Jiří Ornest

In 1939, Czech diplomat Jan Masaryk flees to the United States to escape his recent past: Germany has invaded Czechoslovakia and he is now a man with no nation; because, as the Czechoslovak ambassador in London, he failed to win the support of the British and could not avert the fall of his country and the outbreak of the World War II.

The Little Man lives happily in his little house in the Hollow Mountain. His peaceful life ends once he begins to have dreams about a mysterious house where he is to find what he desires. Even though he does not feel like having any desires, he crack the mystery himself.

Ice hockey is a Czech national obsession, and the country's victory over Russia in the 1969 World Championships, the year following the Soviet invasion, is a celebrated moment in its history. In Marek Najbrt's black comedy, the heroic exploits take place only on a black and white tv screen as a group of representative misfits gather and watch the game in a desolate village on the Czech border. While consisting of recognisable types, Najbrt's bleak portrait reveals a world of alcoholism, debt, racism, bigotry, and infidelity that trails behind the dreams of nationalism and bears little resemblance to the fantasies of the new consumerism. A clever and multi-levelled film, it provides a sharp antidote to the reconciliatory charms of the conventional Czech comedy.

A computer programmer and his son are going out of the city for vacation.

Based on an autobiographical novella by Ivan Olbracht, the film tells the story of Hanele Safarová, who grows up just after the First World War in a little Ruthenian schtetl which, in true Hassidic fashion, awaits the arrival of the Messiah. But Hanele decides to follow the Zionists instead. She moves to the city to prepare for her departure to the Promised Land, where she meets a successful businessman named Ivo Karadzic, who has renounced Judaism to become a free-thinker. Their love for each other doesn’t only drive Hanele’s parents to distraction, it also threatens to destroy the entire community in the schetl.

In 1930s Ukraine, the desecration of a sacred bath disrupts the sex lives of Jewish villagers.

A period musical comedy set in a quiet Prague quarter at the end of the fifties. Using the western plot device of the "man from nowhere" a generation gap story unfolds of changing social climate. The action is driven by the character of a young man named Baby who causes a local rebellion by bringing rock'n'roll to a Communist neighborhood raised on swing.

The story takes place in the Czech-German border region in 1938. The hero Tomás Jakl marries but the marriage is not very lucky and falls apart. His German friend forced him to enter the Nazi party.

A clever but often teased boy, is able to clone himself thanks to a stolen formula from a scientist. Time to take revenge on those bullies.

Technical school student Pavel Brychta, arrives at a youth correctional facility located within a chateau in Konečno. He is an atypical, but not hopeless case for the institution. Pavel comes from a well-off family and his antisocial behaviour on the verge of criminality was some kind of response to his difficult relationship with his authoritative father. However, it takes quite some effort for Pavel to find his place in this environment of bullying, and also diverse methods from the tutors

A romantic story about Jakub, a student in the summer camp, and his teacher Klara.

A musical starring Jiří Menzel (whose part is sung by Achilles Michailidis) as a math and physics teacher employing innovative teaching methods.

Three short stories ("Zelenáči 1945", "Silvestr 1948" and "Zimní vítr 1951") about members of the SNB units guarding the Šumava border in the post-war years. Ivo Toman had artistic supervision over the debutants. The theme of the third short story was made in 1959 for the film "Entry Forbidden" by František Vláčil, who was also starting at the time.

The little mermaid rescues a prince from drowning and falls in love with him. To be with him, she makes a deal with the evil sorceress: her beautiful voice against a life on land. It seems to work at first, the prince is enchanted with her lovely appearance. But the memory of a foreign princess still haunts him: The one who found him on the beach where the mermaid had left him, and whom he (of course) believes to be his saviour. To resolve this mistake is too much for the mute little mermaid, and not even her father, king of all seas, can help her in the impending catastrophe.

The female employees of the poultry-processing factory find relief from their monotonous work in chatting about weddings and marriages. The very young Zdena (Marta Vancurová), too, dreams about a white veil and an entourage of bridesmaids. On her return home from work, she runs into a peculiar man on an abandoned road who pertinaciously offers to read her palm for a few crowns to buy soup. His augury is rather usual - wealth and poverty, suffering and happiness. Then however, he declares that Zdena must marry exactly on 3 November of that year otherwise she will be unhappy.

Day in the life of teenagers.

A dramatic story from the setting of a youth de tention center. Youngster Jakub, out of delusory solidarity, gets convicted of theft and goes to prison in place ofthe "sheriff" of his gang. He naively hopes that the sheriff will appreciate his gesture and leaves the stolen goods in a safe hideaway to later divide them fairly among the gang members. This conviction gives Jakub the strength to endure the unbearable conditions in the center. But reality is often much harsher than naive ideals and hollow relations in the gang.

A film in five episodes, all based on an attempt to show the life of young people today, their feelings and relationships, their behaviour in public and private life.