Jan Kraus

Friends Petr and Michal, who have known each other since high school, live completely different lives: one has already settled down, has a well-paid job and a family, the other is a loner with unfulfilled artistic ambitions. But they are still united by their passion: graffiti.

Comedy inspired by paperback crime novels tells the story of an adventurous search for a mysterious murderer who just after the end of the First World War has begun a rampage in Wilson City, a jerkwater town somewhere in Eastern Europe. The investigation is being led by an inhomogeneous pair of detectives - a greenhorn and local police cadet named Eisner and an experienced FBI officer Food, who has been sent to Europe by US President Woodrow Wilson himself.

A 19 year old nonconformist poet living in 1947 Czechoslovakia is blind to the Communist behemoth looking over him, and instead lives a bohemian life with sexually liberated girls.

Our story begins years later. A grand engagement is being planned in the kingdom. The prince has come of age. The time has come for him to marry the daughter of a neighboring country. An ancient royal promise must be fulfilled! However, the prince has little desire to marry. He is more interested in the surrounding forests, the stream, the birds, and above all, freedom, than in court etiquette and his own wedding. The young man does not change his behavior even when the beautiful princess arrives at the king's invitation. However, she soon realizes that she and the prince are not suited to each other. They only agree on one thing—they both want to defy the king's promise. But how?

This movie is about strange relationships in one "noname" gymnasium in Czech republic.

A tragicomedy full of slapstick and vignettes, and even an unexpected shootout. A family of villagers moves up in the world - to the county seat. Dad works as a butcher at a meatpacking plant, mom is a checker at a supermarket. The daughter is at odds with her homeroom teacher, while the son - a vegetarian, anarchist, and avid pothead - is apprenticing as a butcher to please his father. The kid's in hot water with both his forewoman and the police. But dad isn't much of an example, letting himself be tempted by the charms of a lovely young butcher. However much mom tries - visiting the beauty parlor, her psychologist, or even the confessional - her husband shows his interest by moving out. Mom plots revenge. And somehow an imp gets mixed up in it all

Ten short unrelated stories that move chronologically through Slovakia's twentieth-century history as seen from the perspective of life in small towns and villages.

A very free adaptation of Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus", Goethe's "Faust" and various other treatments of the old legend of the man who sold his soul to the devil. A nondescript man is lured by a strange map into a sinister puppet theatre, where he finds himself immersed in an indescribably weird version of the play, blending live actors, clay animation and giant puppets.

After a queen's tragic death, the king abandons his newborn daughter in a cave, but a witch saves her. Years later, the tomboy princess must confront and ultimately falls in love with the enemy king.

Examines the human relationship with food by showing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Two happily married couple, Michal and Blanka, experience a regrettable misunderstanding: the wife leaves home with their young son, but unfortunately her husband does not find the explanatory letter. Normally, he would wait for the matter to resolve itself, as he does not believe that his wife would just leave him, but he is under a lot of pressure: from his own parents, his neighbor, his mother-in-law, and his "good friends." They all advise him that the only solution is an immediate divorce. After a week, everything is explained, Michal finds Blanka's note and realizes how little he trusted Blanka and how easily he believed others...

Based on an autobiographical novella by Ivan Olbracht, the film tells the story of Hanele Safarová, who grows up just after the First World War in a little Ruthenian schtetl which, in true Hassidic fashion, awaits the arrival of the Messiah. But Hanele decides to follow the Zionists instead. She moves to the city to prepare for her departure to the Promised Land, where she meets a successful businessman named Ivo Karadzic, who has renounced Judaism to become a free-thinker. Their love for each other doesn’t only drive Hanele’s parents to distraction, it also threatens to destroy the entire community in the schetl.

Vít Dolejší, popularly known as Vitoušek, monitors the groundwater in the underground of the National Theatre, and when he gets fired because the theatre will go to the nuns, he has no choice but to inherit the Richmond Hotel in Karlovy Vary from his American grandfather and the five million dollars tied up in its rapid reconstruction. At that moment, however, he finds himself caught in the web of intrigues of a wealthy ex-broker called Boss, the hotel manager and former Aesthete Křiváček, and the cunning lawyer Wagner. However, not only big money is at stake, but also the charm of the notorious gambler Alice, with whom Vitoušek falls in love and then shows everyone that he is not such a fool as everyone thought.

When a young journalist dies in violent circumstances, her brother soon learns, by way of the mysterious Stefan Crosscoe, that his sister has succumbed to the werewolf curse.

For the Novák and Bartáček families, money is king, and they'll do just about anything to get it. While René Novák pitches his parents a lucrative scheme to swindle as many people with the last name Novák in the country as possible, the Bartáček clan decides to pretend to be much poorer than they really are in order to siphon some dollars from an American relative. And it doesn't take long before these separate scams start to intertwine.

Chronicle of frontier division Czech police (SNB) in the years 1946 - 1949.

In this fairy-tale comedy, a clumsy second-rate wizard, Rumburak, gets stuck in the world of humans. He has forgotten the spell that allows him to return to his home fairyland. His only joy is watching the figure skater Helen, whom he would like to woo. His hopes of returning to fairyland dawn when he discovers a computer in a research institute that could generate the lost spell.

Pan Tau, the friend of all children, now also helps the adults. A movie producer is in trouble and decides to shoot another Pan-Tau movie. But the old Pan-Tau actor Karasek is no longer young enough to walk the almost weightless walk of Pan Tau. Mr. Novak turns up - he resembles Pan Tau like a twin brother. He succeeds every pirouette. And as if by magic, he solves all the problems between people! Who is Mr. Novak? Is he really ...?

Deputy of cartography enterprise Mr. Ciruvka tries to seduce the colleague's assistant to destabilize his confident in a run for the director's chair. But things can go wrong.

In the Czech film comedy from 1988, you can see for yourself that the war was not easy, but otherwise it was great fun. Sergeant Kouba serving with the paratroopers has a soft spot for women. His superior does not like him. However, during a military exercise on the way to the barracks, Kouba shows his true character when he saves the life of a little boy, convicts a thief and finds a lifelong partner in the commander's sister.

The two heroes of the film's story - the decent but dry engineer Zárub and the marriage swindler Majer - are granted this wish by the mysterious forces of the moon. The two men change their appearance, which, however, contrasts sharply with their unchanged characters and voices. The incomprehensible swap naturally becomes the source of many comic plots and situations.

Car transport of the locomotive is difficult, as the cargo is bulky. The three-man crew of the tractor therefore experiences many difficulties on the long journey across Bohemia...

Matej and Jenda, two of the eight children of the poor Pelc family in the Giant Mountains, help in a glass works where the oldest brother Francek works. They hide into a tub not to be seen by supervisors checking on the ban of children labor. They miss the Epiphany carol (songs and treats door-to-door) and all neighbor village boys again on them in all the neighbor houses. On their way home they are passed by a fast moving big man with a large backpack. The boys send the customs officers, who are pursuing the strange man, to the opposite direction. The man then thanks them and rewards them the next day. Based on fairy-tales and legends the boys think the man is Krakonos (the giant living and ruling in the Giant Mountains).

In 18th century Bohemia, the mercenary troops of a cruel duke roam the countryside. A cap maker who defends himself against injustice is thrown into prison. His ten-year-old son tries to free his father with the help of his friends of the same age and a magic cap, but the duke's henchmen are soon after the magic cap.

Why? (Czech: Proč?) is a 1987 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Karel Smyczek. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. The film deals with the hooliganism in Czechoslovakia, particularly with the fans of football club Sparta from Prague, whose supporters were the pioneers of the football fan riots in Czechoslovakia, starting with hooligan actions already in the 1960s, like breaking the trains in which they travelled when they went on Sparta's away games. The film deals with one of such episodes

Elementary school student Jožka has a great love – horses. He is looking forward to turning this love into a profession. However, he is atoning for his father's criminal activities, he is not accepted into his dream school focused on horse breeding due to a bad report and has to be content with learning to be a tractor driver. However, he continues to do his best for horses, he trains the racehorse Palisander, who has never won. His outsider fate is similar to his. However, Jožka wins everything there is to win despite various ups and downs – he stands up to bullying in the youth home, an arrogant tutor, human weaklings, manages to study well even at a school that he doesn't enjoy and does sports. He also gains the respect of his classmates. Real jockeys also star in the film. It also features the birth and death of a horse. The scene where Jožka's father saves a horse from a burning truck is dramatic. The scenes with carrier pigeons are touching.

Sixty-year-old Joska Platejz, a peculiar jack of all trades, lives in a cottage in the Giant Mountains. He cooks wonderfully for a group of woodcutters. He has brought a mountain stream to his cottage and set up a set of tanks (one of which he keeps trout in). He also has a wind turbine, a wood-burning cable car, air-conditioning in the cottage and a mannequin of a man called Albert, who scares away unknown visitors. Joska is a man who claims that it is best to be alone, yet he constantly tries not to be alone. He is friends with a gamekeeper, a teacher, he tries to get his children to visit him regularly and therefore easily succumbs to a middle-aged lady. She doesn't take long to persuade him and soon comes to his cottage. A great love seems to be born...

Antony is obsessed with the idea of a happy family life, but his young daughter has to be cared for by the parents of his wife, who died in a car accident. Unfortunately, Martha, whom Antony has somewhat recklessly married, has a fundamentally different vision of her future than he does.

No synopsis available yet.

Little Vendulka receives a birthday gift of a seemingly innocuous children's book. Little she knows that the book is actually a portal into the surreal world of nursery rhymes and Josef Lada's paintings.

The popular Moravanka brass band performs at the fair. Vasek Pivoňka, the bandleader of the local brass band Kulatěnky, which broke up, decides to put the band back together. The village musicians are sceptical at first, but later they start rehearsing with vigour. Standa, a Prague resident who is working in a pig farm to cure his nerves, helps them to organise the concert. He really likes Evica Kocourková, but her father keeps an eye on her. Young Šišák tries to charm the teacher Olina. Before the performance can begin, the band must succeed before the cultural committee. However, they fail to do so. The disappointed musicians play for themselves at the station and suddenly they are successful. Standa comes up with an idea how to push Kulatěnka through without the permission of the commission. A concert of Moravanka is being prepared in nearby Nechvalin.

The Francs with their daughters Olina and Jirina are building a villa in the village of Rezkovice. Father Franc (Vladimír Mensík) doesn't allow himself a minute's respire and restlessly forces to work his wife, both daughters and Zdenek, Jirina's suitor. Zdenek does not protest against it and, in addition, he is skillful. On the contrary, Olina's boyfriend Libor is worse at work. He studies at the Technical College and he does not succeed much in grasping the building handicraft. Franc, proud of his pursuits, decides that he will arrange the wedding for both daughters and then hand them over the key of the villa in which both pairs have luxuriously furnished flats.

At long last, King Dalimil and Queen Eliška have produced an heir, Princess Růženka. Consumed with envy, Eliška’s sister Melánie casts a curse: On the day Růženka turns seventeen, she will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep together with the entire kingdom.

The heroes of this absurd comedy, full of confusion and humor are Dzharda Zemanek and Frantisek Liska.

There are still water spirits among us. One group lives in Prague, led by Mr. Wassermann, who is using his wife's family as a servants. All they need is their old house near the river. But the house is to be demolished. They have to stop it. And the only way is to drown Dr. Mrácek, who is responsible for the demolition. But he falls in love with Wassermann's niece Jana. He changes to fish, is mistaken for water spirit from Germany, is drowned and revived again. The other problem is the flour with ears... and so on...

The true story of the Bavarian Tailor Albrecht Berblinger who, after a strange encounter with a balloon starts building a flying machine. Although not an engineer by profession, he never gives up. No matter how many obstacles are put in his way nor how many failures he endures, his ardour is never dampened. He continues with his dream to fly like a bird.

No synopsis available yet.

A teenage witch escapes to the world of humans rather than endure a 300-year detention, and causes chaos in a small Czechoslovakian city.

A musical starring Jiří Menzel (whose part is sung by Achilles Michailidis) as a math and physics teacher employing innovative teaching methods.

An only son, Jirí Valenta (Jaromír Hanzlík), has been drafted to the army. At the barracks he acquires the nickname Seamstress because he sews rugs in his spare time. One day, his friend introduces him to Julka Vávrová (Jorga Kotrbová), a girl he is desperate to get rid of. The naive Jirí falls in love with the girl and accepts her invitation to spend Easter together in the country. There he learns that the girl is the single mother of the young boy Martínek, whose father is the married tractor driver.

The teenage hero tries his best to meet the nomination limit for important races, but his coach's insensitive approach causes him to temporarily lose motivation and even give up on sports...

The plethora of heroines living in the makeshift former Women's Homes share one feature - they mostly feel lonely. Some of them got used to this state and resigned, others still believe in a happier future...

The director of films for kids called Bonzurka together with her loyal assistants Drahuska and Honza are looking for the actors for a new movie "The Knee". Children for this movie should not be afraid and shy and they must have talent for acting. Thus the scouting is quite difficult. The most difficult is to find an actress for a main character who lost her hair after a serious illness and now has to spent the whole holiday in the countryside with a bald head resembling a knee. Although the makeup artist does his best an artificial baldness does not solve anything. From the selected little girls only the self-assertive Rosemary has the guts to let her long hair to be cut and shave off her head.

On 20th of April 1945 the Soviet army launches its attack on Berlin. The end has come for Nazi Germany and Hitler decides to commit suicide. In Prague K.H. Frank (Nazi Secretary of State and Chief of police in the Protectorate of Bohemia a Moravia) discusses with his commanders how to transform the city into an impregnable fortress, but the Praguers do not intend to wait any longer. From the early hours of 4th of May people start assembling in the streets and tearing down German signs. On the next day, the 5th of May, the uprising begins.

Two kind but foolish sisters live together in their villa in a small town in South Bohemia. Fany (Natasa Gollová) has never married and Andelka (Eva Svobodová) is a widow. In the morning, the two sisters go into town. They need to buy fuel oil, put money in the bank and give plums to the teller. In the meantime an smallish orange Skoda MB car parks at their house, with Hermínka (Iva Janzurová), the old ladies' niece, and her fiancé Michal (Jirí Hrzán) in it. Michal has forgotten to bring flowers and has to go into town to fetch them. At the bank, Fany wants to deposit money but the minute the teller opens the safe, a thief arrives. He knocks the teller and Fany unconscious and runs away with the money. When Fany comes to her senses again, she sees Michal and accuses him of being the thief.

Exotic, yet lyrically aimed fairy tale about a young gypsy Pista in search of a beautiful, gentle and faithful bride. An old man told him where to find a girl with those qualities, so Pista sets out on a journey to find the girl of his dreams without knowing that she is special: an hour a day human and rest of the day a chicken...

Despite the initial mistrust of others, former glass worker Štěoán Urban becomes the founder and first chairman of the local agricultural cooperative. However, 1968 arrives and with it comes previously unexpected problems.

This story from the time of the occupation tells how the students of the teachers' institute decided to hold a traditional ball despite the ban. However, they had to cope with conditions more than threatening: the presence of Nazi thugs who intend to execute captured partisans as a warning...

The protagonist is supposed to go to a graduation reunion and, because she is ashamed to reveal that she is still lonely and unmarried, she makes up a story that her husband was a Swede who came to the Czech Republic for assembly and that he died suddenly. She tries to fend off the prying classmates with a photograph of her "husband" with his colleagues from a newspaper article, where she accidentally shows a man. What a surprise the classmates experience, and what consternation she herself experiences, when the freshly deceased man in question suddenly appears at the spa where the incriminated alumni reunion is being held! And not only is he alive, he even speaks Czech suspiciously well...

A quarrel between divorced waitress Mája and her fifteen-year-old son Petr ends with the boy physically attacking his mother, and he is sent to an institution for juvenile delinquents.

In May 1945, Czech revolutionaries used several armoured trains in the fighting - partly captured, partly assembled from whatever the railway brought. One of them was commanded by the shunter Jan Chýň, who managed to bring weapons from the ammunition depot in Libčice to help the fighting in Prague.

In 1930s Prague, a Czech cremator who firmly believes cremation relieves one from earthly suffering is drawn inexorably to Nazism.

Five young people take off in a lighter-than-air machine at the Prague Centennial Exhibition. In an Art Nouveau style, the film consists of live action generally shot in black and white, as well as hand-drawn, stop-motion, and cutout animation. Various live-action and animated elements are often composited into the same scene.

Oldrich is the runt of his village, beaten by his father, bullied by the other boys. But he has imagination on his side, and a wiry toughness they can’t defeat. The village is in turmoil, because the Nazi occupiers have just retreated and the Red Army is advancing. Oldrich dodges amid the mayhem and panic, taking his share of blows but always managing to stay one step ahead.

It is the summer holiday and little Mísa Horák has taken a few animals from the school's so-called "Corner of Living Nature" home to care for. But when he brings home two Angora rabbits, a starling, a little monkey, a tortoise and a small crocodile, his parents order him to take them away. He is helped by Káta, who offers to place the animals in the child's room of her family's apartment. Mísa leaves for her friend where the animals will hopefully be able to stay. Káta goes shopping. In the meantime, Káta's younger sister Minka wakes up and begins to play with the animals, who gradually run off in disarray.

A dark comedy about a murder and its consequences presented in a backwards manner, where death is actually a rebirth. The film starts with an "execution" of the main protagonist and goes back to explore his previous actions and motivations.

Widowed yeoman Tuma and his household are on their way to help the town of Kourim, which is under attack by the papist troops. His son Ondra is secretly following his father. Miksík the castellan, who is responsible for Ondra, finds himself forced to set off after the boy. They are both captured by soldiers from Kutná Hora. Miksík sacrifices himself to give Ondra a chance to flee. On the way, Ondra runs into the orphan Sulík. The two boys become friends and begin to wander together.

Twelve-year-old Jana returns from the hospital. She notices some changes at home and is worried that her parents are going to divorce. In reality, however, they are expecting another child.

Captain Martin from the police's child department and his colleague Kraus are called to Znojmo to help solve a case regarding stolen toys found in the town's subterranean passages. The members of the local police department are convinced that the thieves are the well-known "customers" from the Znojmo elementary school, pupils Exner and Mandlík. Martin, however, has doubts about these culprits. These doubts grow even stronger after the local self-service shop is robbed and the local tobacco store reports that it is missing a lot of imported cigarettes. Martin questions the children, inspects both shops and searches through the underground.

No synopsis available yet.