A loosely tied screening of three short films by young Czech filmmakers, which will take place at the Edison Filmhub cinema in the presence of the authors themselves, with whom it will be possible to hold a discussion after the screenings. The dramaturgy of the evening does not have strictly defined boundaries, although one thematic line appears repeatedly in the films: the theme of old age, the passage of time, and ways of coping with the unseen but all the more oppressive weight of loneliness.
ABOUT CATS AND PEOPLE / dir. Lenka Drncová/
Retired Jaroslav never paid much attention to family relationships, preferring to enjoy life on his own terms. In his old age, loneliness begins to weigh on him, but he refuses to acknowledge his own mistakes. He tries to build a warmer relationship with at least his granddaughter Andrea, who brings an initially unwanted companion into his life – a tabby cat.
SOMETHING IS FOREVER / dir. Marie Topolová, Martin Imrich/
Alice, the main character of the film, finds herself torn between accepting a new life and accepting death. She regularly visits her sick grandmother, who is still mourning her son. At the same time, she discovers that she is pregnant and wants to keep the baby, even though she has just broken up with her boyfriend, with whom she was unhappy. Outwardly, Alice remains calm, her empty gaze seeming to look through, somewhere far away, trying at all costs not to reveal any emotions. We get inside her mind through surreal dream sequences in which Alice herself, and with her the viewer, gradually reveal layers of her confusion and burden.
ANNIVERSARY / r. Karel Prouza/
The film is a comedic-dramatic story of an elderly widower, Mr. Kratina, who orders a companion, Anna, for the 40th anniversary he would have celebrated with his late wife. He wants to spend a pleasant but completely respectable evening with her—with all the trappings of an almost romantic encounter—and thus, at least for a moment, dispel his long-standing feelings of loneliness and isolation from the world. The film is an intimate sequence of situations from a single night and bittersweet, humorous moments between two seemingly completely different people in a small apartment.