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Banned films from

In 2018, the citizens of the Czech and Slovak Republics mark a date that invites them to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of their common independent state – the Czechoslovak Republic. During this past century together, the Czechs and Slovaks have been witness to many great stories that will always hold a special place in their history. It all began in 1918, when both nations’ shared desire for a sovereign state became a reality.

The January 5th this year marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Spring. The lasted from 5 January until 21 August 1968. In the Czechoslovakia the thaw began with the election of the Slovak-born Alexander Dubček (1921–1992) as First Secretary of the Communist Party. Consequently, a programme of political change was announced, censorship was abandoned, and publications condemning the policies of the Communist Party appeared in the press. However, Dubček’s reforms were not destined to last. On 20–21 August 1968, two thousand tanks sent by the Warsaw Pact countries moved into Czechoslovakia. The Prague Spring was over.

Although the period was short-lived, the films produced in this period are living icons of this progressive impulse. During that time, filmmakers overtly subverted the social-realist genre imposed on them while still working under the auspices of the state. As expected, many of these films were swiftly banned after completion, only getting released locally after the Velvet Revolution. Join us for a selection of four of these savagely funny and defiant films – Larks on a String (1969), Joke (1969), All My Countrymen (1968) and Ear (1970), — which stand as enduring testaments to the power and necessity of dissident art.

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PROGRAMME

The films will be screened in Czech with English subtitles each Thursday of October 2018 at 17:30 at Cinema of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

Date Time Place Film 4th of October 5:30 p.m. Cinema „Larks on a String“ (Skřivánci na niti) Dir. J. Menzel, 1969, 90 min., Czechoslovakia 11th of October 5:30 p.m. Cinema „Pokštas“ (Žert) Dir. J. Jireš, 1969, 77 min., Czechoslovakia 18th of October 5:30 p.m. Cinema „All My Countrymen“ (Všichni dobří rodáci) Dir. Vojtěch Jasný, 1968, 115 min., Czechoslovakia 25th of October 5:30 p.m. Cinema „Ear“ (Ucho) Dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1970, 91 min., Czechoslovakia

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October 4th, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. Larks on a String (Skřivánci na niti) dir. Jiří Menzel, 1969, 90 min., Czechoslovakia

The film Larks on a String was banned by the Czechoslovak government. It saw release in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime. It tells the stories of various characters considered bourgeois by Czechoslovakia's communist government in the 1950s, who have been forced to work in a junkyard for the purposes of re-education. It won the Golden Bear at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Set in the late 1950s, the film concerns the treatment of suspect "bourgeois elements”, a professor, a saxophonist, and a milkman, who are put to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation.

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October 11th, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. Joke (Žert) dir. J. Jireš, 1969, 77 min., Czechoslovakia

The film Joke is considered one of the last films of the Czech New Wave movement. Based on 's novel of the same name, the Joke tells the story of Ludvík Jahn, a man expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party for an idle joke to his girlfriend, and the revenge he later seeks through adultery. The film was produced during the political liberalization of the 1968 Prague Spring and contains many scenes which satirize and criticize the country's communist leadership. Celebrate Czech and Slovak century www.czechandslovakcentury.com

October 18th, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. All My Countrymen (Všichni dobří rodáci), dir. Vojtěch Jasný, 1968, 115 min., Czechoslovakia

Almost a legendary film directed by Vojtěch Jasný shows a story taking place in a picturesque Moravian village in May 1945. People are simply enjoying those beautiful days of their lives. They all meet in a pub drink wine and enjoy the music. However these carefree days are coming to an end in February 1948 when the village gets divided into two rivalled parts. Director V. Jasný had been collecting information for almost 20 years in order to provide us with this narrative. The film is considered to have one of the deepest stories in the history of Czechoslovakian cinematography. During communism the existence of this movie was carefully hidden, but transmitted among the people on more than 100 videotapes.

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October 25th, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. The Ear (Ucho), Dir. Karel Kachyňa, 1970, 91 min., Czechoslovakia

This highly-charged political satire from Czechoslovakia was banned for 20 years. It is the chronicle of a miserable marriage between a provincial bureaucrat and the boozy daughter of a pub-owner who find trouble when they learn through the grapevine that one of the husband's superior's has been arrested. Now the husband fears that a major purge is in the offing. Their fears are not allayed by the fact that their house keys have disappeared, nor can they shake the feeling that someone is watching them. Things don't get any better when they finally get into the house and find signs that someone has been in there.