Special Screenings

“Dude, do you have any idea how hard it is to get yourself among the top players?” says Láďa to his best friend Alex, who is determined to record a hit with an established rapper. When it finally looks like he might get his chance, a small problem presents itself: it costs a ton of money and Alex just gave up dealing. And so begins an adrenaline ride filled with rap and drugs.

An actor called Šnajdr is given an opportunity to make his debut as a director. He doesn’t think twice about leaving Prague and dashing off to Olomouc, where he is met by the grumpy director of the town’s cultural centre and his eccentric grandma, who is to be the star of his production and who's perfectly attuned to his sense of humour and mystification… A bittersweet comedy directed by Miroslav Krobot and starring Pavel Šimčík and Iva Janžurová.

This thrilling yet, at its core, empathetic and humanist film looks at the infamous trial of Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the mass extermination of Jews during the Second World War. Depicting the events preceding Eichmann’s execution, it approaches the important and much publicized Nazi criminal through the eyes of three participants in these events.

In February 2018 Slovakia was shaken by the cold-blooded murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée. This Danish documentary coproduction unravels the tentacles of the Slovak mafia and much else besides, and this from a valuable foreign perspective. The appalling story is reminiscent of the plot from a sophisticated thriller, although the sad fact remains that the reality itself was and still is just as barbaric.

A view of a microcosm reflecting the nuances of human coexistence in Europe, or a playful mystery full of amusing, open-ended plot lines? Perhaps it’s both. An observational documentary and also a magical realist visit to the Lausanne suburbs where, for some unknown reason, two watchmen are guarding a small river in a nearby park.

An intimate portrait of the relationship between Karel Schwarzenberg, a key figure of the post-November 1989 era, and his daughter Lila Schwarzenberg. The fascinating discussions, filmed over a period of five years, also open up uncomfortable, controversial themes, such as the complex process of growing up in the shadow of a charismatic father, moreover, under the weight of aristocratic traditions and customs.  

Orion, Vladimir 518 and Mike Trafik are Peneři strýčka Homeboye (Uncle Homeboy’s Hoboes). Three lads from Prague, legendary rappers on the cusp of middle age, friends. Graffiti, the first attempts at rap, parties, fame, booze and drugs. Sky-rocketing popularity (but well-earned), downfalls, crises and comebacks. A cleverly shot, incisive triple portrait that flouts all the taboos.

It's the year 2056 and oxygen is running out on a devastated Earth. One possible solution is a project being developed on the space station Rubikon under the supervision of the idiosyncratic geneticist Dimitri. A work of pure science fiction, Rubikon is unusual within the context of European cinema. Despite its genre identification, it tries to answer questions related to the climate crisis and individual responsibility for the good of mankind.

A remote mountain village is under threat from a bloodthirsty witch named Marie, whose spirit is capable of entering the bodies of murder victims and slain animals. One day the witch leaves her mark on the newborn Nevena, and the girl’s fate is sealed forever… Stalevski delivers a highly original, atmospheric horror flick, working with Macedonian mythology as he deftly interweaves folkloric motifs with existential questions, while also examining the position of women.