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Summary for: Czech cinema spotlight: Oscar-submitted Flood spotlights Ruthenian plight🇨🇿 Czech Cinema Spotlight
Flood (Potopa) follows 15-year-old Mara, who dreams of escaping her Ruthenian village to become a pilot just as communist authorities prepare to evacuate the community for construction of the Starina reservoir in 1980s Czechoslovakia. Martin Gonda’s drama transforms a familiar clash between tradition and personal ambition into a story about cultural identity and the painful difference between leaving home and having it erased.
Why watch now: Recently selected as Slovakia’s submission to the 2027 Academy Awards, Flood is described by The Prague Reporter as an “evocative, quietly powerful tale of the loss of heritage amid the quest for personal freedom.” The Czech-backed production is now streaming with English subtitles on Netflix.
🎞️ The Throwback
The Elementary School (Obecná škola) follows a class of unruly boys in the Prague suburbs during the first academic year after World War II. Jan Svěrák’s feature directorial debut, written by his father Zdeněk Svěrák, mixes childhood mischief and nostalgia with the story of a charismatic new teacher played by Jan Tříska, and went on to earn an Academy Award nomination.
Why watch now: As Czech children returned to classrooms this past week, The Elementary School offers an appropriately nostalgic look at the rituals, personalities and chaos of 1940s school life. The beloved tragicomedy also celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, having premiered in August 1991. Stream it with English subtitles on Netflix or HBO Max.
🇬🇧 This Week's English-Friendly Screenings
- Sept. 7-14: The ASEAN Plus Three Film Festival runs all week at Prague's Municipal Library, with free entry and English subtitles for most nightly screenings.
- Sept. 7: Touching Czech comedy-drama Chica Checa screens with English subtitles throughout the week at Kino Světozor, Kino Lucerna, and Edison Filmhub.
- Sept. 7: A Pint of Ink, a Czech documentary on Japanologist Petr Geisler, screens with English subtitles at Kino Aero.
- Sept. 7: The Match, a documentary on the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina, plays with English subtitles at Kino Světozor and Bio Oko.
- Sept. 7: A new doc on one of Czechia's most distinctive contemporary artists, František Skála’s Public Space plays with English subtitles at Kino Světozor (also Sept. 8).
- Sept. 7: Ildikó Enyedi's Silent Friend, told from the point of view of a gingko biloba tree, plays with English subtitles at Bio Oko.
- Sept. 8: Tomáš Vorel’s 1990 cult classic totalitarian musical Smoke screens with English subtitles at Kino Ponrepo.
- Sept. 8: Last year's Japanese liminal space horror film Exit 8 plays with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub.
- Sept. 8: Farcical Czech comedy 6 Grams, with Ondřej Vetchý and Jiří Mádl, plays with English subtitles at Kino Atlas (also Sept. 9).
- Sept. 8: Karlovy Vary winner Fruit Gathering, a Czech-French-Myanmar co-production, screens with English subtitles at Kino Atlas (also Sept. 10 and 12).
- Sept. 8: Trekkies can enjoy a '90s Star Trek double feature as Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact play at Kino Aero.
- Sept. 8: Serbian comedy-drama The Black Pin plays with English subtitles as part of the BalCan Crossover at Kino Přítomnost.
- Sept. 9: Classic 1980 Hungarian animated musical Bubble Bath screens with English subtitles at Kino Aero.
- Sept. 9: In collaboration with Girls in Film Prague, iShorts presents a selection of short films from female directors at Bio Oko.
- Sept. 10: The latest film from Oscar-winning Czech director Jan Svěrák, What a Way to Go screens with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub (also at Kino Atlas).
- Sept. 10: Female street art documentary Street Heroines screens alongside Czech short Mural Milada, followed by an English-language Q&A with the directors of both films at Bio Oko.
- Sept. 10: New Ukrainian documentary Kuzma plays with English subtitles at Kino Lucerna (also Sept. 11 at Bio Oko).
- Sept. 11: French psychological thriller Guru, about a manipulative self-help coach, plays with English subtitles at Edison Filmhub.
- Sept. 12: A Sam Raimi Spider-Man Marathon at Kino Aero includes all three 2000s Tobey Maguire classics.
🍿 New wide releases
📺 The Streaming Watchlist
- Ryan Reynolds is a U.S. Navy pilot who gets stranded behind enemy lines in Russia in Mayday, now playing on Apple TV+.
- All eight episodes of the second season of Guy Ritchie's gangster comedy The Gentlemen, starring Theo James, are now streaming on Netflix.
- Gal Gadot must keep moving to save her son in The Runner, which has debuted to some pretty poor reviews on Prime Video.
- All six episodes of the second season of Chad Powers, starring Glen Powell as a suspiciously old college football star, have dropped on Disney+.
- The infamous Australian Olympic breakdancer now has her own documentary series in Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, now streaming on Netflix.
