Starting 12 September 2024, you can enjoy the Czechoslovak cinematic gem Oil Lamps on the big screen. Shot in 1971, Juraj Herz’s outstanding psychological study of the contrast between dream and reality and the deceptive idyll of small-town Bohemia at the turn of the 20th century was adapted from the eponymous novel by Jaroslav Havlíček. Iva Janžurová and Petr Čepek give performances of a lifetime as the courageous and sympathetic Štěpa Kiliánová and her syphilitic husband. Shown in a new, digitally restored 4K version made possible by a financial gift from Eduard and Milada Kučera, Oil Lamps will be in cinemas until the end of September to commemorate what would have been the director’s 90th birthday. This version was previously screened as part of KVIFF Classics, a special program organized last December by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the National Film Archive, where it was personally introduced by Janžurová. Additionally, festivalgoers could see this drama about a woman’s thwarted desire as part of the 45th Karlovy Vary festival’s homage to Juraj Herz. In 2015, Iva Janžurová was honored with the KVIFF President’s Award for her outstanding contribution to Czech cinema, and in 2022 she starred in the trailer for the festival’s 56th edition.
The month of September is practically dedicated to Iva Janžurová. Just a week after Oil Lamps, another legendary film by Juraj Herz comes to Czech cinemas – 1972’s Morgiana, in which Janžurová excels in the double role of two very different sisters. And Actress, a documentary about Iva Janžurová, will have its cinematic premiere exactly a week later, on 26 September. Shot by the legendary Czech actress’s daughter Theodora Remundová, the film was shown in KVIFF 58’s Out of the Past section.
