Festival cinemas await the arrival of Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels from Jan Novák, American filmmaker of Czech descent, and his son Adam.
Their previous work together includes Citizen Václav Havel Goes on Vacation from 2005, where they reconstruct Havel’s journey through the republic in 1985, which wore out hundreds of secret police officers and brought about a series of absurd situations characteristic of the collapsing communist regime.
The documentary collage Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels recounts Havel’s stint at a Trutnov brewery in the mid-1970s and searches for the circumstances surrounding the creation of Havel’s cult play Audience. The picture is a testimony to the absurdities of the normalisation era, illuminating the secret police’s interrogation methods, the phenomenon of “home theatre” and an incident surrounding a seized shipment of “anti-state” literature. The film includes interviews with dissidents, former police officers, employees of the brewery and famous actors such as Jiřina Bohdalová. The second title exclusively screened at Art Film Fest will be the American documentary The Power of the Powerless from director Cory Taylor.
The film chronologically maps the Velvet Revolution in the streets of Pragueand Bratislava and examines the harmful effects of “erasing” history. It asks why many Czechs don’t want to remember communist, and warns of the alarming impact this is having on young people.
Authentic interviews with dissidents in the film, and it is also unique in being narrated by renowned actor Jeremy Irons. ———————————————————————————————————– Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., FORZA Production House Co-Organizers: the Town of Trenčianske Teplice, the Town of Trenčín, Health Spa Trenčianske Teplice The Festival is made possible through the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.
General Sponsors: AquaCity Poprad, zdravotná poisťovňa Dôvera
Main Sponsors: Omnia Holding, Tatra banka, Tauris, the Central European Foundation, Slovnaft Official Transport Provider: Lancia Logistics Sponsor: DHL Sponsors: Provimi Pet Food, Dr. Max, Hotel Baske, AVI Studio Official Suppliers: Hubert, Segafredo Zanetti SR, Philips, GS design, Parkhotel Baračka Slovak cinema is brought to you by Zlatý Bažant
Main Media Sponsors: Slovenská televízia, Pravda, Zoznam.sk, Boomerang, Žurnál Media Sponsors: televízia Markíza, FilmBox, Televízia Central, Rádio Okey, Rádio Hit FM, Markíza, Pardon, Cinemax, Kam do mesta, port.sk, kedykam.sk, superobed.sk, ISPA, SITA, Q-EX, Trenčianske Echo
