2009

Poltikovič took his crew  in 1991 to shoot the film ‘The Resettlement‘ (Stěhování osady), about the resettlement of Romanies from the slums they inhabited to newly-constructed three-storey prefabricated housing blocks. In 2002 we went to Žehra to take a look and decided to start filming again.

Alongside the prefab accommodation units, which were begun during the Socialist era, terraced houses were also built here in 2002 with funding from the EU. A Romany mayor was elected during the local elections. One of the protagonists of the film ‘The Resettlement‘ was a Romany activist who studied journalism and subsequently left for England.

Our documentary involves the participation of both the original heroes of 'The Resettlement' and members of the new generation. There is great unemployment among the Slovak Roma who are practically living off social support. Religious activists are a new phenomenon here. 

Another of the film’s motifs is the clash of two almost irreconcilable worlds, 'gadžo' (white) and Romany, where each has its own way of looking at things.

„... about a short life and a long journey“

„About people, not only about Jews, about the evil in us, not only about the holocaust, about the present, not only about the past“

In April 1945 Vojtech Gál  was murdered on the way from Sachsenhausen to Schwerin. In April 2008 his son walked the same route in an attempt to find his father’s grave and leave a testimony. He was accompanied by friends, film makers and fellow pilgrims. They did not understand everything they came across. They could not comprehend some of the people with whom they talked. But it never occurred to them even for a moment that they were travelling without aim and meaning. They give harsh personal witness of their journey, anticipating neither agreement nor tolerance.

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© Fedor Gál, Film & Sociology

The reconstruction of the photography studio Ateliér Seidel in Český Krumlov and the reappearance of a unique collection of almost a hundred and forty thousand historic photographs is not only a springboard for telling the moving story of two photographers – father and son – but also a way of enviving of Czech-German dialogue and bringing home to us lives lived long ago and the lost culture of the Šumava borderlands.

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-German Future Fund, Českokrumlovský rozvojový fond spol. s r.o.

© Film & Sociology, Czech Television 

The only solution is personal revolution.

'Revolution Girls' is the story of four Czech women of the '89 generation. Philosophy students in Prague in 1989, all took active part  in a dramatic historic event, the Velvet Revolution, which brought down the Communist regime. The film explores the legacy of the revolution upon their lives almost twenty years later.

Though each of the women went her own way after the revolution, they all have retained some of the revolutionary fervour and still do whole-heartedly whatever it is they believe in. Jana, a member of the European Parliament, keeps trying to save the world.  Alena writes one book after another, probing the past for inspiration that the free but confusing present doesn't offer. Alice, a successful if reluctant businesswoman, is channeling most of her energies into raising her three children, including an adopted daughter. Pavla has totally devoted her life to music and spiritual quests. At the same time, all of them try hard to find the right balance between their professional or personal fulfilment and family life, while dealing with partnership crises, divorces and new loves.

What's left of their revolutionary ideals? Have they succeeded to fulfill their youthful dreams? What can their stories tell us about the time and place they live in? And above all, what can the grown up revolution girls tell us about being a woman in today's world?

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© Film & Sociology, Czech Television