Screening: The Term + Q&A

Friday 17 October 2014, 7:00 PM

The Term tells the unique inside story of the Russian opposition movement as Vladimir Putin settles into the Kremlin for his third term, through exclusive access to anti-corruption blogger Aleksei Navalny and other key opposition figures, including Putin’s god-daughter, Ksenia Sobchak, and Solidarnost leader, Ilya Yashin. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with with producer Max Tuula via Skype.
 

Insight with Michael Žantovský: Havel and the Velvet Revolution

Monday 3 November 2014, 7:00 PM

Twenty-five years ago in December 1989, Václav Havel was elected as President of Czechoslovakia, marking the end of the Velvet Revolution and with it, the culmination of 41 years of communist rule. By his side throughout was Michael Žantovský, Havel’s press secretary, speech-writer, translator and close friend. Žantovský will be joining us in conversation with Edward Lucas, senior editor at The Economist, to bear witness to Havel’s extraordinary life as documented in his new book Havel: A Life, and to share his own experiences of living through the Velvet Revolution and the formation of the Czech Republic.

First Wednesday Screening: 1989

Wednesday 5 November 2014, 7:00 PM

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we are pleased to be part of a pan-European simultaneous screening of the new documentary 1989 by award-winning director Anders Østergaard. The film 1989 is a high-politics drama about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Østergaard recreates the events of 1989 and invites the audience into secret meeting rooms through a mixture of testimonials, archive material, and reconstructed dialogues of the key political players.

Screening: Four Velvet Men Then and Now – Jan Ruml + discussion

Friday 14 November 2014, 7:00 PM

For 20 years, director Pavel Koutecký and later director Jan Šikl followed the lives of four remarkable men who played key roles in the ending of communism in Czechoslovakia in November 1989. What followed was a period of change and transition, offering opportunities to those who were ready to seize them. This screening will be followed by a discussion on the challenges societies are faced with after a regime change.

These events are part of the Made in Prague Festival, 17 October – 30 November 2014.

The creative documentary 1989 is a high-politics drama about the the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. When the young technocrat, Miklós Neméth, was appointed Hungary’s new prime minister, his main task was to save the country’s appalling economy. Neméth decided to remove the expensive border control apparatus from the state budget, a decision which set him up against communist hardliners, and soon after the Berlin Wall fell.

Director Anders Østergaard recreates the events of 1989 and invites the audience into the secret meeting rooms through a mixture of testimonials, archive material, recreation and reconstructed dialogues of the key political players.

Directed by Anders Østergaard
Duration: 96′
Year: 2014

This event is organised by the Czech Centre London.

Twenty five years ago in December 1989, Václav Havel was elected as President of Czechoslovakia, marking the end of the Velvet Revolution and with it, the culmination of 41 years of communist rule.

Before becoming a statesman, Havel was a playwright, essayist, dissident and philosopher. His political activities during the communist regime brought him under the surveillance of the secret police and led to multiple prison stints, including a four-year incarceration between 1979 and 1983. His Civic Forum Party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution, and Havel himself was instrumental in dismantling the Warsaw Pact and expanding NATO eastwards. Above all, however, he remained an intellectual and an artist.

By his side throughout was Michael Žantovský, Havel’s press secretary, speech-writer, translator and close friend. The pair met as dissidents under communist rule and remained close until Havel’s death in 2011. Žantovský will be joining us in conversation with Edward Lucas, senior editor at The Economist, to bear witness to Havel’s extraordinary life as documented in his new book Havel: A Life, and to share his own experiences of living through the Velvet Revolution and the formation of the Czech Republic.

Michael Žantovský is the current Czech Ambassador to the Court of St James. He was among the founding members of the movement that coordinated the overthrow of the communist regime. In January 1990, he became the spokesman, press secretary and advisor to his lifelong friend, President Václav Havel. He has combined a career in politics and the foreign service with work as an author and translator into Czech of many contemporary British and American writers.

Part of the Made in Prague Festival, 17 October – 30 November 2014.