Produced to mark the 80th anniversary of Czech cinema, this lively, charming comic tribute to the country’s movie pioneers is heavily informed by Menzel’s own knowledge of film history – yet not at all bound by it – creating a nostalgic world of imagined characters and films that often act as stand-ins for the real thing. Menzel regular Rudolf Hrušínský leads the cast, playing a magician, travelling projectionist and founder of Prague’s first permanent cinema, with Menzel himself, of course, playing the key role of the first Czech film director, based on Jan Kříženecký. With Vladimír Menšík and Vlasta Fabiánová.

Digital print courtesy of the National Film Archive in Prague.

Co-presented with The Melbourne Cinémathèque.