Revolt Against Each Other
Renowned painter and performer Jiří Surůvka is an embodiment of the revolt. His brutality undermines general brutality of stereotypical everyday point of view and dark streams deep inside the hostile society. As a popcultural political and agressive clown he occupies public spaces. In a performative way he tries to change its rotten basis. Movie about this contemporary and world-known performer from industrial Czech periphery will during one year roadmovie analyze Surůvka´s performative provocations. The documentary portrait will explore how a human must revolt against himself to be able to revolt against the others.
Outta Ghetto
Three amazingly talented young hip-hoppers want to get out. They are about twenty years old, they have ethnical Roma background and they have only basic education, but great language and musical skills. In ethnically unified ghetto in small Czech town they have nothing to do. But leaving isn’t easy - with no money and no job anywhere. They live in their parents´ flats and on social benefits and they just hang out. They dream of getting out, becoming stars, and returning in much better situation. And they will achieve it through the hip-hop.
Upset, Disrupt, Break, Disturb, Excite
An experimental documentary portrait of poetry that flows from the art of the author Petr Hruška. The poems together with the author will become a part of public space of his industrial hometown. They will be put in the unexpected situations - where people do not assume to be disturbed in their daily routines by another than usual code of behavior and speech. The film will be the experimental documentary exploration of the daily borders of thinking and will be trying together with the famous Czech author Petr Hruška to push it, change it by its provocative depiction. The film will be visually rebuilding the industrial hometown which seems to have no future.
Pecking Order
This rather unusual documentary film is made by a group of mentally handicapped participants of the film workshop run by Inventura, an association for the integration of mentally handicapped people into society through art. They are coached by Ivo Bystričan, author and director of the film. Pecking Order is inspired by the protracted government crisis in 2012, the escalation of corruption cases and ongoing civil protests. Mentally handicapped filmmakers are trying to find their own solutions to the crisis of governance. They are trying to find a new model of the functioning of government also into communities of a variety of animals. The crew conducts a dialogue with leading ethologist and sociobiologist Daniel Frynta of the Faculty of Science, and Mark Spinka of the Research Institute of Animal Production in Uhříněves.
The Island of Freedom
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our family bonds, and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification.” Xi Jinping New Year Speech, 1 January 2025
The Island of Freedom is a portrait of contemporary Taiwan, an island with a troubled history and an uncertain future, under the constant threat of invasion from China. Drawing on the personal stories and artistic work of the protagonists - from writers to activists and political illustrators - the film creates a powerful and layered mosaic of human destinies as they struggle to preserve identity and freedom amid geopolitical tensions.
The film combines elements of political documentary, artistic and almost intimate testimony. The subject is approached from different perspectives - Taiwanese and foreign. This multicultural range of protagonists, including Ukrainian activist Alex Khomenko, Czech cinematographer Karel Pícha, Hongkongese political artist Kacey Wong, Taiwanese political cartoonist Stellina Chen and a dystopian writer Chu Yu-hsun connects the Taiwanese situation with global issues of political unfreedom and oppression, creating a bridge between the audience and the film's subjects, captured from the point of view of the director who comes from the Czech Republic and bring her perspective and will be present behind the scenes together with the Czech cinematographer and one of the characters of the film at the same time, Karel Pícha.
A significant element of the film will be the depiction of protagonists joining the civil defense training that is beginning to form in Taiwan as a defence against potential conflict. The training of the civilian becomes a parallel narrative where the protagonists bring in the physical dimensions of their personalities alongside playing a strategic board game 2045 simulating annexation of Taiwan. This film is not only a personal testimony, but also a warning of the threat of loss of independence.
The Island of Freedom is a portrait of contemporary Taiwan, an island with a troubled history and an uncertain future, under the constant threat of invasion from China. Drawing on the personal stories and artistic work of the protagonists - from writers to activists and political illustrators - the film creates a powerful and layered mosaic of human destinies as they struggle to preserve identity and freedom amid geopolitical tensions.
The film combines elements of political documentary, artistic and almost intimate testimony. The subject is approached from different perspectives - Taiwanese and foreign. This multicultural range of protagonists, including Ukrainian activist Alex Khomenko, Czech cinematographer Karel Pícha, Hongkongese political artist Kacey Wong, Taiwanese political cartoonist Stellina Chen and a dystopian writer Chu Yu-hsun connects the Taiwanese situation with global issues of political unfreedom and oppression, creating a bridge between the audience and the film's subjects, captured from the point of view of the director who comes from the Czech Republic and bring her perspective and will be present behind the scenes together with the Czech cinematographer and one of the characters of the film at the same time, Karel Pícha.
A significant element of the film will be the depiction of protagonists joining the civil defense training that is beginning to form in Taiwan as a defence against potential conflict. The training of the civilian becomes a parallel narrative where the protagonists bring in the physical dimensions of their personalities alongside playing a strategic board game 2045 simulating annexation of Taiwan. This film is not only a personal testimony, but also a warning of the threat of loss of independence.