Hubert Novotný

The Thirteenth Chamber

Twelve-year old Kosta, a little boy of an overactive imagination, makes friends with equally sensitive eleven-year old Blanka. Fantasy leads the two children to the forgotten attic in the house of Blanka's parents. For them, this is the forbidden "thirteenth chamber," and to Kosta, an old glass vase becomes a magic ball with the help of which he can play his favorite play "on fate". The children observe the adults and unconsciously sense that something has gone wrong in Blanka's family. Her dad is a physician and her mother is not happy with him, still recollecting her former wooer Petr who left for India upon his graduation.

Naše bláznivá rodina

Twelve-year-old Jana returns from the hospital. She notices some changes at home and is worried that her parents are going to divorce. In reality, however, they are expecting another child.

The Nun's Night

A dark fable set in an early 1950s Czech village, a time of Soviet-style socialism which saw the implementation of collectivized agriculture and the mass closure of monasteries and convents.

Katya and the Crocodile

It is the summer holiday and little Mísa Horák has taken a few animals from the school's so-called "Corner of Living Nature" home to care for. But when he brings home two Angora rabbits, a starling, a little monkey, a tortoise and a small crocodile, his parents order him to take them away. He is helped by Káta, who offers to place the animals in the child's room of her family's apartment. Mísa leaves for her friend where the animals will hopefully be able to stay. Káta goes shopping. In the meantime, Káta's younger sister Minka wakes up and begins to play with the animals, who gradually run off in disarray.

Nobody Will Laugh

A successful art historian who has trouble telling people difficult truths, finds himself in an inescapable situation when a small lie quickly gets out of hand.

Tales About Children

Three small short stories, each of which was created by one of the famous Czechoslovak filmmakers of children's films: Magdalena, Fraud and Karp.

The High Wall

Jitka is a 12-year-old girl who feels the first stirring of love. She becomes friends with a young man who is hospitalized with paralysis. Jitka visits the man every day and witnesses his slow recovery, but she is unaware that she could have deeper feelings for him.

The Hope

A group of outcasts, including a vagabond and a prostitute, gather at the outskirts of the industrial area of a large Czech city, one of the things that helps some of them survive is alcohol.

The Coward

In a remote Slovak village in the closing days of World War II, a schoolteacher and his young wife find a wounded Russian parachutist in their front yard just as the Germans are coming in to occupy their village. As his wife readily becomes involved with anti-Nazi partisans, the schoolteacher collaborates with the Germans in fear.

Magical Day

Little Honzík tries everything he can in order to join the team for Spartakiada Games.

Prázdniny v oblacích

In the beginning, the book of Bohumil Říha was about the aircraft of Kaneti. Both the book and the film that came out of it tell about children's parties spending their holidays near the sports airport. The newly scanned airplane first assigns to aliens, then suspects them of espionage, but in the end it will explain everything. Children will even find the courage to take part in an aviation trip. According to period reviews, the film was a bad thing to teachers, as they said it was inappropriate.

The Goalkeeper Lives On Our Street

A boy dreams of winning an ice hockey game. Meanwhile, a professional hockey star moves into the neighborhood, offering his services as a goalkeeper--leading two rival teams of Prague schoolboys, The Little Lions and The Devil Street Boys, to fall over themselves in order to gain his favor. The goalie's son, basking in his father's glory, is asked to replace a member of the Lions team, prompting the usual boyish rivalries and battles. Some of the Lions players are so preoccupied with the impending "big game" that their schoolwork suffers, to the chagrin of their teachers and parents.