1999

A cinematic search for the meaning and importance of the state administration.

Some images of and concrete situations from the offices that we commonly come into contact with - the land registry, the social security office - as well as institutions that we know from the media in particular - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.

The filmmakers present Czech institutions from the position of the citizen, but also of the official who mediates between the system of state administration and the citizen.

We would like to thank the employees and management of the following institutions for their co-operation and for facilitating the shooting:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Culture CR, the Czech Administration of Social Security Prague, the District Office of the Municipality of Prague, department of building and transportation, the Land Registry of the city of Prague, the Police of the Czech Republic, Local Division Prague 3, department of administrative activity. 

© Czech television

Scenes from the life of village musicians.

Everyone has experienced it at least once - a country wedding or a country funeral, a baptism, a feast on the occasion of a pig-slaughtering, Shrovetide ... Relatives and friends meet, both the locals and those from further afield. The prescribed ritual takes place in a most dignified manner, but only then, it seems, does the main event begin. Food is laid out on the table, people talk, remember, complain about the times, give advice, mourn and also dance and sing.

The film portrays the mood of these festivities and their main actors - the musicians. It is poetic, but also a little ironical, kindly, humorous, but also cynical and nostalgic. These musicians accompany the country dweller from the cradle to the grave.

Will this phenomenon of folk music, which carries within it the national tradition, disappear?

The film was made with the financial support of the State fund of the Czech Republic for the support and development of Czech cinematography. 

© Czech television

From November 1997 to October 1998, the following worked, lived, sang, prayed and spoke:

Eva Pavlincová (1907) from Javorník nad Veličkou

Kateřina Ďugová (1909)

and her brother Jan Miklošek (1917) from Hrubá Vrbka

Eva Petruchová (1913) from Javorník nad Veličkou

Martin Kománek (1908 - + 13.4.1998) from Petrušská Dolina

Tomáš Majtán (1914) from Javorník nad Veličkou

Josef Horák (1917) from Podhájské Mlýny

The film portrays seven inhabitants of the foothills of the White Carpathians who were born either before or in the course of W. W. I, that is, between 1907-1917. The filmmakers visited them both on ordinary days and on traditional church and state holidays. The result is a testimony of the value system and order of people whose life journey began at the beginning of such a contradictory and difficult century and ends at its frenetic close. A testimony that touches on questions of age, illness, death, faith and culture without sentimentality. A testimony about people who, in spite of difficult mountain conditions, maintained their free spirit and humour as an expression of their great inner strength.

© Czech television

The film portrays the wide spectrum of interests and activities of people working for non-governmental ecological organisations. The diverse activities, such as eco-education, the revival of traditions and crafts, the protection of nature, the collection of waste, and demonstrations introduce us to the inner world of the ecologists. We witness their search for and promotion of values and a way of life that facilitates an understanding of the relation between humanity and nature. We too, in little ways, can contribute to the creation of a natural balance between civilisation and nature.

© Czech television