Summer Rooftop Movies: The Hop-Pickers

Also this year will the traditional Summer Rooftop Movies take place on the roof terrace of the Bohemian National Hall. Czech Center New York will launch this year's series of Czech musicals with The Hop-Pickers.

Tickets here.

Film screening starts at 8 PM.

The door and the bar open at 7 PM. Refreshments from the Bohemian Spirit Restaurant will be available for cash only.

The Summer Rooftop Movie Series is organized in collaboration with Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA).

There will be a musical performance by Sára Vondrášková alias Never Sol before the film screening (at 7 PM).

Never Sol is the alias of Sara Vondrášková – an accomplished musician, composer and producer based in Prague. In her musical practice she is now mainly interested in combining vocals with synthesizers.

Sara hosts a radio show at ČRo Vltava focused on alternative music scene and performs with electroacoustic project FLOEX. Her performance at the Czech Center New York will be part of the Czech Radio 100th anniversary celebrations.

More about Never Sol here.

The Hop-Pickers

Czechoslovakia, 1964. Musical. Directed by Ladislav Rychman. Duration: 92 min

In Czech with English subtitles.

This 1964 musical from director Ladislav Rychman has remained popular with generations of Czech viewers for its sympathetic portrayal of young rebellion, timeless humour, and catchy songs courtesy of Jiří Malásek, Jiří Bažant and Vlastimil Hála. But the main accolades for the creation of this most famous of Czechoslovak musicals go to screenwriter Vratislav Blažek (who also serves as song lyricist).

The film’s story revolves around an outdoors hop-picking student workers’ outing and two of its members – intellectual oddball Filip (excellently portrayed by Vladimír Pucholt) and charming, practical Hanka (Ivana Pavlová) – whose paths cross. Serving as a counterpoint to these love-struck youngsters is pragmatic conformist Honza (Miloš Zavadil), and a professor nicknamed Jana Ámosa (Irena Kačírková), who sets about trying to find out which female student has fallen for Filip. Despite inspiration by way of West Side Story (1961), Starci na chmelu (Hop-Pickers) retains a quintessentially Czech character.

The film was digitally restored in 2016.

More information about the film at the National Film Archive here.

Opening remarks of Michal Bregant, CEO of the National Film Archive, Prague and president of the European Association of Film Archives: