Sokol Spirit’s 3rd Friday - CZECH FILM SERIES

PRESENTING OUR EDUCATIONAL LINE-UP OF CZECH FILM CLASSES

(English Subtitles) on the 3^rd Friday of the Month.  The Czech films start at 7pm in our Czech classroom upstairs and with donation of $5 you get a free pilsner, pop, or water. Our Czech language instructor will be introducing you to all the film background and will be there to answer questions. This is our 16^th season!                                                                                                   

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

2026

September 18 THREE VETERANS / Tři Veteráni ; 1983; 93 Minutes; Color; English subtitles; Rating: G. Packed with situational and verbal humor, The Three Veterans is a classic Czech fairy tale film beloved by both children and adults.  The film has a strong moral message.  It raises the issue of what is most important in a world filled with pride, treachery, and greed, with that question facing three old soldiers, Pankrác, Blimbác and Servác.  Milan Lasica in the role of idiosyncratic customs officer. In the film, three veterans are visited by elves who bestow them with a magical hat, bag full of gold, and harp that just might make their wishes come true. (On loan from the American Sokol Library) (On

October 15 THE CREMATOR / Spalovač mrtvol; 1969/2020; 95 Minutes; Black/White; English subtitles; Rating: PG 13. A chilling psychological masterpiece from director Juraj Herz. This disturbing tale follows a crematorium worker who descends into madness during the rise of fascism. Creepy, surreal, and unforgettable — one of the greatest Czech films ever made. One of the true dark glories of the Czechoslovak New Wave, The Cremator is the most popular and indelible work by the underappreciated Juraj Herz and remained a firm favorite of the directors among his many films.  Certainly, this ultimate exercise in ferocious black-comic satire—the tale of a crematorium manager in thirties Prague who descends into Nazi collaboration, murder, and madness—was the fullest realization of Herz’s macabre grotesque, and ironic sensibilities. 

November 20 THE LAST RACE / Poslední Závod; 2022; 102 Minutes; Color; English subtitles; Rating: G. The drama The Last Race recounts the true story of 50 km cross-county ski race in 1913, in the Giant Mountain peaks (also known as Krkonoše or Karkonosze, are located in the north of the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland; The main ridge of the mountains runs from east to west, forming the border between the two countries) and two pioneers of Czech skiing, Bohumil Hanc and Václav Vrbata participating. The story's third hero is the German athlete, Emerich Rath. (On loan from the American Sokol Library, Illinois)

2027

February 19 IDENTITY CARD / Občanský Průkaz; 2010; 137 Minutes; Color; English subtitles; Rating PG. A bittersweet comedy directed by Ondřej Trojan and based on the novel by Petr Šabach, maps the lives of four boys – their friends, first loves and conflicts with their parents – from the age of 15, when they receive their state identity cards, to 18, when they try everything possible to get out of military service. Petr, Aleš, Cinderella and Míťa are growing up in the 1970s, a time when leaving your identity card at home could get you into trouble and the prospect of compulsory military service was loathed and dreaded.

March  19 LARKS ON A STRING / Skřivánci na niti; 1969/1990; 96 Minutes; Color; English subtitles; Rating: PG-13: nudity. This deceptively sunny satire from the director of Closely Watched Trains conceals a deadly serious heart. Set in the aftermath of the 1948 Communist coup, it follows a band of bourgeois enemies of the state who are relegated to working in a scrap metal yard where camaraderie and romance blossom even as people disappear for having the wrong opinions. Throughout, filmmaker Jiří Menzel balances moments of graceful comedy with sobering reminders of authoritarianism’s human toll. Banned for decades, Larks on a String went unseen until its premiere at the 1990 Berlin Film Festival, where it took the top prize. (On loan from the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Iowa)

April 16 THE DEVIL & KATE / Čert a Káča 1988; 110 Minutes; Color; Sung in English; Rating: G

The Devil and Kate, Op. 112, B. 201, is an opera in three acts by Antonín Dvořák to a Czech libretto by Adolf Wenig. It is based on a farce by Josef Kajetán Tyl, and the story also had been treated as the fairy tale Devil and Káča by Božena Němcová. It was the first opera composed (1899) upon his return from the U.S.A. in 1894. With many dances and based on confrontations with the devil, Dvorak winks at Wagner’s music melodies as well. (On loan from the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Iowa)

May 21  ALL MY LOVED ONES / Všichni Moji Blízcí 2000; 82 minutes; Color; English; Rating: G

A heartbreaking and poignant story of one family's experience at the onset of World War II is inspired by the heroics of English stockbroker Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of Czech Jewish children from the Nazis and is loosely based on his own mother's personal memories of the time.  The Silberstein’s are a large and close-knit extended family living a good life in the Czechoslovakian countryside.  Believing in the decency of mankind, they don’t really pay heed to the Nazi threat.  Little by little, as their daily life becomes more intolerable and their personal effects stripped away, they realize the true horror of what is coming, but it is too late.  Knowing their inevitable fate, the Silberstein’s have to make their toughest decision ever—do they turn their young son David, over to Nicholas Winton and risk never seeing him again? (On loan from the American Sokol Library, Illinois)

Sokol Spirit’s Education Committee reserves the right to change movies due to circumstances beyond their control.

Sokol Spirit is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization.