
Czech Films at the Haifa Film Festival (October 15 – 24, 2016)
15.10.2016 / 12:40 | Aktualizováno: 24.10.2016 / 17:03
We are inviting you to see five great Czech movies at the 32st International Film Festival in Haifa: The Teacher, I, Olga Hepnarova, Mallory, The Firemen's Ball and Closely Watched Trains. The event is organized by Czech Centre Tel Aviv in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic.
THE TEACHER
Director: Jan Hřebejk, Czech Republic & Slovakia 2016, 102 minutes, Czech & Slovak, Subtitles in Hebrew
17.10.16, 12:00, Kriger Hall
22.10.16, 19:30, Kriger Hall, followed by Q&A with the movie director and lead actress
Bratislava, 1983. In the local elementary school a group of parents meet in secret with the principal. They are revolted by the conduct of a school teacher. Mrs Drazdechova initially seems to be a kindly, well-meaning and sympathetic person. She is, however, milking her position for all it is worth. Winner of the Best Actress Award at the 2016 Karlovy Vary Festival, The Teacher is a comic moral drama with dry, dark Czech humor.
I, OLGA HEPNAROVA
Directors: Tomas Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Czech Republic 2016, 105 minutes, Subtitles in
Hebrew & English
16.10.16, 19:15, Cinematheque Hall
23.10.16, 15:00, Tikotin Hall
Olga Hepnarova was a young, lonely lesbian outsider from a cold-hearted family who couldn’t play the part society desired of her. Her paranoid self-examination and inability to connect with other people eventually drove her over the edge of humanity when she was only twenty-two years old. Austere, meticulously composed and shot in light-infused black-and-white I, Olga Hepnarova looks at the life of the last woman to be hanged in the former Czechoslovakia in 1975, at the age of 22.
MALLORY
Director: Helena Trestikova, Czech Republic 2015, 101 minutes, Subtitles in Hebrew & English
20.10.16, 13:30, Kriger Hall
24.10.16, 18:00, Cinematheque Hall
Facing homelessness, depression, drug addiction and a son in state care, Mallory struggles to survive in the unforgiving streets of Prague. The odds may be severely stacked against her, but Mallory is a true force of intelligence, resilience and tenacity that never falters. Filmed over 13 years, internationally renowned documentarian Helena Trestikova’s Mallory offers an empathic and gritty journey into the life of a captivating protagonist.
THE FIREMEN´S BALL
Director: Miloš Forman Czechoslovakia 1967, 73 minutes Subtitles in Hebrew & English
Restored Digital Copy
23.10.16, 14:15, Kriger Hall
A milestone of the Czech New Wave, The Firemen’s Ball is both a dazzling comedy and a provocative political satire. A hilarious saga of good intentions confounded, the story chronicles a firemen’s ball where nothing goes right. The film was “banned forever” in Czechoslovakia following the Russian invasion and prompted Forman’s move to America.
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
Director: Jiri Menzel, Czechoslovakia 1966, 93 minutes, Subtitles in Hebrew & English
Restored Digital Copy
16.10.16, 13:45, Kriger Hall
At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery. Academy Award-winning Closely Watched Trains is a masterpiece of human observation and one of the best-loved films of the Czech New Wave.