Month: September 2018

There are many beautiful places in the Czech Republic. However, the most popular city amongst the countless number of tourists visiting the country is Prague – which also happens to be the capital of the Czech Republic. The city has a rich and colorful history and offers many interesting landmarks to see.

Brief history and important details.
Prague was founded in the 7th century. Its name is derived from a Slavic word práh (ford or threshold). It grew over the course of history and is now a home to more than a million people. It held the position of a most important culture, economical and political centre in Europe multiple times throughout history and it still is one of the most recognized and popular cities visited by thousands of tourists each year coming from all over the world.

Notable places
Prague has many places worth visiting. Cultural lovers are certain to appreciate the National Theatre with its beautiful architecture or Rudolfinum where Czech Philharmonic Orchestra resides. There are many museums in the city, for example the National Museum or the Jewish Museum. The city is especially lively in summer when it hosts multiple events and festivals.

Prague is very popular because of its architecture. Many buildings in the city have barely changed over the years and its long history makes the city attractive to foreigners. Prague still has a lot of older buildings intact and it therefore often plays a significant part in historical films. Films of all genres have been filmed in Prague, for example Amadeus, Chronicles of Narnia and Van Helsing, to name just a few.

Multiple comedies are filmed each year in the Czech Republic. Czech Made Man, which premiered in 2011, is one of the unorthodox ones.

The film was directed by the young director Tomáš Řehořek (Proměny, Signál). It was supposedly inspired by the life of a real person – an entrepreneur. The story revolves around Jakub Vrána (portrayed by Jan Budař) who eventually builds a successful career and becomes very influential.

The film drew a lot of attention to itself when it was released seven years ago. This was not caused only by Řehořek’s young age when he directed the film (he was merely twenty four at the time) but by its general deliberate modernism both in storytelling and visual side. Czech Made Man is visually very progressive, it makes use of quick camera movements, rapid editing, slow motion, etc., which makes the film highly intriguing to watch and analyze.
As for the story itself, it could be criticized for its episodical nature. The storyline is not very tight and consists of a series of more or less interesting stories from Jakub’s life, from his early childhood all the way to adulthood. Despite its storyline, the film is not a drama, but a very dark comedy. Jakub Vrána is convincingly portrayed by Jan Budař who, while not creating a sympathetic hero, certainly helps to create an interesting one. Occasional jokes and funny Václav Havel’s camero make sure that while Czech Made Man is not the best film ever, it is certainly worth watching.

The story based on true inspirated a lot of czech small starting internet businessmen. Adds on bad spelling domain was very popular in the Czech Republic about 2010. Later young people starts with e-commerce, especially e-shop and affiliate marketing. Nowdays The Czech Republic has still the most eshops per capita in the world. Number of affiliate marketers is also very high. You can find a lot of big affil sites (f.ex epojisteni.cz, biano.cz) and thousands of smaller websites. They usually work as review sites and recommend the best products and services (f. ex. vibratory.org and their multilingual version for Slovak vibratory.org/sk and Hungary vibratory.org/hu show to visitors the best erotic toy on market). But only a few affiliate marketers really can earn serious money. 95% (or more) of affiliate sites are just for fun and hobby.

Of all the Czech artists, who have managed to forge a successful career abroad, Miloš Forman is probably the most remarkable one. Forman has worked as a film director for many years and stands behind a few most recognized films of the twentieth century, such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest from 1975 and Amadeus from 1984.

Life story and career
Forman was born in 1932. He left his home country in 1968 when it became clear that the Soviets were about to resume their previous control over Czechoslovakia. Forman studied screenwriting in Prague and made multiple successful Czech films before his arrival to the USA. As for his personal life, Forman was married three times and had four sons. He died after a brief illness in April this year at the age of 86.
For his directing work, Forman received worldwide recognition and various prizes. Most notably, he won the Academy Award for Best Director two times – for the already above mentioned films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has also joined the short list of films which won Academy Awards in the five main categories (best film, best actor in leading role, best actress in leading role, best director and best screenplay). Amadeus did even better and won eight Academy Awards.

Forman’s films
Forman worked on multiple films, both in Czechoslovakia and in the United States. His film Loves of a Blonde (1965) belongs to the recognized Czechoslovakian New Wave. His subsequent Czechoslovakian film The Firemen’s Ball (1967) even further cemented Forman’s reputation as an unique creator with a specific film style and sense of irony.
During his career, Forman has worked with many well-known actors and actresses, such as Jack Nicholson, Colin Firth in Valmont (1989), Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon (1999), Natalie Portman in Forman’s latest big film Goya’s Ghosts (2006) and many, many more. Forman has made a true impact on the film’s history and his work will continue to be watched, talked about and applauded by many film fans all around the world.

Multiple film festivals take place in the Czech Republic, but Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is by far the largest and most prestigious of them. Hundreds of people arrive to Karlovy Vary each year to watch the rich selection of movies, meet another people who love film and to see their favorite director, actors and actresses in real life. The festival takes place at the beginning of July each year.

Brief history of the festival
The festival first took place in 1946. From 1956 onward, it was held biannually and switched with film festival in Moscow. The situation changed after the Velvet Revolution, more specifically in 1994, when Jiří Bartoška and Eva Zaoralová took control of the festival and began organizing it. Since 1994, the festival has been held in Karlovy Vary each year and has grown much more popular in the last twenty four years.

Competition and guests
The festival didn’t include competition at first and it served mainly as an opportunity to view multiple films. The competition was created in 1948. Films and their creators can win multiple prizes, most notably the Crystal Globe.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is truly international in the best meaning of the word. Not only does it show films from many countries, but it also welcomes international guests and stars. During its long existence, many famous and remarkable people have visited the festival, such as Claudia Cardinale, Robert De Niro, Mia Farrow, Gregory Peck, Miloš Forman, Michael Douglas, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon, Mel Gibson, Richard Gere, Jean Reno, Uma Thurman, Jeremy Renner, John Travolta and many others. It is therefore clear the festival is thriving and we can expect many amazing things from it in years to come.