The National Film Archive takes care not only of film prints of Czech films, but also of important foreign films. Throughout 2023, the Ponrepo cinema series "Every Film is a Small Victory" focuses on the presentation of titles from cinemas that have faced (or still face) significant economic or political obstacles to archiving film works. The series takes place with the participation of theoreticians and guests/texts from the field of audiovisual production who relate to the film titles screened. Selected screenings are English friendly.
The series opens with "An Evening of Mozambican Film" featuring José Cardoso's surviving archival film Let Them Come(Que Venham!, 1981) and contemporary student films from the ISArC Art Institute in Matolo, Mozambique. The relations between the Czechoslovak and Mozambican film communities before 1989 are described in more detail in Film Review. In addition, Cinema Ponrepo will present a selection of films reflecting the slave and colonial past in Portuguese-speaking countries at the AfroFilmes festival. Introductions to the films highlight the prominent female figures involved in the making of these films (such as Léa Garcia and Sarah Maldorora) and the connection between work in the film industry and political activism.The programme "Between Sri Lanka and Czechoslovakia" will show a unique print of the Sinhala film The Message of Lester James Peries, along with student work by Piyasiri Gunaratna and Anil Barnes Ratwatte, who studied at FAMU in Prague before 1989. The evening includes a debate on the fate of film works that may no longer be available to audiences in their country of origin, such as Piyasiri Gunaratna's feature film Mokada Vuné. It's everything!" will focus on films from and about Vietnam. Trần Thanh Mai and Dužan Duong will show their short films, and will be accompanied by the graduate film South Country by Tô-Ngọc-Thành and the Vietnamese feature film When Grandma Leaves (1985). All works are united by the theme of family, because as a Vietnamese proverb says: family is not important, it is everything! The work of Nabil Maleh, who became a major figure in the Syrian film industry after graduating from FAMU, will be introduced by director and translator Moris Issa. During the evening, Ponrepo Cinema will screen Maleh's student film Attention! Baby? (1963) and the drama Leopard (1971). The May programme will explore the theme of women filmmakers in the Indian film industry. The screening of Kanya (2020) will be followed by a discussion with the film's director Apoorva Satish, who, in addition to her own work, will introduce the audience to the work of director Mira Nair, with whom she has previously attended a masterclass. She has chosen Salaam Bombay (1988) from the director's filmography for the screening at the Ponrepo Cinema. The first part of the series in 2023 concludes with "Bolivian Political Film" and a screening of Visibility ( 1997) with the participation of the director. For the Ponrepo cinema, Rodrigo Morales chose the film Courage of the People (1971) by the Bolivian director Jorge Sanjinés.
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