Eliška Štíbrová

Honest cop Rudi is a new member of a police unit commanded by his brother-in-law Otto which deals with foreigners. Rudi falls in love with Alena, a young Czech living illegally in Austria

I Heaven's plot revolves around three friends with personal ambitions who must face the less pleasant aspects of reality. The story is told from the point of view of 17-year-old Csiwi, a loner who spends his evenings driving around in his brother's car or simply hanging out. He has no idea about the direction his future should take. He runs into Levi and Valeska and they easily become his bosom friends despite their differences. Levi, whose circumstances have constantly been changing, is looking for something stable in his life. He works very hard so that he can afford his own flat. Valeska is restless and fascinated by distant places and change. For her, postcards symbolize places where happiness is hidden. Valeska and Levi represent two different ways of living and Csiwi must decide for himself which road to take. He feels the first pangs of love towards Valeska, and Levi easily becomes a good friend. Together they set off in a new direction, which could be their heaven on earth.

Austria's largest housing complex erected in one building stage is situated in the Northeast of Vienna. It lies on the former premises of a horse racetrack and comprises 2.400 flats. 59 blocks and long hall-like corridors lead more than 8.000 people to their living rooms: The film offers glimpses into the lives of more than 20 people - the life of an individual behind one of the countless doors.

One-of-a-kind film, photographs and audio recordings were found in a private collection in Prague. This material documents life in the Theresienstadt concentration camp from the perspective of a woman who would now be 124 years old.

Lisa has grown up in an orphanage. She is looking forward to her adoption, as she doesn't know that her new parents are about to divorce. The Saber-toothed cat which she meets in a museum intervenes as a "feles ex machina".

Georg works up at the highway. He collects the toll from the tourists; he collects the toll from the truck drivers. All of Europe has to go by him. Below, in the shadow of the mighty bridge, Georg lives with his parents in an old farmhouse with its empty stall. Georg makes a career for himself. And then, he falls in love with a young farm woman. He must decide between love and his job.

A curator and a visitor walk through an imaginary museum of recent German history. The focal plane follows the scenario of a tour in that the (subjective) camera simulates a stroll through a museum: in an open field, however.

A portrait of the poet Jana Černá, daughter of Franz Kafka's lover Milena Jesenská. Behind the bright facade on contemporary Prague, with its travel agencies and McDonalds, there is a tunnel leading to the world behind the postcards. Here, Jana's friends, Prague freaks, poets and philosophers, tell of this exceptional, passionate woman. With the surreal humour of Prague and with a little nostalgia they recall Jana Černá's excesses, her inability to follow rules, and her magnificent lies...

Alex (Thierry Van Werveke), a pest exterminator who lives with his grandmother, picks up a stranded woman (Kate Valk) who claims to be the American daughter of a spy.

A film with and about the painter Christian Ludwig Attersee. The external occasion, Attersee's fiftieth birthday is being complemented by an in-depth documentation of Attersee's art and oeuvre which gives a transparent account of his perception of reality and its visual transformation.

Black snow and a grey sky. A young bank robber takes a man as hostage who has been prevented from committing suicide; he is also encumered by a charming, self-willed woman witness . . . But no matter how he tries to extract himself, the three of them are stuck with each other.

Hanna and Leo are expecting a child. They live near Innsbruck where the mountains touch the sky and where absolute bliss seems to reign. But things turn out quite differently.

Are you happy? You don't have to answer right away. There is an island in the Mediterranean where the question concerning happiness is taken very seriously. A man comes and is drawn into a confusing game. A child an a mysterious woman play an important role in the game. He is mistaken for someone else and gradually sees the possibility of leaving his former life behind and finding happiness on the island. Is this only an illusion which should be rejected?

On the basis of the hardy perennial "boss-assistant" relation, "The Mortal Fortune" depicts the passion of worldly existence. The anonymous hero of the story, to which the spectator is introduced, attempts at freeing himself from his enslaved life. He finally has to realize the transience of the creature man and whithdraws from the constraints of worldly existence.

On the basis of the hardy perennial "boss-assistant" relation, "The Mortal Fortune" depicts the passion of worldly existence. The anonymous hero of the story, to which the spectator is introduced, attempts at freeing himself from his enslaved life. He finally has to realize the transience of the creature man and whithdraws from the constraints of worldly existence.

The story of Austrian, Johann "Jack" Unterweger, who wrote a book about his criminal past while serving a life term in prison for assault. In 1974, Unterweger murdered 18-year-old German citizen Margaret Schäfer by strangling her with her own bra, and in 1976 was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

Manfred Deix is a cartoonist an painter. Above all, his aggressive caricatures of politicians and political events in the Austrian provinces have made him notoriously famous far beyond national borders. His very personal chronicles of current events and portrayals of human calamities (Deix's people are generally obese and disproportionate) are also the contents of four books which are bestsellers. This documentary film of Peter Hajek describes the career and work of the Austrian, not only at work but among his numerous cats which, apart from his wife, mean very much to him.

A seven-year-old girl living in Salzburg with her father makes friends with an old witch.

Based on the many observations made during his extremely interesting and far from dull life, Dr. Döblinger relates four episodes in which he wants to give us a picture of the loneliness and incomprehensibility of mankind.

Tommi Fischer, a newly divorced copywriter is looking for a replacement mother for his son. When he falls for the emancipated costume designer Evelyn he soon finds himself in the undesired role of a stay-at-home dad.

Chris, a young man from the country, dreams of a big career as an escape-artist. He wants to become famous like his idol, Harry Houdini. He meets Mischa, an expert in the art of living, who feels himself called upon to support Chris in attaining fame and an international career. Chris is very much attracted to Nada. Mischa's sister wants to break away from the Yugoslav workers' milieu. A spectacular performance is planned by Mischa and his friends to draw the medias' attention to Chris. Tied up in his strait-jacket, Chris wants to jump into the Danube and free himself under water. But neither newspaper journalists nor the TV turn up. Nevertheless Chris jumps into the water and frees himself. He wins Nada's love and restores his self-confidence. Malambo is a comedy, which portrays the dream world of an endearing community of friends, who are building 'castles of air' for themselves, in search for a better life.

Beleaguered by choppy editing and potholes in the script, this story is about the bond that develops between an aging, former railroad worker living in an abandoned theater and Willie, the wayward, alcoholic architect he shelters (Elliot Gould). The flaws in the script and story development, and the architect's exaggerated character traits, work against the concept of a growing friendship between the two men and leave the main thrust of the film in limbo. A subplot has a gang of street thugs chasing Willie all over the city in order to retrieve some photos of a murder he accidentally recorded. At the same time, Willie is trying to reconcile with his son, left in the care of his neglected wife. ...

A guy having sex with a woman on a rooftop – just to get her coffee-machine.

A historical drama about the revolution of 1848/1849 in the Austrian empire.

A naive innkeeper arrives from the Alps into town to investigate his shady investor only to discover that he owns a sex shop. Needing money for a good cause, he and his sons join in. However, his partner is actually a diamond smuggler.

Valerie, a Czechoslovakian teenager living with her grandmother, is blossoming into womanhood, but that transformation proves secondary to the effects she experiences when she puts on a pair of magic earrings. Now seeing the world around her in a different light, Valerie must endure her sexual awakening while attempting to discern reality from fantasy as she encounters lecherous priest Gracian, a vampire-like stranger and otherworldly carnival folk.

In the 1950s, Ludvik Jahn was expelled from the Communist Party and the University by his fellow students, because of a politically incorrect note he sent to his girlfriend. Fifteen years later, he tries to get his revenge by seducing Helena, the wife of one of his accusers.

The Ronov castle has been changed into a hotel, offering stylish facilities to its guests: weddings in the torture chamber, a Black Lancer kidnapping brides, a night's lodging in a family tomb etc. The reformed petty swindler Felix Pacínek (Bohumil Smída) runs the hotel. The business is far from thriving; the place is half-empty, and the jazz band Skeleton, together with their singer Zuzanka (Jaroslava Obermaierová), decide to leave. Nobody in the hotel has any idea that the band is in fact a gang of thieves who have just robbed the Prague State Bank, taking two million crowns from its vaults.

A dark comedy about a murder and its consequences presented in a backwards manner, where death is actually a rebirth. The film starts with an "execution" of the main protagonist and goes back to explore his previous actions and motivations.

At the Ronov castle, the archive-keeper professor Nykl (Milos Nedbal) is searching for the lost painting The Naked Shepherdess by the famous Fragonard. Nykl is just about to disassemble the mantelpiece in the knight's hall, convinced that the painting must be hidden somewhere inside. His efforts, however, meet the strong disapproval of the castle manager, Anna Juzová (Jirina Petrovická), who knows very well where The Naked Shepherdess is. She wants to get hold of the painting herself, to emigrate and smuggle it along. In fact, Anna deals with forgeries of the most distinguished old masters, selling them abroad. The copies are made for her by the painter and restorer Maudr (Martin Ruzek) and the certificates of authenticity are issued by Anna's companion - expert Laburda (Karel Höger). One day, Anna is found murdered in front of the castle's fireplace.

Three small short stories, each of which was created by one of the famous Czechoslovak filmmakers of children's films: Magdalena, Fraud and Karp.