A new year, a new season of film awards and the arrival of already awarded films from film festivals to Czech cinema distribution. The four February films have either already won awards or are just getting their teeth into them. The Monday Film Club at the Telegraph Cinema in late February and early March will be dedicated to the most interesting of the award-winning films from around the world.
Mon 6 2 2023 8pm KaprCode
Documentary opera is the genre designation used for the film by its creator Lucie Králová. This award-winning director and screenwriter received the award for Best Czech Documentary at last year's Ji.hlava IDFF for her unspectacular film, won the Czech Film Critics Award for Best Documentary on the eve of this screening, and the film was nominated for 3 more Czech Lions.
The film explores the contradictory story of progressive composer, experimenter and prominent communist Jan Kapr (1914-1988), who has been almost erased from official memory. In the 1950s, he became so famous for his propaganda music that he was awarded one of the highest honours in the then Eastern Bloc, the Stalin Prize. However, he returned it in August 1968 in response to the Russian invasion. A lifetime ban on the performance of his works followed. At the time, Carp continuously filmed his life and peculiar feature scenes on 8mm film. This never-before-published material comes to life in a playful reconstruction of life after death, in which the memory of the film, the time and Kapr's music intersect with a story that takes on mythological dimensions.
after 13 2 2023 20:00 Great Freedom / Grosse Freiheit
This German drama about forbidden love in a prison environment made its way to Czech cinemas thanks to the enthusiastic reactions of the audience at last year's Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště, where the film was selected as the best in the ACFK SHOWS section. The protagonist of the film is Hans Hoffman, a homosexual and a Jew. Both landed him in a concentration camp during World War II, but his problems were far from over when he was liberated. Because of Section 175 criminalizing homosexuality, he was sent straight to prison and went back behind bars again and again over the next twenty years. His only permanent relationship in life was with his longtime cellmate Victor, who was convicted of murder. What began with disgust and contempt gradually grew into love. The film won awards at the European Film Awards in the Best Cinematography and Best Music categories, and director Sebastian Meise also won the Cannes IFF Jury Prize.
after 20 2 2023 20:00 Corset / Corsage
We'll stick with German. Hold on, there have been some great films made there this year! The historical costume drama Corsage tells the story of the Austro-Hungarian Empress Sissi, in a bravura performance by Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps, who was awarded Best Actress at both the European Film Awards and Cannes IFF for her performance. The film was already a huge success in the Czech Republic at last year's Karlovy Vary IFF, where, as a non-competitive film, it held the top spot in the People's Choice Award of the daily Právo for several days, until it was dethroned by Štěpán Vodrážka's Czech documentary PSH - The Endless Story. Director Marie Kreutzer comes up with a timeless story about a courageous woman and her undying desire for freedom, led by Vicky Krieps as a rebellious monarch who decides to take her destiny into her own hands.
Sissi is a fashion icon and the epitome of youthful beauty. It's 1877 and her 40th birthday is approaching, but shackled by her status and the indiscriminate criticism of those around her, she has little reason to celebrate. She wants to preserve her youthful appearance, so she encloses her body in an ever tighter corset. But what kind of life could she live if she freed herself from the conventions and pedantic pettiness of the Viennese court?
after 27 2 2023 20:00 The Whale / The Whale
From Europe, across the pond, to Hollywood. Cult American director Darren Aronofsky teams up with film studio A24 to bring you a heart-warming drama about a 300-pound teacher, Charlie, who struggles to find his way back to his daughter Ellie. Under the weight of his own traumas, he struggles to come to terms with his past, shutting himself away in his flat, dealing with stress by overeating, but in the space of his three-bedroom flat he is a beacon of goodness for himself and those around him.
The film was based on a stage play script, but the biggest fuss about this film is the fact that American actor Brandon Fraser excels in the film. He returns to cinema screens after several years and so far has picked up nomination after nomination for his performance. The Golden Globe went to his colleague Austin Butler for Elvis. However, we'll soon find out if Fraser is up for a BAFTA. Or even an Oscar? A lot of people would like him to.
But we're staying for the Oscars, which will be handed out this year in LA on March 12! Right on the night of the awards and the day after, we'll be screening the short films that made the shortlist in the Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film nominations on the big screen. Two of the five films will be screened as part of last year's much-loved Oscar Shorts.
Follow the Cinema schedule and don't miss any films. And if you want cheaper admission to the films, get our Film Club card at our box office! For more information, click here: Telegraph Cinema in Year 23.
By Michael Bukovansky
