Czech It Out: Award-Winning Czech Films at SFPL | San Francisco Public Library

Loves of a blond

DVD - 2002

Poignant, stylish, and painfully funny, this early film by director Milos Forman uses non-actors and documentary style photography to depict the romantic ...Show more Poignant, stylish, and painfully funny, this early film by director Milos Forman uses non-actors and documentary style photography to depict the romantic dreams and disappointments of the story’s rural teenage heroine. A masterpiece of the Czech New Wave! Show less

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The shop on Main Street

DVD - 2001

This dramatic, Oscar-winning film revolves around Tony, a poor Slovakian carpenter. When Tony is unexpectedly appointed the Aryan minder of an elderly Jewish widow, he struggles with his conscience and with his neighbors’ cynical embrace of fascism. This dramatic, Oscar-winning film revolves around Tony, a poor Slovakian carpenter. When Tony is unexpectedly appointed the Aryan minder of an elderly Jewish widow, he struggles with his conscience and with his neighbors’ cynical embrace of fascism. Show less

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Ostře sledované vlaky

DVD - 2001

One of the greatest Czech films ever made, Closely Watched Trains recounts a young train dispatcher’s sexual awakening during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. This slyly subversive movie won the 1968 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. One of the greatest Czech films ever made, Closely Watched Trains recounts a young train dispatcher’s sexual awakening during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. This slyly subversive movie won the 1968 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Show less

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Alice

& Darkness Light Darkness

DVD - 2000

Czech animation master Jan Swankmajer presents a dark, surrealistic interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, in which Alice follows a demoni...Show more Czech animation master Jan Swankmajer presents a dark, surrealistic interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, in which Alice follows a demonic rabbit through a decaying landscape littered with broken, discarded objects and nightmarish toys. Show less

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Marketa Lazarová

DVD - 2013

Surrealistic, expressionistic, chaotic, and compelling, this stunningly photographed film portrays the violent feuding of medieval Czech and German tribes with documentary-like immediacy. Surrealistic, expressionistic, chaotic, and compelling, this stunningly photographed film portrays the violent feuding of medieval Czech and German tribes with documentary-like immediacy. Show less

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Perliky na dn

Pearls of the deep

DVD - 2012

This anthology of short films presents five brilliant, stylistically diverse features based on stories by the author Bohumil Hrabal. Irony, melancholy, and comic resolve suffuse these early gems by directors who pioneered the Czech New Wave. This anthology of short films presents five brilliant, stylistically diverse features based on stories by the author Bohumil Hrabal. Irony, melancholy, and comic resolve suffuse these early gems by directors who pioneered the Czech New Wave. Show less

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Vsichni dobri rodaci

All my good countrymen

DVD - 2008

In the aftermath of World War II, seven friends jockey for power as their Moravian village abruptly transitions to Communist rule and collective farming. ...Show more In the aftermath of World War II, seven friends jockey for power as their Moravian village abruptly transitions to Communist rule and collective farming. Opportunism supplants idealism in this film with a subtle but devastating critique of power and ideology. Show less

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Nocní hovory s matkou

DVD - 2005

Jan Nemec directs and stars in this eccentric meditation on his dysfunctional relationship with his deceased mother. Talking while filming through a disto...Show more Jan Nemec directs and stars in this eccentric meditation on his dysfunctional relationship with his deceased mother. Talking while filming through a distorting a fish-eye lens, the garrulous, charismatic director engages friends, drinking companions, and a concerned ex-wife. Show less

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Kolya

DVD - 2002

Set in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia, this charming, bittersweet film chronicles the friendship that develops between an aging, womanizing cellist, Louka, and...Show more Set in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia, this charming, bittersweet film chronicles the friendship that develops between an aging, womanizing cellist, Louka, and a young Russian boy, Kolya, who unexpectedly becomes Louka’s ward. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Show less

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Sedmikrásky

Daisies

DVD - 2012

2 Classic Czech Films: “Daisies” and “Report on the Party and Guests.” 1. Daisies. Banned upon its release in 1966, director Chytilova’s daring, anarchic ...Show more 2 Classic Czech Films: “Daisies” and “Report on the Party and Guests.” 1. Daisies. Banned upon its release in 1966, director Chytilova’s daring, anarchic film follows the adventures of two teenage girls who cheerfully reject all notions of propriety and authority. Girls just want to have fun! 2. Report on the Party and Guests. Mixing dark humor with paranoia, Report on the Party exposes how social and political oppression propagate through ordinary actions and conversations. This chilling fable about totalitarianism begins with a picnic and ends with a manhunt. Show less

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Valerie and her week of wonders

DVD - 2015

When a young woman named Valerie loses herself in erotic daydreams, a stream of gorgeous, surrealistic imagery floods the jumbled scenes of this vampire-infused fairy tale for adults. When a young woman named Valerie loses herself in erotic daydreams, a stream of gorgeous, surrealistic imagery floods the jumbled scenes of this vampire-infused fairy tale for adults. Show less

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La planète sauvage

Fantastic planet

DVD - 2007

This stunningly beautiful and surrealistic animated film presents a race of enslaved aliens, the Oms, who revolt against their giant blue alien masters, the Traags. Fantastic Planet was a unique Czech-French coproduction. This stunningly beautiful and surrealistic animated film presents a race of enslaved aliens, the Oms, who revolt against their giant blue alien masters, the Traags. Fantastic Planet was a unique Czech-French coproduction. Show less

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Rozmarné léto

Capricious summer

DVD - 2012

2 Classic Czech Films: “Capricious Summer” and “The Joke.” 1. Capricious Summer. Director Jiri Menzel stars in this gentle comedy about three friends—a ...Show more 2 Classic Czech Films: “Capricious Summer” and “The Joke.” 1. Capricious Summer. Director Jiri Menzel stars in this gentle comedy about three friends—a bathhouse owner, a retired major, and a literature-loving priest—whose summer doldrums end with the arrival of a traveling magician and his entrancing blonde assistant. 2. The Joke. Based on Milan Kundera’s first novel, this film follows the misadventures of Ludvik, a young man imprisoned for a political joke he scribbled on a post card. Ludvik’s absurd attempt at revenge fails to dispel his melancholy. Show less

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Private century

DVD - 2008

This captivating documentary tells the stories of ordinary Czech families through the medium of their home movies. The film’s brilliant montage and ironic...Show more This captivating documentary tells the stories of ordinary Czech families through the medium of their home movies. The film’s brilliant montage and ironic off-screen narration illuminate the personal and political significance of deceptively ordinary events. Show less

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