The 23rd edition of the Czech Republic’s top docu fest, Ji.hlava, launched Thursday with a sharp focus on the climate crisis and the unveiling of a new award for filmmakers created by Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist.
Ji.hlava fest president Marek Hovorka said the award, made of white Lego bricks shaped into a fist with its middle finger raised, symbolizes “courage, critical thinking and standing up to social conventions.” The prize was in part inspired by Ai’s photo series “Study of Perspective,” which celebrates free speech and independence by displaying his hand in the foreground of images of powerful institutions around the globe, seemingly flipping them off. The White House, Trump Tower and Tiananmen Square all get the treatment in the photo series, shot from 1995 to 2017.
The first winner of the custom art work, Ingrid Pokropek of Argentina, was honored for her short film “Shendy Wu: a Diary,...
Ji.hlava fest president Marek Hovorka said the award, made of white Lego bricks shaped into a fist with its middle finger raised, symbolizes “courage, critical thinking and standing up to social conventions.” The prize was in part inspired by Ai’s photo series “Study of Perspective,” which celebrates free speech and independence by displaying his hand in the foreground of images of powerful institutions around the globe, seemingly flipping them off. The White House, Trump Tower and Tiananmen Square all get the treatment in the photo series, shot from 1995 to 2017.
The first winner of the custom art work, Ingrid Pokropek of Argentina, was honored for her short film “Shendy Wu: a Diary,...
- 10/24/2019
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Film director who suffered censorship in her native Czechoslovakia for her 'anti-communist' films
Vera Chytilová, who has died aged 85, was one of the brightest of the new wave of film directors who emerged in Czechoslovakia in the mid-60s. Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Jan Nemec, Jirí Menzel, Ján Kadár and Miloš Forman were all products of Famu, the national film school in Prague. After the Russian invasion in 1968 put an end to the Prague Spring, Passer, Kadár and Forman left for the Us, and Nemec went into exile in western Europe. Menzel, who remained, was restricted despite repudiating his "anti-communist" films in 1974. But Chytilová, whose Daisies (1966) was the most adventurous and anarchic film of the period, was silenced.
Born in Ostrava, now in the Czech Republic, Chytilová had a strict Catholic upbringing. "I left that basic, personified faith," she later said. "It seemed like a crutch to me. I realised it...
Vera Chytilová, who has died aged 85, was one of the brightest of the new wave of film directors who emerged in Czechoslovakia in the mid-60s. Chytilová, Ivan Passer, Jan Nemec, Jirí Menzel, Ján Kadár and Miloš Forman were all products of Famu, the national film school in Prague. After the Russian invasion in 1968 put an end to the Prague Spring, Passer, Kadár and Forman left for the Us, and Nemec went into exile in western Europe. Menzel, who remained, was restricted despite repudiating his "anti-communist" films in 1974. But Chytilová, whose Daisies (1966) was the most adventurous and anarchic film of the period, was silenced.
Born in Ostrava, now in the Czech Republic, Chytilová had a strict Catholic upbringing. "I left that basic, personified faith," she later said. "It seemed like a crutch to me. I realised it...
- 3/16/2014
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Czech film director Vera Chytilova, one of the leading filmmakers of the new wave of Czechoslovak cinema in the 1960s, has died. She was 85.
Czech public radio and television, citing relatives, say Chytilova died Wednesday in Prague after battling an unspecified illness for several years.
Chytilova’s highly acclaimed farcical comedy Daisies from 1966 proved her reputation as a provocateur and helped establish her as an artistic force at home and abroad.
Like the movies of other new Czech directors of the time, it represented a radical departure from socialist realism, a typical communist-era genre focusing on realistically depicting the working class’ troubles.
Czech public radio and television, citing relatives, say Chytilova died Wednesday in Prague after battling an unspecified illness for several years.
Chytilova’s highly acclaimed farcical comedy Daisies from 1966 proved her reputation as a provocateur and helped establish her as an artistic force at home and abroad.
Like the movies of other new Czech directors of the time, it represented a radical departure from socialist realism, a typical communist-era genre focusing on realistically depicting the working class’ troubles.
- 3/12/2014
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside Movies
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