Life of Czech composer Smetana, his search for love and artistic inspiration despite hearing loss, and quest for his muse Eliska. Navigating personal and professional challenges and the founding of the National Theatre in Prague.
Social & External
The people behind it
Václav Neužil
Bedřich Smetana
Sarah Haváčová
Betty Smetanová
Denisa Barešová
Eliška Krásnohorská
Jana Plodková
Lízinka
Viktor Zavadil
Drvota
Lucie Ducháčková
Žofie Schwarzová
Vojtěška Burianová
Zdeňka Smetanová
Žofie Burianová
Veronika Dobešová
Boženka Smetanová
Adéla Dobešová
An actress will play Barbara, the French singer. The shoot will soon start. The actress works on her character, her voice, the songs, scores, the gestures, knitting, scenes she has to learn, things are going okay, there's progress, development, she is even overwhelmed. The film director also works, through his encounters, through archives, music, he let's himself be submerged, overwhelmed like the actress, by the actress.
A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.
South of Italy, XIX century. A couple of brigands are chased in the woods. The man has a bounty on his head and is terrified by everything, while the woman takes care of her newborn. They will be safe beyond the river, where they are going to abandon their son to some gang members in order to run faster. But the woman secretly hides the desire to keep the baby...
An account of the life and work of controversial German orchestra conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-89), celebrated as one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century.
Against the backdrop of New York City of the early 1850s, a young woman -- naively seeking to win the love she reads about in the romance novels she devours -- finds one prospect in an earnest denizen of the Bowery, and another in an elegant young aristocrat. Focusing on the bygone era's fashions, the novelty of the bicycle-built-for-two, and an inventor's quest for the horseless carriage, the film gently stirs the audiences' nostalgia for simpler times.
About the life and work of the poet Sergei Yesenin, his connection with his native country, its people and nature. Childhood, love, painful searches for his place in the new, revolutionary Russia — everything found a place in Yesenin's lyrics. Frames illustrating Yesenin's poetry and poems are side by side in the film with episodes of the poet's biography: the film reflects the days of his stay in America, World War I, revolution and village round dances, a daring uncle, a wise mother...
In 1968 Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys met a dynamic and passionate singer/songwriter and introduced him to Hollywood. The two set out to record that artist's first professional album. The album became known as LIE. In 1969 this artist achieved incredible fame, but not for his music. The artist's name was Charles Manson.
Porto (Portugal), beginning of the 80s. A film crew seeks to understand if there's really the figure of Chico Fininho, immortalized in the popular song of the same name. A bunch of people are interviewed taking us to Boavista - where we find him in a club. After a brief hesitation, the interview happens and we're taken to everyday situations, that can happen to any "freak" of the city...
When Brian Epstein set foot in the Cavern Club in November 1961 to watch The Beatles perform, he saw something no one else could – a glimmer of gold. Sharply dressed and well-spoken, Brian was hardly the most obvious radical – but being Jewish, closeted and having grown up as an outsider who had failed at pretty much everything, he was a 26-year old with something to prove and who wanted to tear up the rulebook.
A sailor prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew.
Sarı Zeybek is a 1953 biopic film written and directed by Münir Hayri Egeli. The film specifically showed the last 300 days of Mustafa Kemal's life and portrayed his ordinary human characteristics rather than his military prowess or political talents.
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.
A woman of nobility battles patriarchal norms in order to improve educational access for women in early 1900s Indonesian society.
The life of Katherine of Alexandria. Constantine joins the Roman army to find his missing childhood friend. Once alerted to his friend's whereabouts, he prepares for an all out war between the East and the West. Contains the last film role of Peter O'Toole, who died before the film was released.
The film is a novelized biography of François Villon (1431-1463), known as the Wandering Poet, who led a troubled life due to the fact that he supported the free expression of people in a coercive climate.
A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The story of young composer, Johannes Brahms, and his relationship with, Robert and Clara Schumann, the famous music couple that aided in his rise to fame.
A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.
The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
When the beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet is diagnosed with a life threatening illness, the group's future suddenly hangs in the balance as suppressed emotions, competing egos and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert — quite possibly their last — only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy.
Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 17-year-old son after he goes missing during WWI.
After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as Willy, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels.
A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.
The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making of her groundbreaking album, Back to Black that catapulted Winehouse to global fame. Told through Amy’s eyes and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film explores and embraces the many layers of the iconic artist and the tumultuous love story at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Famed composer Gustav Mahler reflects on the tragedies of his life and failing marriage while traveling by train.
Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her, the story advances the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays.
New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, a literary editor is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius.
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
A psychological, heart-wrenching love story that provides a unique and inside look at Charles Darwin. Torn between faith and science, he struggles to finish his legendary book "On the Origin of Species," which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.