The Magpie in the Wisp

Král Ubu(cs)

A television recording of a theatrical production of Alfred Jarry's absurd drama about the gluttonous, gluttonous, compulsive and unscrupulous Father Ubo, who, with the generous advice of his ambitious wife, gets rid of the Polish king and seizes his throne. He establishes a reign of terror in which he only cares about his own benefit, so it is not surprising that the people rebel against him. The recording was made at the end of July 1968 and, thanks to a copy saved from destruction during the normalization period, was first published in 1990.

The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night(cs)

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.

Larks on a String(cs)

In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.

Klec(cs)

A successful scientist dares to openly and forcefully criticize the unproductive activities of the institute in which he works. He draws attention to outdated procedures and also to the fact that scientific work must not fall into the abyss of mediocrity and everyday grayness, so typical of the entire society. Will his career withstand this situation?

Funeral Ceremony(cs)

Matylda, who lives in the Czech countryside, is trying to arrange burial plans for her dying husband, Jan. While Matylda hopes to have a funeral for Jan in the small town where they once lived, there are complications. Years earlier, Jan spoke out against the Communist government and was consequently expelled from the town. When Matylda fails to convince a local politician to allow the ceremony, she uses her husband's funeral as a public show of dissent.

The Ear(cs)

Upon returning home from an official party, a Czech government official and his wife discover it bugged and surveilled by mysterious figures, driving them to paranoia and intensifying their discontents with one another.

The Borstal(cs)

A young teacher is sent to a rural reform school, where he is faced with brutality of the inmates.

Squandered Sunday(cs)

A day in the life of Arnošt, a soldier staying in Josefov. A sense of desperation permeates the environment as well as the mind of the protagonist. It is sunday, and saturday left just a hangover. Days go by, nothing changes. A metaphor for the political situation in the Czech lands at a time where depicting a soldier as a drunk was considered out of place to say the least.

The Uninvited Guest(cs)

A run-of-the-mill family is terrorized by strangers dressed in military garb who invade their private realm.

Jan 69(cs)

Ariel(fi)

A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.

Shadows in Paradise(fi)

Nikander, a rubbish collector and would-be entrepreneur, finds his plans for success dashed when his business associate dies. One evening, he meets Ilona, a down-on-her-luck cashier, in a local supermarket. Falteringly, a bond begins to develop between them.

Sunday in August(de)

A couple on a boat. Their love is burnt out. But how to let go when souls are entangled?

Forrest Gump(en)

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

American Beauty(en)

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Citizen Kane(en)

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

Dancer in the Dark(en)

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

The Dark(en)

In an attempt to pull her family together, Adèlle travels with her young daughter Sarah to Wales to visit her father. The morning after they arrive, Sarah mysteriously vanishes in the ocean. Not long after, a little girl bearing a striking resemblance to their missing daughter reveals that she has retuned from the dead — and that Sarah has been taken to the Welsh underworld.

Metropolis(de)

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Eskimo Day(en)

Comedy drama about the trials and tribulations of three sets of parents as they finally realise that their children have grown up and reluctantly they have to let them enroll at Cambridge University.

Puncture(en)

A lawyer who is a drug addict fights a medical-supplies corporation in court while battling his personal demons.

The Eternal Daughter(en)

An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.

Possession(en)

Maud Bailey, a brilliant English academic, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel La Motte. Roland Michell is an American scholar in London to study Randolph Henry Ash, now best-known for a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to La Motte, they follow a trail of clues across England, echoing the journey of the couple over a century earlier.

Inseparable(en)

A troubled engineer faces pressure at work and problems at home with his moody wife. American expat Chuck, rescues him from the brink of despair and becomes an unlikely mentor.

Brand Upon the Brain!(en)

After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.

Donovan's Echo(en)

A series of uncanny déjà vu events force a man to re-examine his tragic past, memory, instinct, and future.

Mr. K(en)

Mr. K, a traveling magician, finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of his hotel. His attempts to get out only pull him deeper, entangling him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.

Elephant Song(en)

A psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game when he questions a disturbed patient about the disappearance of a colleague.

Northanger Abbey(en)

A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

Agatha and the Midnight Murders(en)

As bombs fall on London, writer Agatha Christie decides it is time to kill off her most famous creation.

Endless Night(en)

Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.

Triage(en)

The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.

Remember(en)

With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

End of Sentence(en)

Newly widowed Frank Fogle embarks on a journey to Ireland to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His estranged son, Sean, recently released from prison, agrees to join only when his father promises that they’ll never see each other again following the trip. After revelations surface about an old flame of Frank’s wife and a charming hitchhiker with plans of her own intervenes, father and son find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways.

A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery(en)

After being forced into early retirement, former detective Jeff Jackson returns to a quiet life on Martha's Vineyard. Quiet, at least, until a body washes up and he's drawn back into crime solving.

Moonlight Mile(en)

As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.

The Good Doctor(en)

Dr. Martin Blake, who has spent his life looking for respect, meets an 18-year-old patient named Diane, suffering from a kidney infection, and gets a much-needed boost of self-esteem. However, when her health starts improving, Martin fears losing her, so he begins tampering with her treatment, keeping Diane sick and in the hospital right next to him.

Maria's Lovers(en)

A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.

Garage Sale Mystery: Guilty Until Proven Innocent(en)

When Jenn's old pal Sandra becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, it'll be up to her to discover who done it before time runs out.

She's So Lovely(en)

After being released from a psychiatric institution, a man tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his now-ex wife from the events that led up to his incarceration.