1.
Bohumil Hrabal
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Bohumil Hrabal was a Czech writer, regarded by many Czechs as one of the best writers of the 20th century. Hrabal was born in the city of Brno on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province of Moravia within Austria-Hungary, to an unmarried mother, Marie Božena Kiliánová. According to the organisers of a 2009 Hrabal exhibition in Brno, his father was probably Bohumil Blecha, a teachers son a year older than Marie. Marie’s parents opposed the idea of their daughter marrying Blecha, as he was about to serve in the Austro-Hungarian Army, four months after Hrabals birth World War I started, and Blecha was sent to the Italian front, before being invalided out of service. Blecha’s daughter, Drahomíra Blechová-Kalvodová, says her father told her when she was 18 that Hrabal was her half-brother, Bohumil and his biological father never met formally, according to Blechová-Kalvodová. Hrabal and Blechová-Kalvodová met twice, a dedication in a picture from 1994 says, To sister Drahomíra, Hrabal was baptised Bohumil František Kilián. Until the age of three, he lived mainly with his grandparents, Kateřina Kiliánová and Tomáš Kilián, in Brno while his mother worked in Polná as an assistant book-keeper in the towns brewery. František Hrabal, Hrabal’s stepfather, was a friend of Hrabal’s probable biological father, Marie and František married in February 1917, shortly before Bohumils second birthday. Hrabals half-brother, Břetislav Josef Hrabal, was later that year. The family moved in August 1919 to Nymburk, a town on the banks of the Labe. Both of Hrabals parents were active in amateur dramatics, Hrabal’s uncle was Bohuslav Kilián, a lawyer, journalist and publisher of the cultural magazines Salon and Měsíc. In 1920, Hrabal began at the school in Nymburk. In September 1925, he spent one year at a school in Brno. He failed the first year, he attended a technical secondary school in Nymburk. There too he struggled to concentrate on his studies, despite extra classes given to him by his uncle, in June 1934 Hrabal left school with a certificate that said he could be considered for a place at university on a technical course. Hrabal took private classes in Latin for a year, passing the exam in the town of Český Brod with an adequate grade on 3 October 1935. Four days later, on 7 October 1935, he registered at the Charles University in Prague to study for a law degree and he graduated only in March 1946 as Czech universities had been shut down in November 1939 and remained so until the end of Nazi occupation. During the war, he worked as a labourer and dispatcher in Kostomlaty, near Nymburk
2.
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
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German leader Adolf Hitlers pretext for this action was the alleged privations suffered by the ethnic German population living in those regions. New and extensive Czechoslovak border fortifications were located in the same area. Following the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi Germany, in March 1938, the incorporation of the Sudetenland into Germany that begun on 1 October 1938 left the rest of Czechoslovakia weak, and it became powerless to resist subsequent occupation. On 15 March 1939, the German Wehrmacht moved into the remainder of Czechoslovakia and, from Prague Castle, the occupation ended with the surrender of Germany following World War II. Sudeten German pro-Nazi leader Konrad Henlein offered the Sudeten German Party as the agent for Hitlers campaign, Henlein met with Hitler in Berlin on 28 March 1938, where he was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government led by president Edvard Beneš. On 24 April, the SdP issued the Karlsbader Programm, demanding autonomy for the Sudetenland, if Henleins demands were granted, the Sudetenland would then be able to align itself with Nazi Germany. I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and a half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the right to self-determination take its place. As the tepid reaction to the German Anschluss with Austria had shown, the governments of France, the French government did not wish to face Germany alone and took its lead from the British government and its prime minister, Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain contended that Sudeten German grievances were justified and believed that Hitlers intentions were limited, Britain and France, therefore, advised Czechoslovakia to concede to the German demands. Beneš resisted, and on 20 May 1938 a partial mobilization was under way in response to possible German invasion, ten days later, Hitler signed a secret directive for war against Czechoslovakia to begin no later than 1 October. In the meantime, the British government demanded that Beneš request a mediator, not wishing to sever his governments ties with Western Europe, Beneš reluctantly accepted. The British appointed Lord Runciman and instructed him to persuade Beneš to agree to a plan acceptable to the Sudeten Germans, on 2 September, Beneš submitted the Fourth Plan, granting nearly all the demands of the Karlsbader Programm. Intent on obstructing conciliation, however, the SdP held demonstrations that provoked police action in Ostrava on 7 September, the Sudeten Germans broke off negotiations on 13 September, after which violence and disruption ensued. As Czechoslovak troops attempted to order, Henlein flew to Germany. On the same day, Hitler met with Chamberlain and demanded the swift takeover of the Sudetenland by the Third Reich under threat of war, the Czechs, Hitler claimed, were slaughtering the Sudeten Germans. Chamberlain referred the demand to the British and French governments, both accepted, the Czechoslovak government resisted, arguing that Hitlers proposal would ruin the nations economy and lead ultimately to German control of all of Czechoslovakia. The United Kingdom and France issued an ultimatum, making a French commitment to Czechoslovakia contingent upon acceptance, the next day, however, Hitler added new demands, insisting that the claims of Poland and Hungary also be satisfied
3.
Resistance in German-occupied Czechoslovakia
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In the early days of the war, the Czech population participated in boycotts of public transport and some mass protest demonstrations took place. International Students Day commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Nazi Germany closed all Czech universities and colleges, sent over 1200 students to Nazi concentration camps, and had nine student leaders executed. In the context of German persecution, the resistance groups consolidated under the Central Leadership of Home Resistance. It served as the principal intermediary between Beneš and the Protectorate, which was in existence through 1941. Its long-term purpose was to serve as a government until Czechoslovakias liberation from Nazi occupation. The three major groups that consolidated under ÚVOD were the Political Centre, the Committee of the Petition We Remain Faithful. These groups were all democratic in nature, as opposed to the fourth official resistance group, most of their members were former officers of the disbanded Czechoslovak Army. In 1941, ÚVOD endorsed the political platform designed by the leftist group PVVZ, titled For Freedom, in addition to serving as the means of communication between London and Prague, the ÚVOD was also responsible for the transmission of intelligence and military reports. It did so primarily through the use of a radio station. However, the ÚVOD was known to transmit inaccurate reports, whether false intelligence data or military updates, Beneš often urged the ÚVOD to relay falsely optimistic reports of the military situation to improve morale or motivate more widespread resistance. While the ÚVOD served a principal aid to Beneš, it did sometimes depart from his policies, during the summer of 1941, the ÚVOD rejected Beneš proposals for partial expulsion of the Sudeten Germans after the conclusion of the war and instead demanded their complete expulsion. The ÚVOD succeeded in changing Beneš official stance on this issue, the ÚVODs relationship with the KSČ was an important aspect of its daily functions, as Soviet-Czech relations became a central part of their resistance efforts. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 marked a point in Soviet-Czechoslovak relations. Before the invasion, the main Communist objective was to stop the imperialist war and was sympathetic to the German workers of the Reich. After the invasion, the Resistance began to rely on communist support both within Czechoslovakia and from Moscow. In a broadcast from London on 24 June 1941 via the ÚVOD, while the KSČ was not an official part of the ÚVOD and kept its organisational independence, it called for unity of action with all anti-Fascist groups. Leaders of the KSČ ingratiated themselves with the ÚVOD by helping to maintain Soviet-Czechoslovak relations, Beneš often used these KSČ leaders to arrange meetings in Moscow to expand the Soviet-Czechoslovak partnership. There is some evidence that the ÚVOD may have warned the Russians about the German invasion in April 1941, in March 1941, Beneš received intelligence regarding a German build-up of troops on the Soviet Unions borders
4.
Reinhard Heydrich
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Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a high-ranking German Nazi official during World War II, and a main architect of the Holocaust. He was an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei as well as chief of the Reich Main Security Office and he was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic. Many historians regard him as the darkest figure within the Nazi elite and he was the founding head of the Sicherheitsdienst, an intelligence organisation charged with seeking out and neutralising resistance to the Nazi Party via arrests, deportations, and murders. He helped organise Kristallnacht, a series of co-ordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany, the attacks, carried out by SA stormtroopers and civilians, presaged the Holocaust. Upon his arrival in Prague, Heydrich sought to eliminate opposition to the Nazi occupation by suppressing Czech culture and he died from his injuries a week later. Nazi intelligence falsely linked the assassins to the villages of Lidice, both villages were razed, all men and boys over the age of 16 were shot, and all but a handful of its women and children were deported and killed in Nazi concentration camps. Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was born in 1904 in Halle an der Saale to composer and opera singer Richard Bruno Heydrich and his wife and his father was Protestant and his mother was Roman Catholic. His two forenames were patriotic musical tributes, Reinhard referred to the hero from his fathers opera Amen. Heydrichs third name, Eugen, was his maternal grandfathers forename. Heydrichs family held social standing and substantial financial means, Music was a part of Heydrichs everyday life, his father founded the Halle Conservatory of Music, Theatre and Teaching and his mother taught piano there. Heydrich developed a passion for the violin and carried that interest into adulthood and his father was a German nationalist who instilled patriotic ideas in his three children, but was not affiliated with any political party until after World War I. As a youth, he engaged his younger brother, Heinz and he excelled in his schoolwork—especially in science—at the Reformgymnasium. A talented athlete, he became a swimmer and fencer. He was shy, insecure, and was bullied for his high-pitched voice. The latter claim earned him the nickname Moses Handel, in 1918, World War I ended with Germanys defeat. In late February 1919, civil unrest—including strikes and clashes between communist and anti-communist groups—took place in Heydrichs home town of Halle, under Defense Minister Gustav Noskes directives, a right-wing paramilitary unit was formed and ordered to recapture Halle. Heydrich, then 15 years old, joined Maerckers Volunteer Rifles, when the skirmishes ended, Heydrich was part of the force assigned to protect private property. Little is known about his role, but the left a strong impression
5.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
6.
Loves of a Blonde
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Loves of a Blonde is a 1965 Czechoslovakian feature film directed by Miloš Forman. It is also known under the title of A Blonde in Love. The fiction film tells the story of a woman who has a routine job in a shoe factory in provincial Czechoslovakia. When the army holds maneuvers near her home town, the factory supervisor organizes a mixer for the female workforce. The films protagonist, though, does meet a young man who plays in the dance band and has a one-night fling with him. When she travels to the city where he lives in order to resume their romance, she meets his parents. Upon its release, Loves of a Blonde was a success in its home country and was shown at some major film festivals. Critical response was positive, although some reviewers were less enthusiastic than others. It was nominated in 1966 for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Andula is a working-class young woman living in a fading Czech factory town, where, due to an oversight in central state planning, women outnumber men 16–1. They need what we needed when we were young, he explains to a sympathetic officer, Andula strikes up a flirtation with Milda, the big-city pianist of the band providing the music. He reads her palm and instructs her in how to rebuff unwanted advances with a kick in the shins. After the party she goes to bed with Milda, although the comic frustrations continue, with Milda fighting a battle with a shade that wont close. Afterward, as they lie in bed together, Andula asks what Milda meant when he said she was angular and he replies that a woman is shaped like a guitar, And you, you look like a guitar too, he tells her, but one painted by Picasso. Before they part, he invites her to come to Prague. After listening to a speech by the housemother on the virtues of fidelity and commitment, she packs up her suitcase and arrives on MIldas doorstep in the big city, ready to resume their romance. Milda is not home, and she meets his parents, who have never heard of her, Forman has described this famous scene, It’s a tight fit. The old man wants to sleep, the son would like to get out so he can join the girl on the couch. She tells her friends about her trip to the capital and how nice Mildas parents were to her, especially his father
7.
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
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Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival, often shortened to IFFMH, is an annual film festival held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The festival was established in 1952, the festival presents arthouse films of international newcomer directors. It is the second-oldest film festival in Germany, since 1994 it has been held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. The festival takes place annually around November, the 65th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg will take place from November 4 to 19 in 2016. After several screenings there are public panel discussions with the films representatives, the festival presents films of independent newcomer directors and who are internationally widely-unknown, focussing on arthouse and auteur films. The films selected must be premieres and thus films screened at Cannes, Locarno, Venice, in 2010 the MANNHEIM MEETING PLACE was launched. The project succeeds the Festivals former co-production market MANNHEIM MEETINGS, focusing on the improvement of marketing opportunities of completed film projects, however, co-production meetings will still take place. Grand Newcomer Award Mannheim-Heidelberg for the best fiction feature film with a length of 70 minutes. Special Newcomer Award Mannheim-Heidelberg for the best unconventionally narrated feature film with a length of 70 minutes. The prize can not be awarded ex aequo, Special Achievement Award of Mannheim-Heidelberg for a film with the minimum length of 70 minutes, or for an extraordinary performance as actor, writer, director etc. This prize can be awarded twice if required, Special Mentions of Mannheim-Heidelberg for a memorial film or special achievements like acting, photography, music, montage, etc. Up to three Special Mentions can be awarded, new Creators Award Mannheim-Heidelberg since 2015, for the best creative and intelligent serial drama, which has not been broadcast. The International Film Critics Prize given by the FIPRESCI Jury for a film of the competition, the Ecumenic Film Prize given by the Ecumenical Jury for a film of the competition. Audience Award of Mannheim-Heidelberg for the film most liked by the Festival audience, regardless of genre, recommendations of the Jury of Cinema Owners for a film of the competition which should be released theatrically in Germany. A Film About Love and Fungi Jason Cortlund, Julia Halperin, USA, Poland & Silent City Threes Anna, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg. Fighter. Fighter
8.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
9.
Barrandov Studios
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Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe, several of the movies filmed there won Oscars. At present the studios are often called the European Hollywood or Hollywood of the East due to increasing interest of western productions, noted director Roman Polanski claims Barrandov is the worlds best studio. The studios make an award of the Golden Trilobite. Czech film history is connected with that of Pragues entrepreneurial Havel family. In 1921 Miloš Havel created the A-B Joint Stock Company by merging his American Film distribution company with the Biografia film distributors, at the beginning of the 1930s his brother Václav planned to build a luxurious residential complex on a hill five kilometers outside Prague. Miloš Havel had suggested that he include a film studio in the development. The area was to be called Barrandov after Joachim Barrande, the French geologist who had worked at the site in the 19th century. Still the Barrandov Rock has the plaque with Barrandes name, construction of the studio, based on designs by Max Urban, began on 28 November 1931 and was completed in 1933. Fourteen months later, Barrandov’s first Czech film, ‘Murder on Ostrovni Street’, was shot there, the volume of films shot at the studio increased rapidly. Barrandov had three hundred permanent employees, was making up to eighty films a year and had begun to attract foreign producers, during the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany during World War II major additions were made to the studios facilities. Seeking to make Barrandov an equal to the film studios in Berlin and Munich. Construction work started in 1941 but the stage was not completed until early 1945. These three huge stages still form the main attraction of the studios to film-makers throughout the world, shortly after the war, Barrandov and its smaller sister studio facility at Hostivař were nationalized and remained under state ownership until the beginning of the 1990s. During this time, Barrandovs impressive film laboratories were constructed, as was an effects stage with a back projection tunnel. The Prague Spring of the mid-1960s was accompanied by a New Wave of Czech feature films which attracted worldwide attention. Czech film directors working at Barrandov at this time included Miloš Forman, Jiří Menzel, Vojtěch Jasný, Pavel Juráček, Věra Chytilová, Jan Němec, Ivan Passer, Elmar Klos or Ján Kadár. Closely Watched Trains and The Shop on Main Street each won the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, throughout the 1970s and 1980s Barrandov continued to produce high quality feature films, particularly comedies and Czech fairy tales, turning out an average of seventy pictures a year
