Iva Ruszeláková

Heart Above the Castle

A neon heart installed above Prague Castle illuminated the city for the last three months of Václav Havel’s presidency in an artist’s tribute to his extraordinary service. His last major undertaking was hosting the NATO summit in 2002 and Němec was granted extraordinary access to film it. Set to make a “special poetic film”, it took Němec years to process what he had witnessed – George W. Bush creating an alliance to invade Iraq. It may then be the director’s revenge to point his camera lens democratically at everyone involved with the summit, giving the same screen time to kitchen and waiting staff, musicians, security detail and NATO protesters, as to the heads of states and attending dignitaries. Havel however, became as much of a subject as the president on screen, and the film’s narrator, providing commentary in his own voice from the distance of a few years after he left the office.

Toyen

Jan Nemec, a leading filmmaker of the Czech New Wave, creates an original portrait of one of the most provocative artists of the 20th century: Toyen (Marie Cerminova). As a female artist, Toyen broke through the male-dominated art world to create paintings and drawings often erotic in nature. She co-founded the surrealist movement in her native Prague, survived the Nazis and the Communists, maintained artistic and personal relationships with artists Jindrich Heisler (whom she hid during WWII) and Jindrich Styrsky.

Late Night Talks with Mother

Taking a cue from Franz Kafka's "Letter to My Father," this highly personal film follows Czech director Jan Nemec as he attempts to engage in a dialogue with his deceased mother. While alive, Nemec's mother had a troubled relationship with her son; this rumination seems to be Nemec's public platform for coming to terms with unresolved familial issues. The director embellishes his film by linking personal events with 20th century history.

Late Night Talks with Mother

Taking a cue from Franz Kafka's "Letter to My Father," this highly personal film follows Czech director Jan Nemec as he attempts to engage in a dialogue with his deceased mother. While alive, Nemec's mother had a troubled relationship with her son; this rumination seems to be Nemec's public platform for coming to terms with unresolved familial issues. The director embellishes his film by linking personal events with 20th century history.

Code Name: Ruby

This controversial feature blends documentary, archival footage and fiction into an elliptical narrative in which two young people in Prague, an ancient seat for the practice of alchemy, follow the trail for the mystical philosopher's stone. History and future blend as brilliant montage sequences and fanciful leaps of the imagination work to posit questions about the legacy of the past and how it influences the individual's personal freedom and responsibility.