PRAGUE: Czech drama Brothers / Bratři by Tomáš Mašín topped the local box office in its first weekend with 38,341 admissions and 272,803 EUR /6,673,617 CZK gross. The film released by Cinemart on 26 October 2023 has been the first Czech film to top the domestic charts in 2023.

PRAGUE: A proposal of a new amendment to the Audiovisual Act has been discussed by the Czech government recently. If approved, the bill should open the production incentives system.

PRAGUE: Special preview screenings of Petr Vachler’s labour of love The Meaning and Mystery of Life have been taking place in cinemas all across the Czech Republic and Slovakia since June 2023, gathering over 11,000 admissions. On 23 November 2023 the film will enter official Czech and Slovak distribution.

PRAGUE: The Czech Film Fund has distributed 2.5 m EUR for the production of seven feature films and 466,208 EUR for the production of seven long documentaries.

PLZEŇ: The 36th Finále Plzeň Film Festival, which took place 22 – 27 September 2023, awarded its top prize of the Golden Kingfisher for Best Feature and Animated Film to the Czech/Slovak coproduction Brutal Heat / Brutální vedro, which is the debut feature by Albert Hospodářský.

PLZEŇ: Seven feature films and one long animated film are competing in the Golden Kingfisher Feature Film and Animated Film Competition of the 36th Finále Plzeň Film Festival (22 – 27 September 2023). Matěj Chlupáček’s epic historical drama We Have Never Been Modern / Úsvit will open the festival.

PRAGUE: Czech director Veronika Lišková is currently in production with her debut feature Year of the Widow / Rok vdovy, which is a Czech/Slovak/Croatian coproduction. The screenplay, written by Lišková’s partner, screenwriter Eugen Liška, was inspired by a series of articles by Zuzana Pokorná, a diary like reflection of the first year of the author’s widowhood.

PRAGUE: The Czech audiovisual industry reached the highest yet turnover of 639.7 m EUR / 15.4 billion CZK in 2022, surpassing the 2021 record of 361.3 m EUR / 8.73 billion CZK, according to the Czech Audiovisual Producers Association (APA).

PRAGUE: The Czech Film Fund has distributed 708,000 EUR for the production of five international feature films, including one debut feature, two long documentaries and two short animated films.