česky  english 

Advanced search
Article notification Print Decrease font size Increase font size

Environmental Film Festival: Czech Embassy Programs

(This article expired 02.03.2013.)

As part of the 20th annual Environmental Film Festival, the Embassy of the Czech Republic presents two film programs: The Little Mole in the City and other animations on March 17 at 3:30 pm and All for the Good of the World and Nošovice on March 22 at 7 pm, as well as the exhibition Creative Recycling in the Czech Republic. Due to previous popularity of the films in the festival, please be sure to RSVP as soon as possible.

FilmFest

March 17-March 31, 2012
Exhibition: Creative Recycling in the Czech Republic     

The Embassy will present 18 panels featuring the work of Czech artist Veronika Richterová, who creates works of art with used  polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as well as discovers new ways of utilizing this mass produced product in inventive ways. Richterová has recycled PET bottles by shaping them into vibrant colored living things. She has molded the plastic into a giant alligator, a group of penguins on an iceberg, a sea of jellyfish, bats hanging from a tree, and much more. The creations complement and play off the natural environment with witty and playful humor. Along with graphic artist Michal Cihlář, she has documented the varied ideas of using old PET bottles in new ways with the aim to capture the fundamental principle of the human desire for creative recycling, including using the bottles to create greenhouses, children’s art projects, garden tools for scaring away unwanted pests, and more. For more information about the exhibition, please visit: http://www.czech.cz/en/Exhibition-Gallery/Creative-recycling-in-the-Czech-Republic.

The exhibition runs from March 17-March 31 and is open to the public during the film screenings as well as Mondays through Thursdays from 10 am–4 pm and Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm.  Please email czech_events@yahoo.com to schedule an appointment.

March 17, 3:30 pm
Animation:
The Little Mole in the City (Krtek ve městě) and other animations      

Created by: Zdeněk Miler, Czech Republic, 1982, animations    
Time length: The screenings will run about 45 minutes                                     

Synopsis:The Little Mole in the City follows the adventures of the famous Czech mole Krtek and his sidekicks hedgehog and rabbit, as the head to the city after their home–the forest–has been taken over by industrialization. The Embassy will also screen Miler's short films Little Mole and the Ducklings (Krtek a kachničky) and Little Mole and the Robot (Krtek a robot) to round out the event. Enjoy an afternoon with the family at the Embassy of the Czech Republic watching the Czech classic films of Zdeněk Miler, a renowned Czech animator.   

About the Creator: Czech animator Zdeněk Miler made approximately 50 films featuring his famous creation - Krtek (little mole). The idea for Krtek's creation came when Miler was commissioned to make an educational film for children in 1956. Since he was strongly influenced by the films of Walt Disney, he looked for an animal as the main character. In the beginning, the mole spoke, but Miler wanted his mole to be understood everywhere in the world so he decided to use his young daughters at the time as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express Krtek's feelings and world perception. Today, Krtek can be seen in over 80 countries.                

Animator Zdeněk Miler passed away on November 30, 2011. The screenings are also in tribute to his remarkable body of work.                         

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic, 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008        

R.S.V.P. to czech_events@yahoo.com and put "Krtek" in the subject line.

Audience: All ages

March 22, 7 pm   
All for the Good of the World and Nošovice
(Vše pro dobro světa a Nošovic)              

Directed by: Vít Klusák, Czech Republic, 2010, 82 min, in Czech with English subtitles              

Synopsis: In the small Czech village of Nošovice – as the locals put it – a UFO has landed in the form of a kilometer-long factory: a Korean Hyundai automobile plant. The village, famous mostly for its sauerkraut and “Radegast” beer, was thus turned into an industrial zone, the largest greenfield investment project in the Czech Republic’s history. For a long time, many farmers resisted selling the land upon which the factory stood. Eventually, they all succumbed under the pressure from the neighbors and even anonymous death threats. The filmmakers returned to Nošovice two years after the dramatic property buyouts, at the time when the factory has just started churning out cheap cars. Combining the perspectives of seven characters, they have composed a portrayal of a place that is playful and chilling at the same time: a politically engaged absurd flick about a field that yields cars.            

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic, 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008        

R.S.V.P. to czech_events@yahoo.com and put "EFF" in the subject line.

About the Environmental Film Festival:        
The Environmental Film Festival (EFF) in the Nation’s Capital seeks to advance public understanding of the environment through the power of film. Founded in 1993, the Festival has become one of the world’s largest and most influential showcases of environmental film and a major collaborative cultural event in Washington, D.C.  Each March the Festival presents a diverse selection of high quality environmental films, including many Washington, D.C., U.S. and world premieres. Documentaries, narratives, animations and shorts are shown, as well as archival, experimental and children’s films at venues throughout the city. For more information about the festival, please visit www.environmentalfilmfestival.org.