In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the twin-city relationship between Prague and Hamburg, Czech Film Center has teamed up with Kinematheka Humburk to host a film festival coupled with a meeting for producers. From June 23 – 27, Made in Prag will present dozens of Czech feature films to Hamburg audiences for the first time. The bill of fare for the 5-day festival is rounded out by a section profiling of Prague and three blocks of short films made by film school students from Prague and Hamburg. A delegation of dozens of Czech directors, producers and film professionals will also be on hand throughout the festival.
Jan Hřebejk’s Kawasaki’s Rose will open Made in Prag on June 23 presented by the director himself. Other screenings include Helena Třeštíková’s documentary René, which won the European film award for best documentary in 2008, Petr Zelenka’s Czech-Polish drama The Karamazovs, Michaela Pavlátová’s Night Owls and Jan Balej’s animated feature One Night in a City.
Film historian Michal Bregant provides a cinematic perspective of the Czech capital under the heading Three Views with three films profiling Prague. Besides Jan Němec’s Ferrari Dino Girl and Martin Mareček’s Auto*Mate, the section offers a rare screening of Věra Chytilová's Prague: The Restless Heart of Europe from 1984. The work was made for Italian television and is as relevant today as it was then.
Breathless – Dominance of the Moment presents two documentaries made as part of the Czech German project ZIPP: Jan Gogol’s I Love My Boring Life and Karel Žalud’s Phantom of Liberty II.
Budding filmmakers from film schools in Prague and Hamburg will have an opportunity to present their works to audiences in the northern German city, too. The section titledYou and Me offers up 28 shorts in three blocks, all presented by the filmmakers themselves.
The film screenings are rounded out by a meeting for producers from Hamburg and Prague complete with presentations of their upcoming projects as well as a location tour in the form of a cruise spotlighting interesting film locations.
Made in Prag received support from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Czech-German Future Fund, the City of Prague, the Czech Ministry of Culture, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig Holstein and the educational program MIDPOINT.