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Summary for: Czech cinema spotlight: A Pint of Ink explores a Czech life shaped by Japan🇨🇿 Czech Cinema Spotlight
A Pint of Ink offers a deeply personal portrait of Petr Geisler, a Czech expert on Japanese studies whose remarkable career as a translator, journalist, photographer and calligrapher was overshadowed by the alcoholism that ultimately claimed his life. Directed by his daughter Ester Geislerová, the documentary draws on archival footage to reconstruct a complicated man through the eyes of those who knew him best.
Why watch now: The Prague Reporter calls it “a quietly devastating warts-and-all look at a life slowly decimated by alcoholism,” while praising the film’s intimate approach. The documentary is playing this week with English subtitles at Bio Oko (Sept. 1) and Kino Atlas (Aug. 31 and Sept. 3).
🎞️ The Throwback
Tomáš Vorel’s 1990 cult classic Smoke (Kouř) turns a drab Ostrava factory workplace into a surreal musical satire of late communist Czechoslovakia. The film follows an idealistic young engineer whose determination to actually do his job sets off a rebellion among colleagues more accustomed to bureaucracy, corruption, and laziness.
Why watch now: Vorel’s unusual “musical of the totalitarian age” is an unusually sharp, and very funny, time capsule that remains relevant as Czechia's workforce continues to diversify. A digitally restored version of Smoke screens with English subtitles at Kino Atlas on Sept. 5, and is also available to stream on KVIFF.tv (and, for free, on YouTube).
🇬🇧 This Week's English-Friendly Screenings
- Aug. 31: Gustav Machatý’s infamous silent classic Erotikon screens with English subtitles at Kino Ponrepo.
- Aug. 31: Chica Checa, which follows a Czech mother who reconnects with her son, screens with English subtitles at Kino Světozor (additional screenings during the week at Světozor, Kino Lucerna and Bio Oko).
- Aug. 31: Pedro Almodóvar’s sumptuous Bitter Christmas screens with English subtitles at Kino Aero (also Sept. 1 at Kino Lucerna and Sept. 2 at Bio Oko).
- Aug. 31: A new doc on one of Czechia's most distinctive contemporary artists, František Skála’s Public Space plays with English subtitles at Kino Světozor (additional screenings throughout the week).
- Aug. 31: Robert Mitchum classic The Night of the Hunter plays as part of Kino Aero's Legends series.
- Aug. 31: Bohdan Karásek’s tender Czech drama Everything As It Should Be plays with English subtitles at Kino Atlas.
- Sept. 1: Benedikt Erlingsson's Woman at War screens with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub in cooperation with Prague's Scandanavian House.
- Sept. 1: Ildikó Enyedi's Silent Friend, told from the point of view of a gingko biloba tree, plays with English subtitles at Kino Aero.
- Sept. 1: Francis Ford Coppola's classic Bram Stoker's Dracula plays as part of Bio Oko's Summer with Keanu Reeves series.
- Sept. 1: Farcical Czech comedy 6 Grams, with Ondřej Vetchý and Jiří Mádl, plays with English subtitles at Kino Atlas (also Sept. 6).
- Sept. 1: Karlovy Vary winner Fruit Gathering, a Czech-French-Myanmar co-production, screens with English subtitles at Kino Atlas (also Sept. 6).
- Sept. 2: New Ukrainian documentary Kuzma, about the frontman of the band Skryabin, plays with English subtitles at Kino Lucerna (also Sept. 3 at Bio Oko and Sept. 5 at Kino Světozor).
- Sept. 2: Catch an English-friendly mystery movie at Kino Aero's Blind Date; free entry, pay what you want after the film.
- Sept. 3: Studio Ghibli's Tales from Earthsea, based on the series of books by Ursula Le Guin, screens with English subtitles at Bio Oko.
- Sept. 3: The Match, a documentary on the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina, plays with English subtitles at Kino Světozor.
- Sept. 3: Ukrainian documentary Notes of a True Criminal plays with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub, followed by a Q&A.
- Sept. 3: The latest film from Oscar-winning Czech director Jan Svěrák, What a Way to Go screens with English subtitles at Kino Atlas.
- Sept. 4: Movie Barf celebrates its birthday at Edison Filmhub with a screening of 90s favorite Addams Family Values.
🍿 New wide releases
- Mutiny ★★½
- The Dog Stars ★★★
📺 The Streaming Watchlist
- Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, and Michelle Monaghan hunt a child killer in The Whisper Man, now streaming on Netflix.
- Season two of sci-fi drama Dark Matter, with Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, has premiered on Apple TV+, with new episodes on Fridays.
- Mallorca-set romantic drama The Last Sunrise, with Eva Longoria, is now playing on Prime Video.
- Season two of New York-set ensemble comedy Adults has dropped on Disney+ in Czechia, with all eight episodes now streaming.
- A spoof inspired by Black Mirror, the one-off special The Simpsons: Yellow Mirror is now streaming on Disney+.
