The WCRA, Arts Collective is proud to present an evening with Czech cinema pioneer and Venice IFF winner, Václav Táborský.
You are invited to a special viewing of the Venice IFF short film winner, Mud Covered City. This film represents a signature line of Táborský’s directorial activities – short satirical documentaries. Mud Covered City (1963), explores the advantages and disadvantages of living in a new housing estate in Prague-Malešice, the criticism is presented in a humorous form. The hidden price for quickly accessible housing for many young families is constituted by problems with water and heating, and ubiquitous mud. The film’s comicality is based on humorous contrasts which, on a deeper level, explore the discrepancies and flaws of the ruling system.
Along with brothers Jiří and František Papoušek, who – just like Táborský – strived to free domestic documentary filmmaking from the grip of schematism, he was one of the founding members of the creative group ČAS (“Time”) at the beginning of the 1960s. The group’s manifest promised orientation towards truth and authenticity, and according to its members, the purest form of documentary film was a report. They refused to cast actors, make up stories and create dramatic structures. The footage was to be filmed on location with real people and the authorial perspective was supposed to be represented by a montage of the filmed footage.
Following the screening of the short film, Václav Táborský will join us on stage to discuss the film and his career.
Please be sure to RSVP using the link below:
RSVP January 24th Date: