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Journey to Prehistory / Journey to the Beginning of Time [R2 Germany vs. R2 Japan vs. R2 Czech vs. R2 Spain]

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne [R2 Japan vs. Czech TV broadcast vs. R2 Czech vs. R2 Spain]

The Firemen's Ball [Czech Blu-ray vs. Criterion DVD]

According to part II. of this article, the Czech NFA just published a "catalog" of Czech animated films made between the years 1920 and 1945. Similarly to their feature film catalogs, the book is bilingual (Czech / English). More importantly, the book is accompanied by a DVD containing all (?) the surviving animated films from the period (the article mentions 3 DVDs, while another mentioned 76 titles, but apparently there's just 1 DVD, and the actual cover says "30 films")!

petoluk wrote:According to part II. of this article, the Czech NFA just published a "catalog" of Czech animated films made between the years 1920 and 1945. Similarly to their feature film catalogs, the book is bilingual (Czech / English). More importantly, the book is accompanied by a DVD containing all (?) the surviving animated films from the period (the article mentions 3 DVDs, while another mentioned 76 titles, but apparently there's just 1 DVD, and the actual cover says "30 films")!

Given that Czech animation didn't really take off in a big way until the mid-1940s (which may of course be why 1945 was chosen as the cut-off date), isn't is conceivable that just 76 animated films were made in total, of which just 30 survive - and it's those 30 that are on the DVD?

Anyway, many thanks for the tip-off - this looks fascinating, and I'll definitely investigate further.

MichaelB wrote:Given that Czech animation didn't really take off in a big way until the mid-1940s (which may of course be why 1945 was chosen as the cut-off date), isn't is conceivable that just 76 animated films were made in total, of which just 30 survive - and it's those 30 that are on the DVD?

Well, the second article specifically says: Součástí knihy je sada tří DVD s dochovanými snímky z daného období. Půjde o 76 titulů, filmů kreslených, loutkových, kombinovaných i těch využívajících marionety. Velká část vznikla pro reklamní a instruktážní účely. Podle spoluautorky publikace Michaely Mertlové tkví obrovská hodnota v tom, že právě ty často existovaly v jediné kopii.

In English: The book is accompanied by a set of 3 DVDs containing the surviving films from that period. It's 76 titles - animated films, puppet films, films using multiple / combined techniques and also those using marionettes. The majority of them was made for advertisement and educational purposes. According to the book's co-author, Michaela Mertlova, these films are particularly valuable because usually only a single copy / print of each was made / exists.

I guess they planned to release 3 DVDs with the 76 films, but then had to "downsize" the project for whatever reason (finance?)...

Any idea where this book/video release can be purchased?

jonah.77 wrote:Any idea where this book/video release can be purchased?

link 1
link 2
link 3
link 4

Book + 76 films/ 7 hours DVD

admira wrote:Book + 76 films/ 7 hours DVD

Yep, mystery solved - that last link by admira is for the book bundled with the 3 DVDs containing the 76 films; the DVD I talked about previously is just a "best of" compilation of 30 films out of the 76... (But AFAIK the book / 3 DVD combo is not yet available.)

admira wrote:Alex Zucker is translating to the English Vladislav Vančura's novel Marketa Lazarová.
Vančura's work in English:
Summer of Caprice
Vladislav Vančura, the Heart of the Czech Avant-garde

Vladislav Vančura as a director:
Before Graduation (1932)
Marijka the Unfaithful(1934) - won the first prize in the category The best rediscovered film on the International festival of archive and restored films in Bologne, Italia
Also Bohuslav Martinů's H.233 score represent the earliest surviving recording of his work.

http://www.twistedspoon.com/marketa-lazarova.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder if anyone knows if this Juraj Herz Collection has English subs?

EDIT: Going by this information only two of them have English subs...

All indications are that the answer is a pretty firm no - at least if you're hoping for subtitles on everything.

I can confirm that most individual single-disc Czech releases of Herz films don't have subtitles (The Cremator is one of the only exceptions), and box sets like this usually only repackage the original discs - almost certain to be the case here if some films are subtitled and the others aren't.

I can certainly confirm first-hand that the single-disc releases of Oil Lamps and Morgiana do not have English subtitles.

Probably mostly out of print nowadays, but does anyone know where to buy the Slovak cinema of the 70s or Slovak cinema of the 60s boxsets? The more of these movies I've seen, the more convinced I am that I need to see them all.

I think the individual 60s and 70s DVDs are still available - it's the 80s ones that are dropping OOP. For instance, you don't seem to be able to get Štefan Uher's She Kept Crying for the Moon (1982) for love nor money.

The only one from the 80s collection that interests me is Sweet Troubles. I found the 60s and some of the 70s films at sme.sk. Has anybody ever purchased from them before? They have the titles (Gorilla.sk seems not to), but they don't inspire me with floods of confidence.

I bought all mine from DVD Best, who haven't messed up an order yet, and their packaging makes a brick seem flimsy.

I totally forgot about DVD Best. They seem to have some of the discs, but not the majority of the films.

Has anyone ordered from DVD Lipa before? They claim to have ones like Elo Havetta's Wild Lilies, which no one seems to have anymore.

Does the Filmexport edition of Black Peter have English subs? Here's the back cover:

Yes it does (I have it)

Thanks! For future reference, is that what "titulky anglicke" means?

That's correct!

OK, one more. This (Vláčil's The Devil's Trap) supposedly has English subs, but can anyone confirm firsthand?

While I'm at it, does anyone recommend any other Vláčil films (other than those available from Second Run)?

It says there are English subtitles.

I have heard good things about Smoke on the Potato Fields, but I haven't seen it.

Having just seen Valley of the Bees, I have to say I was very surprised that this was the same filmmaker who was at the very same time making Marketa Lazarova. The films are as different as chalk and cheese to me--and I have to say I appreciated Marketa Lazarova much, much better.

The ones I'm most interested in seeing are Shadows of a Hot Summer and Mag. Those look very promising to me.