Amateur, Avant-Garde, Contemporary: The Čeněk Zahradníček Retrospective

Amateur, Avant-Garde, Contemporary: The Čeněk Zahradníček Retrospective

Čeněk Zahradníček (1 April 1900 – 12 November 1989), "Man with a Camera", is known mainly as a respected pioneer of the Czech amateur film. He was one of the founders of the Prague Pathé Club, he was also an active amateur filmmaker and the amateur film promoter. The comprehensive retrospective of the Zahradníček works is a tribute to the amateur cinematography, while it often stretches beyond its own horizon and originates from it at the same time. During the retrospective, all Čeněk Zahradníček preserved amateur films (including five titles from the years 1926–1935) will be screened. The first of them – Caliber 32W, inspired by the workd of J. London, is one of the oldest preserved amateur films in 1920 – 1929. Next film will be 21 (1933) by a PZK group, which is a study of the card players. The higlight is a creative collaboration with Vladimír Šmejkal, half-forgotten representative of theatrical avant-garde. Together they shoot three films – Atom of Eternity, Hands on Tuesday, A Soldier's Story. In addition, reshoots of films May and Spring Awakening, will be screened, which was created for theatrical performances of D36–D37 under the E. F. Burian's lead where Čeněk Zahradníček figured as a cinematographer. Reporting activities and creating for the News (led by Jan Kučera) will be introduced by both the torso of the Lidice burning record. The retrospective will be closed by the film Black Lady Servants (1981), shoot by Jiří Donné as a tribute to the surrealism and avantgarde trends of the twenties and thirties, and which is also a tribute to Čeněk Zahradníček.