Iluminace, 2020 (vol. 32), issue 1
Articles
The History of Czechoslovak / Czech Film in the Mirror of its Economic Data
Tereza Czesany Dvořáková, Antonie Doležalová, Hana Moravcová
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):5-39 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1653 
The study aims to show the potential hidden in the original archive resources of the film industry companies and movies for the economic analysis of the Czechoslovak and Czech film industry in the 20th century in various ideological and economic regimes. The study answers three questions: * how can researchers use the film archive resources for the economic analysis of the film industry; * how can the film archive resources be used for the analysis of the economic decisions of film producers; * what were the economic costs of Czechoslovak and Czech movies from the historical perspective? In the first chapter the study analyses the structure and quality...
To Protect the Christian Idea against the Hanky-Panky of the Jewish Clique. St. Wenceslas as a Conflict of Ambitions, Ideas and Interests
Martin Kos
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):41-60 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1654
This article explores the conceptual and pre-production stage circumstances and decision-making process in the case of negotiations for the production of Czech silent epic drama St. Wenceslas. Members of Millenium-film, a non-filmic association, seeking to provide financial resources for the production from the Czech government, had a several opportunities to make a deal with Czech producers (Miloš Havel) or production companies (Elektafilm and Astra National Production Ltd.) to co-finance it. However, the negotiations were completely unsuccessful due to different interests in the project. As the records of meetings indicate, Millenium-film's decisions...
Elektafilm presents Vlasta Burian. Financing of Feature Films with Multiple Language Versions in Czechoslovakia in the First Half of the 1930s
Michal Večeřa
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):61-75 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1655
First half of 1930s was a period of radical changes connected with the introduction of sound technology. Due to these changes producers had to deal with various problems originating from growing production costs; Czech filmmakers had to deal with the lack of the financial sources and undeveloped market, local production was not usually profitable despite its popularity. When trying to overcome all complications entrepreneurs had to find their way to develop a sustainable production strategy - it usually included presales, specialised distribution practices and designing films with a chance for success in foreign distribution.In presented text...
Ivan Tatíček - from Amateur Film to Professional Video Production
Martin Blažíček, Sylva Poláková
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):77-92 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1656
This study, written within the framework of a project aiming to reconstruct and digitise the original films and prepare a public presentation of the works of Ivan Tatíček from the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, focuses on introducing and contextualising the amateur films and video art of this half-forgotten artist. Ivan Tatíček completed five films in the 1980s: Kruh D (D Circle, 1982), Vojáci (Soldiers, 1982), O ničem jiném (On Something Else, 1983), Metrofilm (1984), and Všude doma dobře nejlíp (East or West, Home's Best, 1986). Most of them were warmly received at amateur film festivals and elicited positive reactions from the press. During his employment...
Edition
"These People are so Rude that One Can't Hear Anything!" Memories of the Beginnings of Czech Film Distribution and Exhibition until 1914
Jaroslav Lopour
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):100-134 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1658
This edition of sources brings together eight diverse memoirs and literary texts by direct participants and well-known writers, which provide a detailed and colorful account of the pioneering era of Czech film distribution, the operation of traveling companies, the specific atmosphere among audiences, and the technical difficulties of the first cinemas in the period up to 1914.
Horizon
Czech Film Between Directives and Directors (Petr Szczepanik, Továrna Barrandov: Svět filmařů a politická moc 1945-1970)
Jonathan Owen
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):139-143
Jonathan Owen's review presents Petr Szczepanik's comprehensive monograph Továrna Barrandov: Svět filmařů a politická moc 1945–1970 (Barrandov Studios: The World of Filmmakers and Political Power 1945–1970), which, through a detailed analysis of the institutional background, contemporary production culture, and everyday practice, maps the functioning of the nationalized Czech film industry and its constant balancing act between political oversight and creative autonomy.
Behind Brian Massumi's Affective Event (Brian Massumi, Architectures of the Unforeseen: Essays in the Occurent Arts)
Benjamin Slavík
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):144-150
Benjamin Slavík's review critically presents Canadian philosopher Brian Massumi's book Architectures of the Unforeseen, which examines the concept of affective events and virtuality in the context of procedural architecture and multimedia art through the prism of Deleuzian philosophy. Despite certain reservations about the author's stylistic epigonism, the reviewer highlights the stimulating nature of his affirmative theories for the analysis and perception of the film image.
Film Industry Voices
Expanding Cinema. A Conversation with Péter Forgács
Kamil Lipiński
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):93-99
Kamil Lipiński's interview with Hungarian media artist Péter Forgács provides an insight into his work in the field of found footage and multimedia installations, describes in detail the creation of the interactive project Danube Exodus in collaboration with American institutions, and reflects on the changes in non-linear storytelling and working with film archives, as well as the current unfavorable political situation for independent documentary filmmaking in Hungary.
Ad Fontes
Lamač Karel 1897-1952
Luboš Marek
Iluminace 2020, 32(1):135-138 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1659
Luboš Marek's text charts the life and rich career of the prominent Czech film director and actor Karel Lamač, from his creative beginnings through international successes to wartime exile, while also presenting the contents of his fragmentary but valuable personal collection stored in the National Film Archive.