Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? (2024)

René – The Prisoner of Freedom

The Czech criminal René is finding it difficult to go straight. Roaming from job to shelter, from woman to woman, he discovers that living honestly is a lot more difficult than just stealing something every once in a while. In 1989, filmmaker Helena Třeštíková started filming the then 18-year-old delinquent, ultimately resulting in the 2008 film René, which follows his life inside and outside prison. This sequel to that film begins with the premiere of René and the ensuing storm of media attention.

Anny

Anny follows the life of the titular, intriguing character for 16 years, from 1996 up until 2012. Living in the Czech Republic, Anny is a 46-year-old woman whose day-to-day life has consisted of several different occupations, from a bathroom attendant and a doorman, to occasional sex work. Her outlook on her jobs is fairly simple, you have to do the work if you want to eat, spoil your grandkids, or buy yourself new clothes.

Eternal Jožo

An untraditional documentary portrait reveals the complicated personality of the Slovak music legend Jožo Ráž, the singer for the pop-rock group Elán. From recordings of everyday situations, playful moments, intimate conversations about God and death, and memories of the past, the director composes a complex image of a man loved by the masses, who, despite all his life successes, feels lonely.

Marcela

The life of Marcela, an ordinary Czech woman is explored throughout several decades of her life. We are engaged to struggle and fight back with Marcela as her tragic life unfolds before our eyes especially when dealing with her daughter’s unexpected death, which almost drives her to suicide. The film was initially part of a series about the fate of six married couples, but the events that happened throughout Marcela’s life were the reason why the director decided to focus solely on a documentary about her.

A Marriage Story

In 35 years of one couple's shared life, a lot of things happen: from the moments of an absolute harmony to the dramatic falls. For the most of the time, the couple cares for common daily life issues and joys that come together with raising the children, running the household or running a business. And this is exactly the life of furniture shop owners Ivana and Vaclav Strnadovi, 2 characters that a director Helena Trestíková follows with her camera as of the year 1980 within a project The Marriage Story. Her new feature documentary about Strnad family is linked to TV films from this cycle, but most importantly it shows further shocking twists, that life brought to the couple and their children.

Karolína

Plot unavailable

Mallory

Life hasn't been easy on Mallory but after the birth of her son she tries desperately to kick her drug habit, and to stop living on the street. She wants to turn her back on her dark past and help those she knows best - people on the fringes of society.

René

An intimate portrait of a man on the edge of society, filmed over the course of twenty years.

Fighters

Restless teenager Mamo is heading for trouble with the wrong friends and difficulties at home when the somewhat older social worker Berat decides to help him avoid ending up in the same trouble he got into as a youngster. But some slates are hard to wipe clean, and Berat realises that even if his intentions are good, sometimes the past catches up with you. Everyone in ‘Fighters’ plays themselves in a hard-hitting story based on their own lives. It could have ended up as a well-meaning youth film for adults, but Jon Haukeland is an eminent character director who brings out a unique authenticity in his cast. ‘Fighters’ has been a massive success in Norwegian cinemas and shakes not only your notions of documentary and staging, but also any preconceptions you may have about young men like Mamo who, despite their obvious intelligence, risk ending up on the wrong side of the law. A celebration of friendship and adult role models.

Our Man in Tehran

Chronicles the true story behind Argo’s Hollywood embellishments by looking at the efforts of the venerable Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, who personally sheltered six American diplomats in the operation that became known as "the Canadian Caper."

Five Directors On The Battle of Algiers

This 17-minute documentary is featured on the 3-Disc Criterion Collection DVD of The Battle of Algiers (1966), released in 2004. An in-depth look at the Battle of Algiers through the eyes of five established and accomplished filmmakers; Spike Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Oliver Stone, Julian Schnabel and Mira Nair. They discuss how the shots, cinematography, set design, sound and editing directly influenced their own work and how the film's sequences look incredibly realistic, despite the claim that everything in the film was staged .

Polycephaly in D

Informed by an underlying sense of anxiety and anguish, Michael Robinson’s Polycephaly in D nestles fragments of narrative within a collage of sound, image, and text that oscillates between the elegant and the discordant.

The Last Popstar

March 25, 2017, Monza. The park has a stage ten times larger than the rock stars in San Siro. Hundreds of volunteers, civil protection, stalls. And then the people, a lot. All gathered waiting for Pope Francis. The relentless music, spread by the speakers, gives the impression of being in front of a déjà vu: the long wait for a concert, among the fans waiting for the arrival of the last pop star.

Forbidden Zone - Wildlife on the Battlefield

Not far from Budapest, in the outskirts of Táborfalva, a board stops the arriving: "Keep out! Entry is dangerous and forbidden!" The Forbidden Zone starts here, the second biggest shooting and drill ground in Hungary, where military field exercises have been performed for one and a half century. In spite of the danger and prohibition, the area is densely populated. Many plant and animals species live their secret lives here, some of them being rare creatures that almost completely disappeared from the cultivated parts of the Hungarian Alföld. They are protected by weapons...

My Octopus Teacher

After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.

Rothenthurm

A documentary about a proposed military training area in Rothenthurm, Central Switzerland, and the village's resistance to those plans.

The Revenants

The filmmaker travels to the mysterious land of the “poor souls.” He visits eyewitnesses in rural areas of Central Switzerland. They offer their account of mystifying experiences in connection with the afterlife, of evil deeds by people who passed away long ago in need of atonement. The film investigates the hidden signs of mountain magic and reminds us of our own myths, ghosts and primal images. It also looks for paths to self-awareness that could be revealed to us within and under layers of centuries-old Catholic cultural sediment.

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

The First part of Olympia, a documentary about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin by German Director Leni Riefenstahl. The film played in theaters in 1938 and again in 1952 after the fall of the Nazi Regime.

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty

The Second part of Olympia, a documentary about the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin by German Director Leni Riefenstahl. The film played in theaters in 1938 and again in 1952 after the fall of the Nazi Regime.

A Punk Daydream

A portrait of the largest Muslim Punk community in the world, as seen through the eyes of Punk teenagers, in relation to the extreme social, environmental and political environment they live in.

KSI: Can't Lose

Millions tuned in to see KSI beat Joe Weller in the biggest amateur boxing match of all time. But what didn't they see? The blood, sweat and determination underpinning KSI's intense training regime and a revealing look at his world off camera. This is the exclusive and never before seen story of Knowledge, Strength and Integrity, and how JJ, with 18m YouTube subscribers, went from actor to athlete.

god is a dog

"god is a dog" (2004) is shot on Super 8 and confronts the filmmaker's remembrances of childhood memories and how they interact with his adult love encounters.