Czechoslovak New Wave
Encyclopedia
The Czechoslovak New Wave (also incorrectly Czech New Wave) is a term used for the early films of 1960s Czech
directors Miloš Forman
, Věra Chytilová
, Ivan Passer
, Jaroslav Papoušek, Jiří Menzel
, Jan Němec
, Jaromil Jireš, Vojtěch Jasný
, Evald Schorm
and Slovak
directors Juraj Herz, Juraj Jakubisko
, Štefan Uher
, Ján Kádár
, Elo Havetta and others. The quality and openness of the films led the genre to be called the Czechoslovak film miracle.
movement of the thirties. Disgruntled with the communist regime
that had taken over in Czechoslovakia in 1948, students of the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
(also known as FAMU) became the dissenters of their time. Their objective in making films was "to make the Czech people collectively aware that they were participants in a system of oppression and incompetence which had brutalized them all."
Trademarks of the movement are long unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humour, and the casting of non-professional actors. The films touched on themes which for earlier film makers in the communist
countries had rarely managed to avoid the objections of the censor, such as the misguided youths of Czechoslovak society portrayed in Miloš Forman
's Black Peter
( 1963) and Loves of a Blonde
(Lásky jedné plavovlásky 1965), or those caught in a surrealistic whirlwind in Věra Chytilová
's Daisies
(Sedmikrásky 1966) and Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
(Valerie a týden divů 1970).
The Czechoslovak New Wave differed from the French New Wave
in that it usually held stronger narratives, and as these directors were the children of a nationalized film industry, they had greater access to studios and state funding. They also tended to present films taken from Czech literature
, including Jaromil Jireš' adaptation of Milan Kundera
's anti-Communist novel The Joke (Žert 1969). At the Fourth Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers Union in 1971, Milan Kundera
himself described this wave of national cinema as an important part of the history of Czechoslovak literature. Forman's The Firemen's Ball
(Hoří, má panenko 1967), another major film of the era, remains a cult film
more than four decades after its release.
As Alexander Dubček
came to power over the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia
with plans to present "socialism with a human face" through reform and liberalization (a brief period known as the Prague Spring
), the Soviet Union
and their Warsaw Pact
allies invaded to snuff out reform. The movement came to an abrupt end and Miloš Forman
and Jan Němec
fled the country, while those who remained faced censorship
of their work.
. Many directors came from the prestigious FAMU
, located in Prague, while the state-run Barrandov Studios
were located just on the outskirts of Prague. Some prominent Czech directors included Miloš Forman
, who directed The Firemen's Ball
, Black Peter
, and Loves of a Blonde
during this time, Věra Chytilová
who is best known for her film Daisies
, and Jiří Menzel
, whose film Closely Watched Trains
(Ostře sledované vlaky 1966) won an academy award for best foreign language film.
(Obchod na korze 1965) directed by Ján Kadár
and Elmar Klos
won the academy award for best foreign language film in 1966. It takes place in Slovakia
during World War II
and tells the story of a poor Slovak man named Anton "Tono" Brtko who is given a job by the local fascist regime to be the "Aryan owner" of a button shop run by an elderly Jewish woman.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
directors Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
, Věra Chytilová
Vera Chytilová
Věra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
, Ivan Passer
Ivan Passer
Ivan Passer is a Czech-born film director and screenwriter.A significant figure in the Czech New Wave of the mid-1960s, Passer worked closely with Miloš Forman on many of his films, and directed his first feature in 1965...
, Jaroslav Papoušek, Jiří Menzel
Jirí Menzel
Jiří Menzel is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography...
, Jan Němec
Jan Nemec
Jan Němec is a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."- Biography :...
, Jaromil Jireš, Vojtěch Jasný
Vojtech Jasný
Vojtěch Jasný is a Czech director who came to prominence in the sixties. He won a Cannes Special Jury Prize for Až přijde kocour/The Cassandra Cat ....
, Evald Schorm
Evald Schorm
Evald Schorm was a Czech film and stage director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 26 films between 1959 and 1988. Schorm was a notable exponent of the Czech Film New Wave.-Biography:...
and Slovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
directors Juraj Herz, Juraj Jakubisko
Juraj Jakubisko
Juraj Jakubisko is a Slovak film director. In his movies he managed to catch life's most beautiful colors, unhinge the poetry behind the ordinary and to be ahead of his time without forgetting his roots....
, Štefan Uher
Štefan Uher
Štefan Uher was a Slovak film director, one of the founders of the "Czechoslovak New Wave"....
, Ján Kádár
Ján Kadár
Ján Kadár was a Slovak film writer and director. As a filmmaker, he worked in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Canada. Most of his films were directed in tandem with Elmar Klos. The two became best known for their Oscar-winning The Shop on Main Street...
, Elo Havetta and others. The quality and openness of the films led the genre to be called the Czechoslovak film miracle.
Overview
The Czechoslovak New Wave was an artistic movement in cinema which evolved out of the earlier DevětsilDevetsil
The Devětsil was an association of Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 ....
movement of the thirties. Disgruntled with the communist regime
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until end of 1989 , a Soviet satellite state of the Eastern Bloc....
that had taken over in Czechoslovakia in 1948, students of the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague or FAMU is one of the oldest film schools in Europe. Located in Prague, Czech Republic, FAMU was founded in 1946 as one of three branches of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
(also known as FAMU) became the dissenters of their time. Their objective in making films was "to make the Czech people collectively aware that they were participants in a system of oppression and incompetence which had brutalized them all."
Trademarks of the movement are long unscripted dialogues, dark and absurd humour, and the casting of non-professional actors. The films touched on themes which for earlier film makers in the communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
countries had rarely managed to avoid the objections of the censor, such as the misguided youths of Czechoslovak society portrayed in Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
's Black Peter
Black Peter (film)
Black Peter is a 1964 film directed by Miloš Forman.It won the Golden Sail award at the Locarno International Film Festival....
( 1963) and Loves of a Blonde
Loves of a Blonde
Loves of a Blonde is a 1965 Czechoslovakian film directed by Miloš Forman. It is also known under the alternate title of A Blonde in Love.-Plot:...
(Lásky jedné plavovlásky 1965), or those caught in a surrealistic whirlwind in Věra Chytilová
Vera Chytilová
Věra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
's Daisies
Daisies (film)
Daisies is a 1966 Czech film directed by Věra Chytilová considered a milestone of the Nová Vlna movement and the modern surrealist cinema....
(Sedmikrásky 1966) and Jaromil Jireš' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Valerie a týden divu
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders The 1970 film adaptation of Valerie a týden divů was shot in 1969 starring the then 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast of Helena Anýžová, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, Petr Kopriva, among others. It was filmed in the Czech town of...
(Valerie a týden divů 1970).
The Czechoslovak New Wave differed from the French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
in that it usually held stronger narratives, and as these directors were the children of a nationalized film industry, they had greater access to studios and state funding. They also tended to present films taken from Czech literature
Czech literature
Czech literature is the literature written by Czechs or other inhabitants of the Czech state, mostly in the Czech language, although other languages like Old Church Slavonic, Latin or German have been also used, especially in the past. Modern authors from the Czech territory who wrote in other...
, including Jaromil Jireš' adaptation of Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
's anti-Communist novel The Joke (Žert 1969). At the Fourth Congress of the Czechoslovak Writers Union in 1971, Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
himself described this wave of national cinema as an important part of the history of Czechoslovak literature. Forman's The Firemen's Ball
The Firemen's Ball
-External links:*...
(Hoří, má panenko 1967), another major film of the era, remains a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
more than four decades after its release.
As Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubcek
Alexander Dubček , also known as Dikita, was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia , famous for his attempt to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring...
came to power over the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
with plans to present "socialism with a human face" through reform and liberalization (a brief period known as the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
), the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and their Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
allies invaded to snuff out reform. The movement came to an abrupt end and Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
and Jan Němec
Jan Nemec
Jan Němec is a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."- Biography :...
fled the country, while those who remained faced censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of their work.
Czech film
The majority of films shot during the New Wave were Czech-language as opposed to SlovakSlovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
. Many directors came from the prestigious FAMU
Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague or FAMU is one of the oldest film schools in Europe. Located in Prague, Czech Republic, FAMU was founded in 1946 as one of three branches of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
, located in Prague, while the state-run Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.Several of the movies filmed there won Academy Awards...
were located just on the outskirts of Prague. Some prominent Czech directors included Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
, who directed The Firemen's Ball
The Firemen's Ball
-External links:*...
, Black Peter
Black Peter (film)
Black Peter is a 1964 film directed by Miloš Forman.It won the Golden Sail award at the Locarno International Film Festival....
, and Loves of a Blonde
Loves of a Blonde
Loves of a Blonde is a 1965 Czechoslovakian film directed by Miloš Forman. It is also known under the alternate title of A Blonde in Love.-Plot:...
during this time, Věra Chytilová
Vera Chytilová
Věra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
who is best known for her film Daisies
Daisies (film)
Daisies is a 1966 Czech film directed by Věra Chytilová considered a milestone of the Nová Vlna movement and the modern surrealist cinema....
, and Jiří Menzel
Jirí Menzel
Jiří Menzel is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography...
, whose film Closely Watched Trains
Closely Watched Trains
Closely Watched Trains is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a coming-of-age story about a boy working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a story by...
(Ostře sledované vlaky 1966) won an academy award for best foreign language film.
Slovak film
The Shop on Main StreetThe Shop on Main Street
The Shop on Main Street is a 1965 Czechoslovak film about the Aryanization programme during World War II in the Slovak State....
(Obchod na korze 1965) directed by Ján Kadár
Ján Kadár
Ján Kadár was a Slovak film writer and director. As a filmmaker, he worked in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Canada. Most of his films were directed in tandem with Elmar Klos. The two became best known for their Oscar-winning The Shop on Main Street...
and Elmar Klos
Elmar Klos
Elmar Klos was a Czechoslovakian film director who collaborated for 17 years with Ján Kadár and with him won the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with the film The Shop on Main Street.-References:...
won the academy award for best foreign language film in 1966. It takes place in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and tells the story of a poor Slovak man named Anton "Tono" Brtko who is given a job by the local fascist regime to be the "Aryan owner" of a button shop run by an elderly Jewish woman.
Key works of the Czechoslovak New Wave
- The Sun in a NetThe Sun in a NetThe Sun in a Net is a 1963 film that became a key film in the development of Slovak and Czechoslovak cinema from the mandated Socialist-Realist filmmaking of the repressive 1950s towards the Czechoslovak/Czech New Wave and socially critical or experimental films of the 1960s marked by a...
by Štefan UherŠtefan UherŠtefan Uher was a Slovak film director, one of the founders of the "Czechoslovak New Wave"....
(1962) - Something Different by Věra ChytilováVera ChytilováVěra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
(1963) - Black PeterBlack Peter (film)Black Peter is a 1964 film directed by Miloš Forman.It won the Golden Sail award at the Locarno International Film Festival....
by Miloš FormanMiloš FormanJan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
(1963) - The Fifth Horseman is FearThe Fifth Horseman is FearThe Fifth Horseman is Fear is a 1964 Czechoslovak New Wave film about the Holocaust that was directed by Zbynek Brynych...
by Zbynek BrynychZbynek BrynychZbyněk Brynych was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He directed 30 films between 1951 and 1985.-Selected filmography:* Suburban Romance * The Fifth Horseman is Fear -External links:...
(1964) - Loves of a BlondeLoves of a BlondeLoves of a Blonde is a 1965 Czechoslovakian film directed by Miloš Forman. It is also known under the alternate title of A Blonde in Love.-Plot:...
by Miloš FormanMiloš FormanJan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
(1965) - The Shop on Main StreetThe Shop on Main StreetThe Shop on Main Street is a 1965 Czechoslovak film about the Aryanization programme during World War II in the Slovak State....
by Ján KadárJán KadárJán Kadár was a Slovak film writer and director. As a filmmaker, he worked in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Canada. Most of his films were directed in tandem with Elmar Klos. The two became best known for their Oscar-winning The Shop on Main Street...
and Elmar KlosElmar KlosElmar Klos was a Czechoslovakian film director who collaborated for 17 years with Ján Kadár and with him won the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with the film The Shop on Main Street.-References:...
(1965) - Pearls of the Deep by Jiří MenzelJirí MenzelJiří Menzel is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography...
, Jan NěmecJan NemecJan Němec is a Czech filmmaker whose most important work dates from the 1960s. Film historian Peter Hames has described him as the "enfant terrible of the Czech New Wave."- Biography :...
, Evald SchormEvald SchormEvald Schorm was a Czech film and stage director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 26 films between 1959 and 1988. Schorm was a notable exponent of the Czech Film New Wave.-Biography:...
, Věra ChytilováVera ChytilováVěra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
, Jaromil Jireš (1966) - Closely Watched TrainsClosely Watched TrainsClosely Watched Trains is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a coming-of-age story about a boy working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a story by...
by Jiří MenzelJirí MenzelJiří Menzel is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography...
(1966) - DaisiesDaisies (film)Daisies is a 1966 Czech film directed by Věra Chytilová considered a milestone of the Nová Vlna movement and the modern surrealist cinema....
by Věra ChytilováVera ChytilováVěra Chytilová is an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakian government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, Sedmikrásky...
(1966) - The Firemen's BallThe Firemen's Ball-External links:*...
by Miloš FormanMiloš FormanJan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
(1967) - Deserters and Pilgrims (aka The Deserter and the Nomads) by Juraj JakubiskoJuraj JakubiskoJuraj Jakubisko is a Slovak film director. In his movies he managed to catch life's most beautiful colors, unhinge the poetry behind the ordinary and to be ahead of his time without forgetting his roots....
(1968) - The Joke by Jaromil Jireš (1968)
- All My CompatriotsAll My CompatriotsAll My Compatriots is a 1968 Czechoslovak film directed by Vojtěch Jasný. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival where Jasný won the award for Best Director.-Cast:* Radoslav Brzobohatý - peasant František...
by Vojtěch JasnýVojtech JasnýVojtěch Jasný is a Czech director who came to prominence in the sixties. He won a Cannes Special Jury Prize for Až přijde kocour/The Cassandra Cat ....
(1968) - The Gala in the Botanical Garden by Elo Havetta (1969)
- Birds, Orphans and Fools by Juraj JakubiskoJuraj JakubiskoJuraj Jakubisko is a Slovak film director. In his movies he managed to catch life's most beautiful colors, unhinge the poetry behind the ordinary and to be ahead of his time without forgetting his roots....
(1969) - Behold HomolkaBehold HomolkaBehold Homolka is a Czech comedy film directed by Jaroslav Papousek. It was released in 1970.-Cast:* Josef Sebánek - Grandfather* Marie Motlová - Grandmother* Frantisek Husák - Ludva* Helena Ruzicková - Hedus* Petr Forman - Twin Péta...
by Jaroslav Papoušek (1969) - Case for a Rookie HangmanCase for a Rookie HangmanCase for a Rookie Hangman is a Czech drama film directed by Pavel Juráček. It was released in 1970. The movie belongs to the Czech New Wave....
by Pavel JuráčekPavel JurácekPavel Juráček was a Czech screenwriter and film director. Although not as famous as Miloš Forman or Jiří Menzel, he was an exponent of the Czech New Wave as well...
(1970) - Valerie and Her Week of WondersValerie a týden divuValerie and Her Week of Wonders The 1970 film adaptation of Valerie a týden divů was shot in 1969 starring the then 13-year-old Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie, with a supporting cast of Helena Anýžová, Karel Engel, Jan Klusák, Petr Kopriva, among others. It was filmed in the Czech town of...
by Jaromil Jireš (1971)
Further reading
- Hames, Peter: The Czechoslovak New Wave (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1985)
- Škvorecký, JosefJosef ŠkvoreckýJosef Škvorecký, CM is a leading contemporary Czech writer and publisher who has spent much of his life in Canada. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country...
: All The Bright Young Man and Women: A Personal History of the Czech Cinema (Toronto 1971)
External links
- Jan Němec: Enfant Terrible of the Czech New Wave by Peter Hames
- Slovak Cinema Strikes Back by Peter Hames
- History of Czech film
- The Czechoslovak New Wave on Criterion Collection: a thorough overview