Prague - Indie film fans will have an opportunity to see seven documentary movies awarded at the Sundance Film Festival.
Czech NGO People in Need in cooperation with the US Embassy in Prague brings seven best documentaries screened at famous Sundance Film Festival.
The minisfestival called TOP DOCS - best US documentaries presented at Sundance kicked off September 16 and will last through September 18t at cinema Svetozor ( the small hall and the big hall) in Prague.
The annual Sundance festival takes place only a couple of months before Prague´s One World Festival in the springtime, which makes it rather impossible to include more Sundance films in the One Worldprogram.
Therefore the OW team decided to show the best films awarded in Sundance in September.
Read more: All you want to know about the ONE WORLD festival
The Betrayal - Nerakhoon
Wed 17. September 08, 21:00, CZK 80, Big screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Direction: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath , USA, 2008, English-Lao version / Czech subtitles, 96 min
During the Vietnam War Thavi's father worked for the CIA while American planes bombed his mother-country Laos with three million bombs. After the withdrawal of the American army and the strengthening of power of the communist party, Thavi's father ended up in a penitentiary camp. The rest of the family escaped to Thailand and then to the USA.
Hard life in emigration was turned upside-down by an unexpected phone call from the father, who was considered dead for many years. But the family's joy did not last for long …
Betrayal is a long-term observational documentary film and directorial debut by the well-known cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Coffee and Cigarettes), shot over 20 years. Betrayal was a hit not only at Sundance, but also it at the Berlinale Festival, Hot Docs and other international festivals.
Order of Myths
Wed 17 September 08, 21:30, CZK 80, Small screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Thu 18 September 08, 21:00, CZK 80, Big screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Margaret Brown / USA 2008 / 77 min. / English, Czech subtitles
Mardi Gras has been celebrated in Mobile, Alabama since 1703. Apart from traditional beads, parades and masks, coronation of the Mardi Gras king and queen takes place. However in southern Alabama, such a celebratory event is racially segregated - a luminously rich king and queen are separately elected for the white part of the city, and separately are crowned a bit more frugal king and queen of Afroamerican citizens. Director Margaret Brown explores the preparations of both balls.
While Order of Myths is not simply a black and white accusation of segregated society, it tries to view issues from different perspectives.
The Recruiter
Wed 17 September 08, 19:00, CZK 80, Small screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Direction: Edet Belzberg, USA, 2007, English version / Czech subtitles, 86 min
Long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been gradually exhausting the capacities of the American army. The army has had bigger and bigger problems with finding enough new young people, who would be wiling to join the army. The Recruiter follows, for nearly a year, Sergeant Clay Usie, who is one of the most successful Army recruiters in America today, who has lots of talent in how to motivate youngsters to join.
Usie is a role model, motivational personal trainer and a friend for several young men and one young woman, who are followed in the film.
They all soon find out personally how big the difference is between him and other sergeants at basic training, where they are being trained to be ready for war.
No End in Sight
Wed 17 September 08, 18:30, CZK 80, Big screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Thu 18 September 08, 19:00, CZK 80, Small screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Charles Ferguson / USA 2007 / 102 min. / English, Czech subtitles
This Oscar nominated film directed by Charles Ferguson chronicles the reasons behind the American invasion into Iraq in March 2003 and mainly follows the first two years of this unresolved conflict.
It critically looks at mistakes which were made by the Bush administration.
Even though Ferguson, for obvious reasons, was unable to interview the highest ranking actors of the conflict - namely George Bush, Colin Powell or Donald Rumsfeld, he was still able to compose a varied mosaic of the testimonies of other high-ranking officers, Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, journalists and political analysts.
All of them hold, in the course of several month and years from the described events, a very critical view of the American presence in the conflict. Apart from the Oscar nomination, the film No End in Sight received several awards, for example the Special Jury Prize for Documentaries at Sundance.
Hear and Now
Thu 18 September 08, 18:30, CZK 80, Big screening hall, Světozor Cinema
Direction: Irene Taylor Brodsky, USA, 2007, English version / Czech subtitles, 84 min
Paul and Sally Taylor are deaf. Both of them graduated from university and raised three healthy children who could hear, they all lived happy and fulfilling lives.
At the age of 65 Paul and Sally suddenly decided to undertake a unique operation which, if successful, could restore their hearing, therefore they would be able to hear for the first time in their lives.
The director of the film Hear and Now is their daughter Irene who follows them from the moment when they start to consider the operation until long after the operation. This is an extremely emotional documentary full of ups and downs, which received an Audience Award at Sundance.
You can have a look at the One World Festival´s web site here and Světozor Cinema´s web sire here.
