Jan Čuřík
Camera
Known For

Valerie, a Czechoslovakian teenager living with her grandmother, is blossoming into womanhood, but that transformation proves secondary to the effects she experiences when she puts on a pair of magic earrings. Now seeing the world around her in a different light, Valerie must endure her sexual awakening while attempting to discern reality from fantasy as she encounters lecherous priest Gracian, a vampire-like stranger and otherworldly carnival folk.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

A story of a little girl Verka and her life during the beginning of WWII. Based on Vera Sládková novels.
The Train of Childhood and Expectation

An historical depiction of the events preceding the political murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, would-be emperor of the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914.
The Day That Shook the World

Set in Prague during the years leading up to World War II, this family saga tells the story of a cobbler named Vincenc Bursik (Vladimir Mensik), who uproots his clan from the country to the city, only to suffer the loss of his wife and the failure of his shoe business within months. When his daughter moves away to go live with a wealthy businessman as his mistress, Vincenc is left to take care of his two sons, who spend their days in a secret garden vying for the affections of a teenage girl.
Love Between the Raindrops

This story from the time of the occupation tells how the students of the teachers' institute decided to hold a traditional ball despite the ban. However, they had to cope with conditions more than threatening: the presence of Nazi thugs who intend to execute captured partisans as a warning...
Poslední ples na rožnovské plovárně

A lyrical story from the beginning of 20th century, with the atmosphere of a small-town environment, distinctive characters, and a subtle analysis of human nature. It takes place in a small town in southern Bohemia, where a perceptive adolescent boy experiences his first emotional enchantment and a deep crisis. Helimadoe are also the initial letters of the names of the five distinctive daughters of Hanzelín, a rough country doctor who not only treats a seriously ill boy, but also helps him overcome his painful emotional turmoil with his wisdom.
Helimadoe

To justify their invasion of Poland at the start of WWII, Nazi high command hatches a secret plan: six Polish men from an SS training camp are sent on a special mission to the town of Gleiwitz, to fake a Polish raid on Germany. The ‘provoked’ Germans will thus launch a ‘counterattack’ on Poland.
The Gleiwitz Case

It’s a hot holiday season in the city and Alena is pretty much left to her own little self, fantasizing and running her personal daily rituals, keeping most people at a safe distance, yet trying to get male attention.
Waiting for the Rain
The short story film follows the fate of three young men who will soon have to decide what to do with their lives. The first "Poet", an aspiring author, publishes his first poem, while the sporting career of the second "Rep", a national table tennis player, is disrupted by a maths repartee. The last "Beaver Grizzly" is a tramp more used to solitude, yet he starts a pioneer troop...
Maturita za školou

This wacky musical comedy builds on absurd ideas, parodic humour and many variously subverted references to famous...
Hodinářova svatební cesta korálovým mořem

In her first feature, Věra Chytilová uses a combination of documentary and fiction film techniques to tell two stories in counterpoint. The first follows Olympic champion gymnast Eva Bosáková, who contemplates retirement as she undergoes a gruelling training schedule; the second, a housewife who is unappreciated and ignored by her husband.
Something Different

A Czech psychological film about the school of life, its sorrows and beauties. The main character is a young aspiring nurse Marie Sahulová, who, after a trouble in the hospital - she secretly brought a boy to her boarding school - is transferred to a rural health centre, where together with an old doctor and a peculiar nurse she has to travel around twenty-five villages and a number of solitudes in the harsh environment of the neglected villages of the 1950s. The nurse, a wise and experienced woman whom no one calls anything other than "babi", becomes her guide, who introduces her to the practice and the pitfalls of private life in a distinctive way. In the mosaic of everyday worries and more or less serious medical interventions, Marie matures and finds the meaning of her work and life.
Sestricky

In the 1950s, Ludvik Jahn was expelled from the Communist Party and the University by his fellow students, because of a politically incorrect note he sent to his girlfriend. Fifteen years later, he tries to get his revenge by seducing Helena, the wife of one of his accusers.
The Joke

Five short stories: The Master and the Twentieth Disciple; Every Week is Sunday; It's Boniface's Fault; The Raggedy Song; The Spider's Web.
Pět z milionu

A young, unmarried woman finds herself a "little bit pregnant" and she tries to hide this fact from her mother but it isn't long before the truth is obvious.
A Suburban Romance

Czechoslovakian Zbynek Brynych directs this psychological drama set in World War II Terezin ghetto. A dark, visual portrayal of the trials and tribulations the Theresienstadt people faced on a daily basis presented in a series of memorable stories. Their hopes and dreams unfold against the perpetual threat of deportation (or worse) by the Nazis. Based on the novel "Night and Hope" by Arnost Lustig.
Transport from Paradise

A poetic film about a dove getting lost on its way to Prague getting shot down by a paralyzed boy. An artist who finds the dove becomes friends with the boy. Together they take care of it bringing it back to recovery.
The White Dove
At the centre of the story is Miss Lenka Stříbrná. An attractive, but a little strange young woman. The gym teacher Vasek is shy and very clumsy with women. So he asks his friend, the editor Karel, for help. The experienced seducer willingly seizes the opportunity and tries to win Lenka for himself, but all his efforts fail due to her stubbornness. Gradually, this comedy-tinged love etude gives way to drama. It culminates at an editorial party at the Slap Dam, where all the characters in the story meet unexpectedly and editor Leden finally understands what Miss Silver's flirtation was all about.
Flirt se slečnou Stříbrnou

The late summer of 1918. Paul, Willi and Heinrich from an age-old German town are good friends, although there is a great deal that divides them. Heinrich comes from an officer's family with an army tradition and is preparing to enter cadet college. Paul's father and grandfather are workers, and Willi, left to depend on himself, works as a hotel messenger. The last year of the war is hard for everyone, but while Paul and Willi know their own minds and do not hesitate to help the war fugitives Tony and Sepp, for Heinrich everything is more complicated.
The Island of the Silver Herons

The fate of a tank crew on the most difficult part of the First Czechoslovak Independent Brigade's combat path during World War II. We also follow the fate of its commander, Sergeant Juraj Klimka. During the bloody battles for the Dukel Pass, he falls in love and it turns out that behind the mask of a sovereign, he is actually a shy and sensitive person.