Coverage

THE FILM CLAPPERBOARDS HAVE BRIGHTENED UP THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES

Today I’ll make it a bit light-hearted. No boring press release! Journalists will forgive me and maybe those mentioned won’t be offended! So here it goes – the first opening of the Film Clapperboards exhibition, and it’s immediately in the Czech political arena – in the Chamber of Deputies. Maybe not everyone’s aware of it, but those are our Film Clapperboards. It doesn’t matter, I’ll explain it quickly so that those who already know about it won’t be too annoyed by having to read it. It’s called the Mini Salon of Film Clapperboards: a bunch of clapperboards are made and sent out to creative types. These guys turn the clapperboards into art pieces and send them back to our address. We, that is, Film Festival Zlín, then put these clappy-things on display a few time and then auction them off at the end of the festival. The proceeds then to go student projects at Film School Zlín. In other words, creative artists and bidders support filmmaking students at Zlín’s festival. Beautiful. And it’s been going on for 12 years! 1202 clapperboards have been auctioned. The payoff? Hold on to your hats - 18 million! But back to the Chamber of Deputies. At the opening of the exhibition. Monday March 29, 6 pm. The first exhibition this year in the Atrium of the lower chamber under the auspices of a friend of the festival and a deputy in the Chamber, Tomáš Úlehla. Thanks to our trio of installers, M. Skaunicová, P. Metela, and L. Kamenský, the clapperboards really made use of the space! They look good there. They fit the space there… I guess you know what I mean. Though the journey was full of the thorough ladies at the reception desk, security, police, frisking and other security measures, the subsequent complicated way through corridors, art lovers who wouldn’t get out of the way and an Atrium filled to nearly 200. It kicked off at 6 pm. An opening by Jan Čenský, classic. Then the festival’s artistic director Petr Koliha. Standing in for the absent Tomáš Úlehla, his wife Pavlina gave a speech. To put it precisely, she read Tom’s letter. A beautiful woman beautifully read a beautiful letter. Then Čenský invited Kristán Kodet and Jan Saudek to say something. Both were relaxed, smiling, funny. Kristián Kodet confessed his love for the festival, Jan Saudek was holding a small daughter – Anička, I think. She was playing with the microphone and when he finished, she babbled something. It was spontaneous and cute. At the end of all the talking J. Čenský forced two attendees to put on a short sketch about a director and a cameraman. The boys were pleasantly embarrassed. Though made to follow Čenský’s reading, the scene turned out well in the end. What else? Visitors checked out the clapperboards, took pictures, a TV station shot everything, friends talked. The party was interesting. The mood too. No scandals. We had slivovitz with us. We take it with us everywhere. Among the megafamous painters there were also Jan Kanyza and Miloš Nesvadba. Deputy Tlustý watched everything from a window. When everything ended and I wandered through the corridors till I got outside, where I discovered spring on Prague’s night time ancient streets under the beautifully illuminated Prague Castle. My female friends were nowhere nearby, so I went to Balbínka for a beer. Hladík jr. was playing there. Excellent! Best regards from M. Pášma PS. The Clapperboards will be accessible to the public from April 27 at the Hybernia Theatre in Prague.

DER FILMZAUBERKÜNSTLER IN BERLIN (DER BERLINALERAPPORT :-))

KAREL ZEMAN HAS ARROUSED SOME INTEREST AMONG THE GUESTS AT THE BERLINALE

The Film Magician Karel Zeman photography exhibition had its official opening on Tuesday February 16, 2010 at 7PM within the exhibition halls of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Berlin. Two hundred invited guests took part at both the opening of the exhibition and the following cocktail party, which were part of Film Festival Zlín’s presentation at the Berlinale. The motley assortment of nationalities provided the exhibition’s opening with a cosmopolitan character.

The Film Magician Karel Zeman exhibition was open to the public as early as Friday February 11 at the Czech Embassy in Berlin located at Wilhelmstrasse 44. Because most of the guests of the Berlinale film festival had already arrived over the past weekend, the organizer of the exhibition (Film Festival Zlín in cooperation with the Czech Centre in Berlin and the embassy) decided to arrange the official opening of the exhibition as early as Tuesday February 16, 2010.

The opening of the exhibition was inaugurated by the outstanding and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany JUDr. Rudolf Jindrák, who recalled in his speech the fine tradition of Zlín’s film studio, the personalities connected with it and the significance of the International Film Festival for Children and Youth at the global level. Following the ambassador and host R. Jindrák, the artistic director of Film Festival Zlín, Petr Koliha, also delivered a speech. In his speech he introduced the main topics of the upcoming special anniversary, among which loomed the retrospective of Czech and Slovak cinema.

In closing, Mr. Koliha introduced the general director of the Czech Centre, Michael W. Pospíšil, to the public. His attendance at the exhibition’s opening had two immediate significances. One is that the Czech Centres are partners in the world tour of the exhibition, the second is that Michael W. Pospíšil, as an eleven-year-old boy, once played a child role in Zeman’s film The Stolen Airship and can be found in one of the photographs making up the Film Magician Karel Zeman exhibition.

After the general director of the Czech Centre M.W. Pospíšil greeted those present, Petr Koliha declared the exhibition open and invited attendees to view it. This was followed by a party and free entertainment.

The opening of the exhibition was graced by the presence of representatives of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: president Jiří Bartoška, program director Eva Zaoralová and executive director Kryštof Mucha. Among foreign guests there were (among others): Jay Jeon (acting director of IFF, Pusan, South Korea), Adrian Wootton (executive director of the London Film Festival, Great Britain), Rafael Maluenda (director of the film festival in Valencia, Spain), Justin Johnson (head of operations of BFI Southbank and the London Film Festival), Sannette Naeyé (director of Cinekid Film Festival, Netherlands), Mika Anntolainen (festival coordinator of the Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival, Finland), Krister Kjellström (director of BUFF - The International and Young People’s Film Festival, Sweden).

The Film Magician Karel Zeman exhibition is located at the Czech embassy in Berlin on 44 Wilhelmstrasse street and is open for viewing nearly the entire period of the Berlinale film festival, from February 12 – 21. It will be open every day from 2pm to 6pm. After February 21, Berliners and visitors to the capital city of the Federal Republic of Germany will be able to admire the exhibition every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, likewise from 2pm to 6pm.

About the Famous Wandering Pterodactyl and ...

About the Famous Wandering Pterodactyl and Its Return to Its Native Nest

Autor: Martin Pášma

The film studios in Zlín have come up with a new story. In a variation on the “Zeman” themes being revived this year due to the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a puppet in the likeness of a pterodactyl will be playing a major role.

Our story starts in 1955 when the then forty-five-year-old artist, director and animator Karel Zeman was shooting his famous film Journey to the Beginning of Time. It was at this time that the filmmaker – already renowned and having several valuable trophies under his belt from international film festivals – was making a puppet pterodactyl with his colleagues, along with many other prehistoric creatures. Compared to the real pterodactyls that lived on Earth 65 million years ago, Zeman’s is very small. While the extinct pterodactyls had a wingspan from 50 cm to 2.5 m, the puppet used by filmmakers in Journey to the Beginning of Time has a wingspan of scarcely 30 centimetres. Even thus, the lifelike pterodactyl earns the words “good job” in this legendary film.

As the ‘50s turn into the ‘60s Zeman is in prime form. After Journey to the Beginning of Time, which overwhelmed the world and triumphed at the festival in Venice, two more knockout films come along – The Fabulous World of Jules Verne in 1958 and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen about three years later. The former conquered the Expo 58 in Brussels, the latter won at Cannes. Karel Zeman shoots another film, The Stolen Airship, in 1966 and is already known as a world-famous filmmaker. One of the child roles was played by Michael W. Pospíšil, who was just eleven years old at that time. In order to make Michael’s long waits between shootings of the individual scenes bearable, director Zeman gave him his pterodactyl from Journey to the Beginning of Time to play with. Thanks to this and many other child roles, the world of film captivated Michael so much that he even ended up graduating from FAMU (The Academy of Film and Television) in Prague. During that period his father Ladislav looked after the pterodactyl puppet. As an adult Michael W. Pospíšil lived in France for many years. Today he is the general director of the Czech Centres, which help spread Czech culture within 21 countries on three continents.

Around 1986 Mr. Pospíšil gave the pterodactyl to the son of his friend and neighbour, the then fifteen-year-old Petr Štemberk. This young man also let the film world take him captive and he also later graduated from FAMU, after, of course, storing the flying dinosaur in a box along with other film artefacts in a dry, well-ventilated place. From that time, nobody (aside from Petr Štemberk) saw it and nothing indicated that the future would change that.

But at the start 2009 it began to be obvious that the 100th anniversary of Karel Zeman’s birth in 2010 was attracting extraordinary attention from moviegoers, Zeman’s fans and the media. Film Festival Zlín, for example, which is operating in Zeman’s home film studios in Zlin, stated back in February of 2009 at the 59th Berlinale its intention to dedicate its huge 50th anniversary to Czechoslovak film with an emphasis on the works of Karel Zeman. The truth of the words of Zlín’s festival organizers were confirmed in the summer of that year when they prepared a photography exhibition called Film Magician Karel Zeman and sent it off to New York City, the first stop on the exhibition’s world tour.

After the December opening of the exhibition in Prague, Petr Štemberk contacted the head of Zlín’s Film Studios, Zdeněk Skaunic, with a generous offer; that the pterodactyl puppet might adorn the 50th annual festival in Zlín. The meeting of both men took place on Thursday, January 14. There the pterodactyl was handed over and its older caretaker, Petr Štemberk, was invited to the festival in Zlín.

At this moment the pterodactyl is already in its native nest at Zlín’s film studios. Even though he has not yet commented on his return, it is plain to see that he is happy. After taking 44 years to return home, it touches the heart of even a pterodactyl, who certainly is no wimp!

And in closing we offer a list of the figures taking part in this true story: Karel Zeman would be 100 years old this year, the Zlín film festival is facing its 50th anniversary, 55 years have passed since the shooting of Journey to the Beginning of Time, Michael W. Pospíšil is celebrating his 55th birthday on February 15. This same round anniversary awaits the “healthy” and fit pterodactyl, given the nice name of Kája by the members of Zlín’s film festival staff. You will be informed of his further adventures through our website, Facebook and our associated communications resources.

The Opening of the exhibition Film Magician in Hybernia Theatre

The opening, which was held in a friendly unconventional atmosphere, was kicked off by Petr Koliha the artistic director of Zlín’s film festival. One hundred fifty attendees from the world of art and culture, journalists and other invited guests took a peek behind the curtain at the upcoming 50th International Film Festival for Children and Youth, which will take place in Zlín from May 30 to June 6, 2010. Among those who gave short speeches to the guests were the First Deputy Minister of Culture František Mikeš, representative of the festival’s patron SYNOTTIP, a.s. Petr Mikoška, Marketing and PR director of Czech Radio René Zavoral and mayor of the Statutory Town of Zlín and co-organizer of the festival Irena Ondrová. The early evening festival block in Hybernia Theatre was concluded by a short speech by the director of the Zlín Film Studios Zdeněk Skaunic.

The Film Magician Karel Zeman exhibition itself was inaugurated by the well-known film historian Pavel Taussig. In his speech about the significance and range of Zeman’s film work he even mentioned how his artistic masterpieces inspired the works of other filmmakers – even in the present, 20 years after the director’s passing away. As an example he mentioned the intention of Hybernia Theatre to put on a musical Baron Munchausen next February, whose central character Baron Munchausen was made most famous by Karel Zeman with his film – a feature film awarded many times at prestigious festivals starring Miloš Kopecký, Jana Brejchová and Rudolf Jelínek. And for that matter the authors of the upcoming musical, producer Oldřich Lichtenberg and director Filip Renč were invited to the microphone by Pavel Taussig for a short interview. The guests were treated to a taste of the musical by the singing Zuzka Benešová and Daniel Barták, who delighted the attendees with the song Love is Beautiful.

A nice surprise to the ceremonial opening of the exhibition at the Hybernia Theatre was the attendance of Mr. Michael W. Pospíšil, who played one of the main roles in Zeman’s film the Stolen Airship when he was a child. Michael W. Pospíšil, the current director of the Czech Centres, reminisced in his interview with Mr. Taussig on the shooting of the film with Karel Zeman in Italy.

- Petr Koliha : Greetings from South Korea

I’m sending fans of Film Festival Zlin some more photos on Facebook. This time there are pictures of the Old City Hall in Seoul! Aside from a restaurant, wine bar and a brewery, inside you’ll also find the Czech Information Center. It was established by the ambassador of the Czech Republic to South Korea Jaroslav Olša Jr.. The owner of this magnificent building bestowed one of its floors for CZK 1! The building is the private investment of a Korean-American millionaire who loves Prague. Everywhere inside the building one can find Czech texts, posters, photographs and more. If you ever find yourself in Seoul, you’ll certainly have to go there! Best wishes to you from Petr Koliha

(Just a comment – it doesn’t have paper walls, but real brick and concrete.)