Within the scheme of Visegrad Group partnership Czech, Polish, Hungarian, and Slovak cinematography will be presented in Istanbul within the very first edition of Central European Film Festival, entitled ‘The Fantastic Four’. The event is hosted by the Hungarian Cultural Center between November 24– 28, 2015, and is going to happen thanks to multilateral cooperation of general consulates of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

 

The Visegrad Group reflects the efforts of these four neighbour countries of Central Europe to work together in a number of fields of common interest, including cultural heritage.

The pilot edition focuses on fantastic, magical or horror motives in the national cinematographies which have gone through the similar dynamics in the past and all have received global recognition.

The festival selection features mostly ‘style-setting’ movies from the second half of 20th Century: the very iconic Czech movie ‘The Fabulous World of Jules Verne’ (1958) by celebrated animator Karel Zeman, or ‘Cat City’ (1986), a legendary animated film of Hungarian production. Slovak cinematography is represented by the world-reputed director Juraj Jakubisko’s fairy-tale ‘The Feather-Fairy’ (1984), and Polish party composed a sequence of contemporary short movies by young film-makers.

 

The festival will be accompanied by an exhibition of Central European film posters ‘The Fantastic Invention’ which will take place in Gama Gallery between December 11– 23.

 

For more information, program: www.v4istanbul.org.

Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/v4istanbul.org

 

 

Tuesday 24 November, 18:00

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne /Vynález zkázy/

The movie (also called An Invention for Destruction) is a 1958 Czechoslovak adventure film directed by Karel Zeman. Based on several works by Jules Verne, primarily his 1896 novel Facing the Flag, the film evokes the original illustrations for Verne's works by combining live actors with various forms of animation. Vynález zkázy was featured at Expo 58 in Brussels, where it won the Grand Prix at the International Film Festival.

CZECH REPUBLIC (Czechoslovakia), 1959

Turkish subtitles

 

Saturday 28 November, 14:00

A Midsummer Night's Dream /Sen noci svatojánské/

The first puppet kinescope in the world from 1958. It is based on the famous poetic comedy by William Shakespeare. Three worlds meet in this story: the noble world of three Athens couples, a common popular world of tradesmen amateur theatre and a fairy-tale happiness of magic creatures as elves and nymphs. The film is considered the most remarkable Jiří Trnka's work and a milestone in the history of the world animation. Because of his influence in animation, Trnka was called "the Walt Disney of Eastern Europe".

CZECH REPUBLIC (Czechoslovakia), 1958

Turkish subtitles

 

Project partners

Hungarian Cultural Centre, Istanbul

Consulate General of the Czech Republic

Consulate General of Hungary

Consulate General of Poland

Consulate General of Slovakia

Czech Expats in Istanbul Association

Moravian Gallery in Brno

Gama Gallery, Istanbul