The Czech and Slovak Association of WA is delighted to announce the 5th Czech and Slovak Film Festival of WA. The festival will take place in Luna Leederville and at The Backlot Perth from 21st to 24thNovember, with one special screening on 14th November.
For the fifth time, we will be celebrating the beauty and courage of the Czech and Slovak cinematography, which addresses tough themes with ease, humour and critical self-reflection. The year 2019 is again the year of many respectable anniversaries. So, our traditional motto “Full of Stories” is an accurate one.
One of the most traumatic anniversaries is linked to the date 1st September 1939, when the Second World War began and changed the whole world dramatically. WWII later resulted in a division of the world into the two rival blocks and meant for the former Czechoslovakia a deflection from democratic principles for more than 40 years.
The next anniversary reminds us of the year 1949 when the Communist party in Czechoslovakia started repressions and forced collectivization. This whole process of transformation of the society, the intensifying fear and distortion of the truth are expressively shown in the award-winning film Toman. This thought-provoking film about ambitions, a personal utility and an abomination of that epoch, will have the Australian premiere on the Closing Night of the festival. Interestingly, Toman was written by a Czech/Australian screenwriter Ms. Zdenka Simandlova.
On our journey through the time, we have to stop in the very dark year 1969. In January, Jan Palach committed su***de by self-immolation in political protest (the film Jan Palach became last year’s best-rated film of CSFF WA in Perth). And later that year, in August, many protests against the Soviet invasion were brutally suppressed and it was the beginning of a process called normalization which persisted for another twenty years.
Then, in November 1989, the tension had risen and the inevitable happened on 17th November 1989, when the so-called Velvet Revolution started. Over half a million people peacefully took to the streets to demand an end to the one-party Communist state. As a result of riots and general strikes, the Communist regime collapsed and democratic rights and free elections were re-adopted. The young democracy, and its representation, was exposed to new challenges which we can observe in the film Citizen Havel. It is an intimate documentary film, mapping ten years of Vaclav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia and later of The Czech Republic.
After the Fall of the Iron Curtain, the region of Central Europe has changed. The freedom and democracy hit residents of the region unprepared and people were learning on the go. Whereas, some “old structures”, equipped with knowledge of communist manners, are able to constantly usurp more and more power and push people into acceptance of more totalitarian principles. The comedy The Lady Terroristresponds to this serious topic – the lawlessness and injustice in a small town – in an extremely funny way. The leading actress, Iva Janzurova, is unforgettable, bursting with energy and charm. Her part would not be as amazing without a convincing villain, played by the unmissable Martin Hofmann.
Surprisingly, the family movie The Magic Quill also covers social and political themes. On the one hand, it is a classic fairy-tale about how a devil found love and happiness. On the other hand, it is a hilarious politic satire about the Czech establishment.
The other challenge for contemporary Czech and Slovak Republics is to deal with minorities and immigration. The Slovak comedy movie Loli Paradicka brings together a Romany woman and a disabled man. It is inevitable that what seems for them as pure happiness will be hard to swallow for their surroundings, which causes many humorous situations. The comedy On the Roof responds to this xenophobic note and brings together two more unexpected characters – a professor on a pension and a young Vietnamese fugitive. It is a heart-warming comedy about their relationship and about what can happen if we open ourselves to others. The film will be screened at The Opening Night of CSFF WA on Thursday, 21st November. So, bring your friends (or strangers) and come to celebrate the Czech and Slovak cinematography. Drinks and food are on us!
To make every screening more festival-ish!, all feature films will be preceded by a short film made by ECU and WASA film students. And finally, every festival visitor has a chance to win one of our fabulous prizes from our generous sponsors. The main prizes are two nights for two in OK Divers & Spa in Bali or one night in the Six Foot Track Eco Lodge with breakfast and lunch. All the films are screened with English subtitles and only once, so do not miss your chance and book your tickets!
Opening Night Event
We would love to invite you for The Opening Night of the festival. We will celebrate not only the 5th Czech and Slovak Film Festival of WA but also 30thanniversary of The Velvet revolution which opened the former Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to the free world.
Join us on 21stNovember for a screening of a great movie On the roof, there will be a complimentary drink on arrival and Czech and Slovak finger food for you to enjoy! We will also welcome a special guest – music performers “abit bitter SamBoh”. The event begins at 6:00pm, the movie will be screened at 6:30pm.
Closing Night Event
The last evening of the festival is another moment worth celebrating – The Closing Night. Come and enjoy Czech and Slovak refreshment and the movie.
In Australian Premiere, we will screen a movie Toman which is a historic drama about one controversial character Zdenek Toman, who is fighting for his personal prospects and the prospect of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia after WWII, not knowing how considerably his actions will influence The Czech Republic 70 years later. The event begins at 5:45pm, the movie at 6:15pm.
Just before the movie, Audience Prizes will be drawn. So, come, bring your friends, and make the Sunday 24th November absolutely unforgettable.
