Best Czech documentary movies

Everyone knows something like this is happening. But this is the only experiment to fully demonstrate what excessive openness on the internet means. The filmmaking couple hired youthful-looking (but over 18) actresses to pretend to be prepubescent girls and communicate with strangers who approached them based on their fake accounts. They attracted dozens of men in the first ten days, then hundreds, and finally thousands...

Two students from the Czech Film Academy commission a leading advertising agency to organize a huge campaign for the opening of a new supermarket named Czech Dream. The supermarket however does not exist and is not meant to. The advertising campaign includes radio and television ads, posters, flyers with photos of fake Czech Dream products, a promotional song, an internet site, and ads in newspapers and magazines. Will people believe in it and show up for the grand opening?

A young investigative journalist and his fiancée are brutally murdered in their home in Slovakia. Their deaths inspire the biggest protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism. The story takes an unexpected turn when a source leaks the secret murder case file to the murdered journalist’s colleagues. It includes the computers and encrypted communications of the assassination’s alleged mastermind, a businessman closely connected to the country’s ruling party. Trawling these encrypted messages, journalists discover that their country has been captured by corrupt oligarchs, judges, and law enforcement officials. A reckoning awaits.

Director Olga Malirova Spatova's feature documentary authentically portrays Karel Gott as a phenomenal singer who gives his all to his fans, as a painter, but also as a loving husband and father. A man who was spreading joy with his songs for sixty years, among several generations not only here, but also in Europe, and even worldwide. The singer traces the steps of his life, allows viewers to peek behind the scenes of concerts, and shows also his family life and privacy that he otherwise tries to lovingly and humbly protect.

From Prague to Cape Town in a Trabant. Two cylinders, two strokes, two Trabants, 20,000 kilometers. Through deserts, mountains, sand, and mud. Trabant Across Africa is a film about a journey. A journey worth taking, even if you keep telling yourself never again, and if you do, then not in a Trabant. A film about what it means to travel across the Dark Continent in the footsteps of the forgotten predecessors Hanzelka and Zikmund in one of the most primitive cars ever made. No embellishments, no script, no accompanying crew in Land Rovers. No certainty that we will make it. Eleven African countries: Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Africa swallowed us up, chewed us up, and spat us out. Stunned, exhausted, determined to return.

This sports documentary goes behind the scenes in the world of mixed martial arts while chronicling the life story of MMA champion Attila Végh.

The third installment in Dan Přibáň's series of travel documentaries describes the author's journey with his friends across South America in vehicles that are often notorious but cult in their own way. The charming dynamics of the group on screen are further enhanced by the high-quality craftsmanship.

Nicky's Family is a gripping documentary from the International Emmy Award winning producers Patrik Pass and Matej Minac about a rescue operation of the “British Schindler” - Sir Nicholas Winton who will celebrate this year 103rd birthday. His story has no parallel in modern history. Dramatic reenactments, some of the archive footage never seen before, rescued "children" together with Mr. Winton himself recount this unique story which even after 70 years continues to inspire people, especially children, to make this world a better place. World personalities His Holiness Dalai Lama and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel also took part. ( - from the film's press kit)

In July 2007, a three-member expedition set off in a Trabant along the Silk Road to the deserts of Central Asia. The odometer of the small yellow Trabant has clocked up 15,000 kilometers. Half of Europe and most of Central Asia have disappeared beneath its wheels. After six weeks spent in its cramped interior, Dan Přibáň, Vladislav Růžička, and Jan Martin Kozel traveled through Central Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Iran, and Turkmenistan, before turning west again in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and returning home via Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. 15,000 kilometers is a very long journey, during which many details can be lost.

Probably the most famous Czech traveler of today, Dan Přibáň, has undertaken his most challenging expedition yet. The crews of two yellow Trabants, a Polish Fiat (aka Maluch), a Čezeta, a Jawa, and even two wheelchairs set off from Perth, Australia, and during their six-month adventure traveled through East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Twenty-three-year-old Aneta committed suicide with 13 knife wounds. No, this is not the subject of a horror science fiction, but the official conclusion of the Czech police. It is also the story of perhaps the most controversial criminal case in modern history, the background to which the filmmakers have been documenting for five long years. What role did a love triangle, the mafia, drugs and a mysterious Lebanese man play in the case? To answer these questions, years later, both Aneta's mother and the public have built an exact replica of the crime scene in the studio. A reconstruction of the site was carried out with the participation of the world's leading experts in psychology, toxicology, pathology and biomechanics. Will the conclusions of the British, Canadian, American and French experts match those reached by the Czech police? Will the victim's mother at least get the truth after ten years?

Near us, nature takes back what man has stolen. Within the environment of open cast brown coalmines and spoil tips which are the reminder of a lunar landscape, one finds paradoxically a true tale of an impregnable wild countryside.

The first feature-length documentary about the rise of skateboarding in Czechoslovakia presents a gripping tale of the search for freedom in a society stifled by the communist regime. Unique archive shots set to a driving punk soundtrack introduce us to the cult masters of the board and their never-ending party ride through the grey days of Normalization.

One second is all it takes to completely turn a life upside down - ONE SECOND FOREVER explores excessive speeding by telling the stories of five motorists who have caused serious and deadly car accidents. A feeling that one cannot even begin to imagine, yet many drivers casually admit to speeding on a regular basis. By recreating the accidents, director Vít Klusák takes the drivers on a journey to confront their guilt and turn it into a message of prevention.

A moving account, in his own words, of the personal life and work of the brilliant Czech filmmaker Miloš Forman (1932-2018): his tragic childhood, his major contribution to the cultural movement known as the Czech New Wave, his exile in Paris, his troubled days in New York, his rise to stardom in Hollywood; a complete existence in the service of cinema.

Dalibor K. is an industrial painter, amateur horror maker, the composer of angry songs, painter and a radical neo-Nazi. He is approaching 40, but he is still living with his mother Vera, Aged 63, and is yet to experience the real relationship with a woman. He hates his job, gypsies, Jews, refugees, homosexuals, Merkel, spiders and dentists. He hates his life, but he doesn’t know how to change it.

Swedish manager Bo Inge Andersson comes to the Russian city Togliatti to save the struggling automaker factory. He is asked for a revolution, but what he doesn't know is that nothing should change.

An immersion into the intimacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. The architect of perestroika and glasnost, who was praised in the West but reviled in his own country, still combative despite his advanced age, loneliness and illness, offers his personal and political testament.

“You bet on someone in the beginning of the process and then you wait and see what life does with them.” This is how Czech director Helena Trestikova explains her long-term documentaries. Following on from the European Film Academy Award winning RENE (2008), Trestikova brings us KATKA – 14 years in the life of a drug addict. KATKA is an extraordinarily raw and uncensored character portrait of a troubled young woman living on the edge of human existence, desperately searching for love and salvation. Will she find it in the rehab? Will she find it in the arms of the man she loves? Or in the first cry of her long-desired baby? Tagging along with her through the back streets and squalors of Prague, Trestikova gets deep under the skin of a person most of us would cross the road to avoid, and shows us Katka’s profoundly human face. You might be angry with Katka, or your heart may go out to her. One thing is certain – you will never forget her.

Trabants have traveled the world, now frogs are swimming! Traveler Dan Přibáň returns to cinemas after six years – this time in an amphibious vehicle LuAZ 967 nicknamed the yellow frog, which not only drives, but also swims! Together with him, a Czech-Slovak group of crazy adventurers, including the indestructible Marek Slobodník on a floating motorcycle tricycle, set off on a wild journey. The goal? 18,000 kilometers from Prague to Ulaanbaatar. The means? Used, dangerous and funny machines. The challenges? The pitfalls of exotic countries, bizarre regimes, disappearing rivers, blooming deserts and endless plains where there are no roads – only directions. And Mongolia – the land of blue skies. The least populated country in the world. A country that breaks hearts and fulfills dreams. In the finale, under the dunes of the Gobi Desert, the moved guys discover that it was really worth it and that miracles do happen... But sometimes completely differently than they expected.

New documentary about the career of world-class snowboarder Eva Adamczyková. This inspiring film takes you behind the scenes of her team and shows you where Eva comes from. The last years have been a difficult test for her in both her personal and professional life. In this documentary, you will learn how she coped with them.

In her latest film, young actress and documentary filmmaker Petra Nesvačilová decided to capture police officer Helena Káhnová, who, together with her colleague, managed to send dozens of people to prison in the Berdych gang case in the 1990s - including Berdych himself. The cumulative punishment was hundreds of years in prison - the policewoman received a reward of CZK 10,000 and a promotion, which was subsequently withdrawn. The director also managed to establish a film relationship with Berdych himself and former members of his gang. What motivates a policewoman to stand up to the mafia and what motivates a young documentary filmmaker to contact the mafia and make a film about it?

Marie Tomanová travelled from Mikulov to the USA as an au pair, and today she shoots campaigns for fashion brands such as Nike, Instagram, or for the fashion magazines such as Vogue CS. However, her name is better known abroad than in her native country, which provided few opportunities for the young painter. Paradoxically, it was only in New York, far from home, that she was able to grow up and find herself - a transition greatly supported by Marie’s partner in professional and personal life, art historian Thomas Beachdel. Tomanová touches the world in a different way, with a rush of positive emotions, an immediate connection, acting as a medium through which the energy of the portrait-sitter passes.

Láďa is always joking. Petr has his own incomprehensible dictionary. Jana seeks a partner via a dating service. They are linked through their joy in music and their involvement in the group founded more than 20 years ago by bandmaster Šimon Ornest. Strictly, almost despotically, without pity but with great energy and understanding, he not only leads his musicians to a place on the music scene but is also their support and friend.

Artistic endeavour isn’t about competing; even so, applicants still have to be placed in order of merit at the academy’s entrance exams. But how do you assess artistic talent? And what role can art play in today’s world? A layered, observational documentary which presents a portrait of an institution and a light generational statement in one.

Bjørn Nørgaard and a team of Czech glass artists in the demanding process of creating a grave monument for Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark.

A realistic medieval game demands realistic medieval combat! The documentary Fechtbuch not only charts Warhorse Studio’s quest to create a unique experience, but also presents medieval martial arts as a phenomenon and an important element of European history.

The world around us is always changing. And our beer is changing with it. What is behind traditional beer brands in the era of globalisation? What happens if a liquid national heritage turns into a 'Eurobier'? Many people believe that beer and its character influence the life of a nation more than we think. And more and more believe that the Czech beer industry is no longer Czech. Not only because of who largely owns it, but also because of what it actually produces. Is that really the case? And if so, what can we do?

After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Libuše Jarcovjáková, a young female photographer, strives to break free from the constraints of Czechoslovak normalization and embarks on a wild journey towards freedom, capturing her experiences on thousands of subjective photographs.

In the past ten years, the Slovak citizens’ trust in justice has fallen sharply. Thanks to the access to Threema messages of Marian Kočner, a businessman under investigation in relation to the murder of the journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, a vast corruption network within state administration and the justice system has been revealed. Disintegrating the merciless machinery including corrupt judges, rich and influential businessmen, mafia, politicians, and innocent citizens alike, is all but an easy task. Reflecting on the long-term crisis of the Slovak justice system, Zuzana Piussi’s investigative documentary asks whether the justice system with its many failures can ever be corrected.

Artistic endeavour isn’t about competing; even so, applicants still have to be placed in order of merit at the academy’s entrance exams. But how do you assess artistic talent? And what role can art play in today’s world? A layered, observational documentary which presents a portrait of an institution and a light generational statement in one.

The documentary explores the presidency of Václav Havel, a poet who unexpectedly became president. The film, starting in 1992, captures Havel’s experiences after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, a significant defeat for him as he had campaigned for its continuation. Despite political opposition and accusations of responsibility for the breakup, Havel runs for president of the new Czech Republic. The film, a unique document, was Koutecký’s most important project, continued by Janek after Koutecký’s death in 2006.

Vladimir 518, uncompromising rapper, artist, stage designer and activist, is a rare phenomenon, who not only writes books, but publishes them as well. Today also a respected authority primarily on pre-1989 architecture, he has written not only a major publication on the subject, but also the story for two audiovisual works treating the same theme, which were shot by Jan Zajíček, renowned director of music videos. In addition to the recent TV series we have the eagerly anticipated feature-length film which, through its fascinating and impressive exploration of Czech and Slovak architecture of the latter half of the 20th century, offers exclusive insight into extraordinary buildings and unique individuals living below the Tatra Mountains. Karel Och (kviff.com)

"The Magic Voice Of A Rebel" portrays the story of the Czech singer Marta Kubisová, who without never intending it, became a symbol of freedom for all generations in the newly free Czhecoslovakia in 1989. It is Marta herself who tells us her life story and how the Soviet invasion in Czechoslvakia in 1968 changed her life. Because of her deep involvement in the Prague Spring movement, she went from being the most popular singer in the country to being banned and suffering a sudden removal from the public scene by the new authorities imposed from Moscow. She refused to escape to exile and together with other banned intelectuals and artists became a disident instead. Blacklisted and persecuted by the secret police, she also suffered the betrayal of beloved people who were collaborating with the regime.

Two orphaned bear cubs would’ve been destined to starve – if a man had not adopted them. The film shows the twins’ life with their new "mother", from their first steps to becoming cheeky teenagers.

Vera Cáslavská, the most successful Czechoslovak sportswoman and the fourth most successful Olympic sportswoman globally, won seven gold and four silver medals. After her 1968 Mexico City Olympics victory, she became the second most popular woman after Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1968, she signed the 2000 Words Manifesto, which she never retracted. Despite her fame, she faced a troubled life due to political issues, marriage, and family tragedy. Her story reflects Czech society during both communist and democratic regimes, where she was active in the civil sphere. She views her sports career as fleeting fame compared to her challenging life. Now 68, 42 years after her sports career, she remains admired in the Czech Republic and Japan. Her life is a unique chapter in Czech history.

Peter Kerekes’ documentary focuses on the Bata shoe empire and the quest to find the next generation of shoe makers

This film is a documentary-style look at the life of the beloved Czech actor, Zdeněk Svěrák.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit Czech society hard between 2020 and 2022. Pervasive restrictions trapped us at home for weeks and months, people died by the thousands, and the overburdened healthcare system ran at full speed. The course of the world seemed, in the words of Karel Vachek, to stop for a moment, and we held our breath for what would happen next. A documentary depiction of the greatest global catastrophe in ages is dedicated to the moments that changed everything irrevocably. Together with the three main actors, we are reminded of how fragile our personal and social lives can be when faced with the “big nothing” of a malignant disease.

For Tomáš the mine is the centre of his life, along with soccer, his kids and the cosy after-work beer. The 44-year-old has worked as a miner for 21 years, until the mine was closed down for economic reasons. Tomáš then re-trains as a coder in the appropriately named educational programme “New Shift”. What he doesn’t know yet is that his new skills alone won’t get him out of the crisis. A film about a tug-of-war with fate and the employment market.

Marek “Mara” Holeček is one of the most noted mountain climbers of our time, both in the Czech Republic and worldwide. He is known for climbing atop the highest mountains, high enough to touch the sky, all without oxygen and in a demanding Alpine style. His extreme approach to mountain climbing and life brings him great success, but also many problems. The film Mara Goes to Heaven follows his five attempts at the first ascent atop the challenging mountain of Gasherbrum I, located in the Karakoram Mountain Range in Pakistan. We catch sight of the surroundings through the eyes of Mara Holeček and those around him as well as through the eyes of those who wait to see if they will make it back alive. The successful expedition ended up being his fifth attempt, but the film also follows the unsuccessful attempts before it that ended in tragedy.

An astonishing array of paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, objects and materials fill room after room - but this is not a museum open to the general public. It is the home of the celebrated artist couple Jan Svankmajer and his late wife Eva, situated in the Czech Republic's Horni Stankov Castle.

The architects' plans for Central Bus Station to swallow visitors has turned into an endless maze of corridors. Once a gift to the citizens of Tel Aviv now serves to the immigrants. Yonathan has been a guide there for 17 years and is able to show the other side of the station's significance to those who walk with him. Yonathan knows that the purpose of going down to the building is to find not only himself, but also a society that harbours its values, protects its original traditions and wants to defend its home.