and a coldly calculating brain, which, to her own detriment...

Captain Exner solves another detective mystery - this time while he's on vacation. The most elegant of Czech crime novelists has chosen a quiet town called Opolná as his place of well-deserved rest. But just as he arrives, the local shoemaker Rambousek, a famous (and wealthy) naive painter, is murdered.

In 1947 by the Beskid mountains, the traces of war still linger, destroyed tanks dispersed throughout the farmland creating an eerie backdrop. This film follows a ten-year-old boy and the strange visions he encounters, his world of fantasy exacerbated with ample time, space, and a lack of companionship or guidance. We see the adults that influence and dominate his life, for better or for worse. Surreal and packed with an excellent study of human emotions and motivations compounded by their rural, isolated vacuum of a town, this is a timeless and severely underrated film from a brilliant Czech director.

A bitterly funny look at the beginning of a young teacher's career, based on Halina Pawlowska's first screenplay, which she wrote while still a student.

A divorced single mother romances a young slaughterhouse worker, must to the chagrin of her ex-husband.

In a South Moravian wine-growing village in the early 1970s lives an old man who cannot accept the attitude of the younger generation towards nature and agriculture. Director Hynek Bočan made a number of films based on Jan Kostrhun's drafts, mostly set in the South Moravian environment (including The Face Behind the Glass), but the portraits were very flat. Relationships between people were often depicted in predictable schemes. The hero this time is an old villager who is struggling to cope with the changes in his attitude to nature and to agricultural work in general. He sees his only hope in his grandson, to whom he tries to pass on his life experience.

A quarter century after the release of the original film, this sequel brings us a drama about platonic love, life retrospective and memories. Former schoolmates meet again in the mountains and it turns out they have not changed much. Even though so many years have passed, we can still see the souls of boys and girls we know from the teenage comedy Snowdrops and Aces; kids who participated in that legendary skiing course. Its nostalgic humour gives the film a bitter-sweet touch. Thawing Out follows the lives of the main heroes during a period of great changes. How did they manage to escape the traps and what scars have they suffered? Where did they want to go, how far have they got and what is still in front of them?

Children join folklore groups at an early age, but their relationship to them is formed only gradually, there are more than enough external stimuli that affect them. However, the prospect of performing abroad changes their relationship to folk songs and dances and disrupts their previously strong friendships. Although the film deals with child protagonists and is also aimed at a child audience, it can undoubtedly appeal to adults as well, as it tackles issues affecting parents.

Vera, wife of the plumber Simandl (Josef Somr), is found murdered in the cinema next to the IDOC (Information and Documentation) agency where she worked. Police captain Marha (Frantisek Nemec), who is leading the investigation, is informed by Simandl that on the day of the murder Vera promised to bring home fifty thousand crowns to buy a car. Marha's primary suspects are the three men working at the agency: deputy editor-in-chief Brandl (Jirí Pleskot) and editors Pernata (Eduard Cupák) and Remes (Ludek Munzar, and of course also Simandl.

Even under socialism, it was not advisable to cross the line between rich and poor. When a mason's apprentice falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family who lives in a magnificent villa during his first thug, he can hardly expect his feelings to be fulfilled. The schematic and lifeless depiction of the young generation has hardly contributed to a truer view of contemporary reality.

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