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| The Nagano Tapes will close the festival Photo: Courtesy of Made In Prague |
The Made In Prague Festival returns to London this month for its 23rd edition. Running from November 8 to 17, this year's selection aims to consider contemporary Czech society 30 years after the dramatic changes brought about by the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
It will open with comedy mini-series Most! and close with The Nagano Tapes, which charts the underdog story of the Czech ice hockey team’s surprising victory at the 1998 Olympics.
This year, there are seven UK premieres in the line-up, including comedy/revenge thriller Old Timers, which sees two ageing Second World War veterans embark on a final mission to murder the communist prosecutor who once jailed them. The lead actor Jiří Schmitzer and directors Martin Dušek and Ondřej Provazník will attend a Q&A. Other programme highlights include the latest from Eva Nova director Marko Škop, Let There Be Light, which sees a father attempt to stop his son sliding towards right-wing extremism.
Elsewhere in the programme, the work of students from the acclaimed Prague film school FAMU, is showcased in The Best of Czech Animation 2015 – 2019, featuring among others the winner of the 2019 Student Academy Awards, the puppet drama Daughter about a strained father/daughter relationship and the limits of mutual understanding.
The festival is also celebrating the work of veteran documentarian Helena Třeštíková, whose film career spans more than 40 years and features more than 50 documentaries. She will introduce and discuss Forman vs. Forman (2019), her latest film which premiered in Cannes sees the Oscar-winning film director Miloš Forman muse on his love of film and freedom.
Made in Prague is part of the month long Czech Velvet 1989-2019 Festival of Arts, Film, Music & Theatre organised by the Czech Centre London and showcased at venues across London, including the Regent Street Cinema, ICA, UCL, Rich Mix, Czech Embassy, Old Truman Brewery and others.
