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The Sydney CZECH & SLOVAK FILM FESTIVAL | 10 YEARS! | 24 March – 2 April 2023

(This article expired 02.02.2024.)

The 10th annual Czech & Slovak Film Festival will be taking place from 24 March – 2 April 2023 at Dendy Cinemas in Newtown. To mark this anniversary, the festival was extended to 6 days instead of the usual 5 days and will run over 2 weekends to give you the opportunity to see many more movies than in the past couple of years.

As every year, there will be a diverse mix of recent films with many of them shown to the Australian public for the first time. The program is packed with great features including, dramas, thrillers, romances, comedies, documentaries and the popular, often quirky shorts and animations that have become part and parcel of the festival.

The biopic IL BOEMO directed by Petr Václav, shot primarily in Italy, kicks off this year's film line-up in DENDY Newtown, our home cinema since the festival’s inception. The period drama explores the life of Josef Mysliveček, a Czech immigrant in Italy who became the most prolific opera composer of the 18th century – inspiring Mozart, among others, and becoming his friend.

Another highlight of this year is undoubtedly the black and white award-winning drama THE BALLAD OF PIARGY … a film with 30+ awards and counting, it will be shown in its Australian premiere.  A love story of unclear guilt, love, and cruel punishment …  produced by none other than our Slovak partner Silvia Panáková.

Among many other big features not to be missed is certainly the most expensive Czech film in history, the blockbuster MEDIEVAL starring internationally celebrated actors such as Ben Foster, Michael Caine, and Til Schweiger. It focuses on the early life of the famous 15th Century Czech Hussite warlord Jan Žižka, known for his innovative tactics, charisma, and courage.

On the other hand, the feature-length animated story MY SUNNY MAAD by Oscar nominated and internationally acclaimed Czech animator Michaela Pavlátová brings gentle humour and well observed everyday details from the family life of a Czech woman who has no idea of the life that awaits her in post-Taliban Afghanistan, or the family she is about to join in the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Together with the new releases, the remastered satire THE CASE OF BARNABAS KOS is a must-see for all lovers of the golden era of the Czechoslovak wave of the 1960.

Among the new documentaries it’s well worth mentioning the unique unseen footage of WWII from the archives of both countries as well as the UK and other countries in THE GOOD OLD CZECHS.

There are many more films to choose from at this year’s festival but whatever you decide to come see, we look forward to seeing you at Dendy Newtown.

For more information about the program and to buy tickets, head over to www.csfilmfest.sydney