First Czech-Slovak film festival opens in Hanoi

The first Czech-Slovak film festival kicked off in Hanoi on November 6 to celebrate the 100th founding anniversary of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
First Czech-Slovak film festival opens in Hanoi ảnh 1The first Czech-Slovak film festival kicked off in Hanoi on November 6 to celebrate the 100th founding anniversary of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia) (Photo courtesy of organisers)
Hanoi (VNA) – The first Czech-Slovakfilm festival kicked off in Hanoi on November 6 to celebrate the 100th founding anniversary of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia).

The film festival is taking place from November6 to 10 at the National Cinema Centre in Hanoi and November 12 to 14 at theCinestar Cinema in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ten Czech and Slovak films to be screened focus on a range oftopics from history to crime, society and fairy tales.

The non-profit arts festival celebrates andpromotes a contextualised range of classic and modern Czech and Slovak films toVietnamese and expatriate audiences.

Free tickets can be collected at the cinemas,the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic.

The films are screened in their originallanguages with Vietnamese and English subtitles.

The Line, a Slovakian feature film abouttraffickers and smugglers on the Ukrainian border opened the film festival inHanoi.

It was directed by Peter Bebjak and starringTomas Mastalir, Emilia Vasaryova and Eugen Libezniuk. The movie is a criminalthriller about the life of people living on the border of Ukraine and Slovakia.The 2017 film brought won Bebjak the Best Director Award at the 52nd KarlovyVary International Film Festival.

Another highlight of the festival is Kolya, thewinner of Best Foreign Language Film at both the Academy Awards and the GoldenGlobes 1997. It also won numerous prizes at the Czech Lions 1997.

The film begins in 1988 as the Soviet bloc isbeginning to disintegrate. The protagonist is a middle-aged Czech concertcellist named Frantisek Louka who is dedicated to bachelorhood and the pursuitof women.

A friend offers him a chance to earn a greatdeal of money through a sham marriage to a Soviet woman to allow her to stay inCzechoslovakia. The woman then uses her new citizenship to emigrate to WestGermany.

Louka then looks after her five-year-old son,Kolya. After communication difficulties at the beginning, a bond forms betweenLouka and Kolya.

The festival will present other internationalaward–winning pieces such as Dark Blue World (winner of the National Board ofReview Award for Top Foreign Film and Czech Lions in 2001), Divided We Fall(Best Feature Film at the Czech Critics Awards) and Fair Play (winner of theRome Independent Film Festival Jury Award for Best Feature and winner of CzechLions in 2015).-VNA
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