Happy End (Oldřich Lipský, 1967)
Sep
1
1889

Butcher Bedřich Frydrych (Oldřich Lipský), born September 1, 1889 in Trumberk. DP: Vladimír Novotný.
Happy End (Oldřich Lipský, 1967)
Sep
1
1889

Butcher Bedřich Frydrych (Oldřich Lipský), born September 1, 1889 in Trumberk. DP: Vladimír Novotný.
“Tell me the truth!” Ovoce stromů rajských jíme [We Eat the Fruit of the Trees of Paradise] (Věra Chytilová, 1970)
Aug
6
orange

Eva (Jitka Novákova) devouring oranges under a black umbrella (via). DP: Jaroslav Kučera.
Orange, food or fashion*
– choir
An allegorical, psychedelic retelling of Genesis 3 and the Fall of Man
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
Marie II: “But I'm happy.”
Marie I: “I'm so happy, too.” Sedmikrásky [Daisies] (Věra Chytilová, 1966)
Jul
25
a girls' night out

Marie I and Marie II (Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová respectively) having a heck of a time. DP: Jaroslav Kučera.
A girls' night out: women having fun on their own[???]*
Two young women called Marie pull destructive, anarchist pranks.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“We still remember our high wall. Even the day we first climbed it, filled with curiosity. The sadness of the discoveries of those years seemed devastating to us. Then we wondered how we could have forgotten it so suddenly.” Vysoká zeď [The High Wall] (Karel Kachyňa, 1964)
Jul
23

The young man (Vít Olmer) rests in the sun with Jitka (Radka Dulíková) observing him. DP: Josef Vaniš.
Someone is in an ambulance or hospital*
– prologue
It's summer in Prague. Jitka, a girl on the cusp of womanhood, follows a stray cat and finds a tall hospital wall. Behind it, a young man in a wheelchair rests. The girl and the man connect.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“The 17th of July. Comrade Anna is not lying!”Ucho [The Ear] (Karel Kachyňa, 1970)
Jul
17

Party member, and rather drunk, Anna (Jiřina Bohdalová) and her newspaper hat at the officials' party. DP: Josef Illík.
Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara [The Last Trick of Mr. Schwarcewallde and Mr. Edgar] (Jan Švankmajer, 1964)
Jun
26
National Handshake Day

Mr Schwarcewallde and Mr Edgar on stage. Both are puppeteers in Edwardian costumes and oversized papier-mâché heads. DP: Svatopluk Malý.
Characters shake hands on National Handshake Day (USA)
Two illusionists compete with increasingly incredible tricks, sealed with a hefty handshake.
Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)
Apr
26
International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.
Something nuclear on International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day
In a state of delirium, engineer Prokop chases his stolen chemical formula, worried it may be used for mass destruction
With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.
And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.
“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)
Mar
14
Under the Skin – 2013

The Baron (Miloš Kopecký) on the Moon clinks glasses with Cyrano de Bergerac (Karel Höger) and several characters from Jules Verne's De la terre à la lune (1865). A baffled 20th century astronaut looks on. DP: Jiří Tarantík.
A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.
– Cyrano de Bergerac
Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)
Jan
30
doors

In a completely dark room, a large silhouette of a man can be seen rushing through a brightly lit doorway. Other, impossible doors at odd heights show several people observing the man. Still via DVDBeaver. DP: Jan Kališ.
A gateway or door for Janus, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and ending
A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.
“The Kinoautomat in the Czechoslovak Pavilion is a guaranteed hit of the World Exposition, and the Czechs should build a monument to the man who conceived the idea, Radúz Činčera.”Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům [Kinoautomat / One Man and His House] (Ján Roháč, Radúz Činčera + Vladimír Svitáček, 1967)
Jan
10
Representation of the People Act 1918

The audience about to vote for one of two scenes, with two presenters on stage.. DP: Jaromír Šofr.
Voting, for the Representation of the People Act 1918, UK.
Made for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at #Expo67 in #Montréal, Kinoautomat was the world's first interactive film. During nine moments in the story, a moderator would appear on the stage, and ask the audience where the story should go now. Depending on the votes, one of two reels would play.
– The New Yorker
After its very successful performance at Expo 67, and a one year run in Prague, Kinoautomat was banned by the Czechoslovakian government.