Czech Documentaries on Docalliancefilms

What are prominent documentarists from the Central European region (including unique Czech and Slovak documentary filmmakers) up to? Participants of the Docu Talents from the East panel, held on the 6th of July at the Karlovy Vary IFF, have had the opportunity to learn from the filmmakers themselves. However, before the premiere screenings of the new projects are launched during the next year, the Docalliancefilms portal invites you to (re)discover their previous successful films. Among the authors who have introduced their projects at the festival, let us point out director Erika Hníková who, since her successful and popular debut The Beauty Exchange, has continued her exploration of the specific aspects of the lifestyle in today‘s Czech and Slovak society. Martin Ryšavý has been awarded the Pavel Koutecký award for his investigative insight into the life of the community of Vietnamese “Gastarbeiter” in the Czech Republic. In his new film, he returns to Siberia, however, his first “Vietnamese” film Who Will Teach Me Half a Character is also worth recalling, and it is not only because of the charming Czech accent of the former Vietnamese students of Czech universities. Slovak documentarist Martin Šulík has decided to explore the rich and inspirational theme of the Slovak private film history, like his colleagues Péter Forgácz and Jan Šikl (the Private Century cycle) have done in their respective countries. Marek Šulík’s previous film, The Journey of Magdalena Robinson, has proved his relation to Slovak history as creative and vivid. Co-author of the film The Czech Peace, which has entered theatrical distribution lately, Vít Klusák is also preparing a new film. Docalliancefilms offers an original portrait of the director’s father, musician Emil Viklický Jazz War, as well as his film Merry Christmas, Bosnia!, co-directed by his constant colleague Filip Remunda. Though he has not made it to Karlovy Vary, author of Auto*mat Martin Mareček has recently returned from Africa with new film material. Interested in today’s complex environmental and social phenomena reaching beyond the borders of the Czech Republic, Mareček is best introduced by his internationally most renowned film The Source. Last but not least, let us point out the film Katka by Helena Třeštíková which has been selected for the documentary competition of the 2010 Karlovy Vary IFF. Collected patiently in the course of many years, the material has been employed by the director in three powerful feature-length portraits of three complex life stories. Docalliancefilms offers the first film from this trilogy Marcela.