Evald Schorm

Television series Golden Sixties examines new insights into Czech and Slovak cinema of the 1960s and the role of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Each episode focuses on a different filmmaker.

A group of the bourgeois head for a prominent figure's birthday party. As they venture through the woods and have a picnic, they're suddenly surrounded by some suspicious strangers.

A short documentary about the work of railwaymen and life on the railway.

Showing his own original footage of Prague Spring, director Evald Schorm describes the atmosphere these days in 1968.

In the 1950s, Ludvik Jahn was expelled from the Communist Party and the University by his fellow students, because of a politically incorrect note he sent to his girlfriend. Fifteen years later, he tries to get his revenge by seducing Helena, the wife of one of his accusers.

Artistic reportage from the construction of the Orlík Reservoir. One day on the large-scale construction site and the roles of individual workers in it, i.e. the construction manager, sprinklers, workers, crane operator and others.

Television series Golden Sixties examines new insights into Czech and Slovak cinema of the 1960s and the role of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Each episode focuses on a different filmmaker.

A short documentary about the work of railwaymen and life on the railway.

A short documentary about the work of railwaymen and life on the railway.

Showing his own original footage of Prague Spring, director Evald Schorm describes the atmosphere these days in 1968.

Artistic reportage from the construction of the Orlík Reservoir. One day on the large-scale construction site and the roles of individual workers in it, i.e. the construction manager, sprinklers, workers, crane operator and others.

Artistic reportage from the construction of the Orlík Reservoir. One day on the large-scale construction site and the roles of individual workers in it, i.e. the construction manager, sprinklers, workers, crane operator and others.

Blanka is an experienced and respected editor of a book publishing house, and she is currently working on a book by the young mountaineer Frantisek Andrlík. She takes care of her grown-up children Sárka and Vojta and spends time with her boyfriend — lawyer Otakar. Her life is marked by two major events, first when she accidentally scalded Sárka as a child, causing her significant burns. And secondly, when her husband died. The first accident in particular noticeably changed Blanka’s attitude towards her daughter. She continually blames herself for the visible scars on Sárka's body and attends to her with excessive care and concern. At home, however, this results only in conflicts and mutual misunderstanding. Sárka is only irritated with her mother and increasingly resents her mother for unknowingly taking away her own living space. For this reason, she keeps many things from her mother so that she can at least sometimes breathe freely.

A dialogue between judge and convict, winner and loser, which offers the viewer a reflection on the relativity of guilt, heroism and crime in the world of "isms".

A stuffy middle-aged foreigner, a businessman named Fabricius, lonely and looking for a night's diversion, finds it in the form of a mysterious blonde. In an abandoned cemetery, she tells him three tales involving black magic and erotic obsession. In "The Last Golem," a young rabbi struggles to fashion a massive, silent giant out of living clay — until he's distracted by a mute servant girl. In the second episode, "Bread Slippers," an 18th-century countess indulges her passion for sweet cakes, adulterous affairs, and secret kisses with pretty maids until a mysterious visitor whisks her away to an abandoned mansion, where Fate has a different kind of dance in store for her. And in the final story, "Poisoned Poisoner," a ravishing murderess in the Middle Ages dispatches lecherous merchants to the tune of upbeat '60s Czech pop songs.

A stuffy middle-aged foreigner, a businessman named Fabricius, lonely and looking for a night's diversion, finds it in the form of a mysterious blonde. In an abandoned cemetery, she tells him three tales involving black magic and erotic obsession. In "The Last Golem," a young rabbi struggles to fashion a massive, silent giant out of living clay — until he's distracted by a mute servant girl. In the second episode, "Bread Slippers," an 18th-century countess indulges her passion for sweet cakes, adulterous affairs, and secret kisses with pretty maids until a mysterious visitor whisks her away to an abandoned mansion, where Fate has a different kind of dance in store for her. And in the final story, "Poisoned Poisoner," a ravishing murderess in the Middle Ages dispatches lecherous merchants to the tune of upbeat '60s Czech pop songs.

An exploration of the declining birth rate in the Czechoslovakia.

An exploration of the declining birth rate in the Czechoslovakia.

Five Girls Around the Neck, in 1967, set out to explore that critical age of adolescence when a person's character is formed for good or evil. Schorm examined a girl's problems of being giving too much. She tries to buy the goodwill of her less fortunate friends; her intentions are pure, but in the difficulty of communicating she learns envy and deceit, and must decide if she will submit to double dealing or steel her life against self-deception and mediocrity. In addition to the relationship between the girl and her friends, Schorm introduces a teenage romance and the broader relationship between the girl's parents - neatly tied together with segments of Weber's opera "Der Freischütz". He reveals himself as a skilled psychological director with a wide range of knowledge about people.

Five Girls Around the Neck, in 1967, set out to explore that critical age of adolescence when a person's character is formed for good or evil. Schorm examined a girl's problems of being giving too much. She tries to buy the goodwill of her less fortunate friends; her intentions are pure, but in the difficulty of communicating she learns envy and deceit, and must decide if she will submit to double dealing or steel her life against self-deception and mediocrity. In addition to the relationship between the girl and her friends, Schorm introduces a teenage romance and the broader relationship between the girl's parents - neatly tied together with segments of Weber's opera "Der Freischütz". He reveals himself as a skilled psychological director with a wide range of knowledge about people.

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.

This is funny or rather crazy adaptation of classical opera Carmen inspired by famous czech theatre Ypsilon play of the same name shot at various bizarre locations such as airport, botanical garden and winter forest.

A leading director of the Czech film renaissance provides a philosophical meditation on life and death, set amidst complex hospital apparatus and the sadness, hope, or resignation of the patients. Existentialist rather than optimist, the approach is one of humanistic atheism, accepting death as part of life. Interviews with doctors and nurses explore their outlook; all speak of death as a fact, without either sentimentality or religiosity. The studied objectivity of the film only imperfectly hides an intense emotionality.

A leading director of the Czech film renaissance provides a philosophical meditation on life and death, set amidst complex hospital apparatus and the sadness, hope, or resignation of the patients. Existentialist rather than optimist, the approach is one of humanistic atheism, accepting death as part of life. Interviews with doctors and nurses explore their outlook; all speak of death as a fact, without either sentimentality or religiosity. The studied objectivity of the film only imperfectly hides an intense emotionality.

An overprotective mother plagues her daughter out of guilt over unintentionally scarring her daughter's cheek.

A veristic investigation into life at a boarding school for girls on the Czech-Polish border. The austere black and white camera captures everyday moments, the work in the factory and the students' leisure activities. The inner world of the female protagonists is presented in a stylized commentary read by Iva Janžurová. For political reasons, the film was shown in cinemas under the name of cameraman Přemysl Prokop.

The first short story "Naked in the Thorns" tells the story of a man whose clothes were taken away by a dog during his bath in the river. In the second short story "Games of Love", a retired professor paints a biblical scene of Susan and the old man. In the last short story, "Fidelity", the dog Argos perishes while defending his beloved master.

Study of the work of the conductor Václav Neumann and his creative process with the orchestra.

Study of the work of the conductor Václav Neumann and his creative process with the orchestra.

A synagogue service in Bohemia, where the Torah scrolls are ceremoniously taken out and read, intercut with images of a Jewish cemetery.

A passionate communist worker is discouraged by the changing political climate and the failure of his peers to live up to his ideals.

Engineer Jan Sebek (Jan Kacer) is undergoing treatment in a mental home after his unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His therapist, via discussions both with the patient and with people who know him, tries to find out what made the young and seemingly satisfied man decide to end his own life. Jan's pretty wife Jana (Jana Brejchová) claims not to know about anything but she is conducting an affair with a family friend, almost publicly and with the blessing of her parents.

Engineer Jan Sebek (Jan Kacer) is undergoing treatment in a mental home after his unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His therapist, via discussions both with the patient and with people who know him, tries to find out what made the young and seemingly satisfied man decide to end his own life. Jan's pretty wife Jana (Jana Brejchová) claims not to know about anything but she is conducting an affair with a family friend, almost publicly and with the blessing of her parents.

A verger, who likes to dress as a priest, is invited, by one of the villagers, to be the pastor at a vacant church. The atheist teacher resents the pastor, and tries to embarrass him in various ways, including being caught with the local girl, Majka.

A verger, who likes to dress as a priest, is invited, by one of the villagers, to be the pastor at a vacant church. The atheist teacher resents the pastor, and tries to embarrass him in various ways, including being caught with the local girl, Majka.

A quintet of vignettes based on short stories by Bohumil Hrabal: an eventful trip to the motorcycle races results in drunkenness, long-winded discussions, and death; two elderly men create false biographies; insurance agents visit an eccentric painter/goat farmer and his mother; guests at a wedding reception remain oblivious to outlying misery; and a working-class boy romances a Roma girl.

A quintet of vignettes based on short stories by Bohumil Hrabal: an eventful trip to the motorcycle races results in drunkenness, long-winded discussions, and death; two elderly men create false biographies; insurance agents visit an eccentric painter/goat farmer and his mother; guests at a wedding reception remain oblivious to outlying misery; and a working-class boy romances a Roma girl.

The popular folk singer Jaro Zárubecký, a former waiter, follows the motto "A man is not what he is, but what people think of him", and that is how he is raising his son. He lives only for him. Even though he feels successful, he still tries to equal those "above" him out of a certain feeling of inferiority and wants to bring his son to that level. He learns that Paul is in a group of boys who, for lack of other interests and out of recession, let off gas so that whoever shuts him up will become a "coward". Zárubecký is willing to protect his son even at the cost of losing his job and his life partner...

In creating the film, Evald Schorm and Jan Špáta took full advantage of the possibilities offered by the Cinemascope format and created a visual poem about the beauty and fate of trees and the simple life of people in the mountains. Dynamically slow, artistic shots of majestic nature alternate with civil documentary, yet lyrical details of human work. The film emphasizes the work and social changes in the lives of lumberjacks, but on a broader scale, it also reflects on the passage of time, the eternal values of nature and man, and his relationship to work and the collective. All this in a seemingly simple, very restrained in commentary, but all the more effective documentary story. This poeticized image of human labor was created as a commissioned film for the Ministry of Economy.

A married couple in which he is the older and powerful one and she is young and charming. Their mutual teasing, fussing and bickering filled a royal morning in the bedroom. The mighty King Henry VIII of England, who, as we know from history, had more than one of his wives put to death, and the last of them, Catherine Parr, using all the powers of her youth. The main dispute is over the colour of Alexander the Great's horse. Was he white or black? Will he, she, or the love that lies behind all the words win?

Documentary portrait of Josef Sudek. The camera captures the famous photographer at work, during walks through the city and nature, waiting for the light. Jan Špáta's black-and-white shots are stylized according to Sudek's photographs.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.