Czech Center New York presents an evening dedicated to Karel Zeman. You can look forward to seeing his two films, digitally restored in 2022: The Stolen Airship and Invention for Destruction. The evening will feature special guests - Ludmila Zemanová, the daughter of this famous Czech animator and filmmaker, and his granddaughter Linda Zeman Spalený. The program is presented in collaboration with the Museum of Karel Zeman in Prague.
The first film, The Stolen Airship, will be interesting especially for children. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the daughter of Karel Zeman, Ludmila Zemanová, and his granddaughter Linda Zeman Spaleny. You will have a chance to learn more about the making of the films, about the Museum of Karel Zeman in Prague, and about books for children written by Ludmila.
The films are in Czech with English subtitles.
The Stolen Airship - screening starts at 6 pm in the cinema.
Free registration here.
Invention for Destruction - screening starts at 8 pm on the rooftop of the BNH.
Tickets here.
Ludmila Zeman is Czech-Canadian filmmaker, author and illustrator – she is Karel Zeman’s daughter and was his close associate and the co-creator of several of his later films. Ludmila was an important contributor to the meticulous digital restoration of Karel Zeman’s films in Prague. She has received numerous awards for her children’s books (which include the Gilgamesh trilogy and the Sindbad trilogy), including the Governor General’s Literary award in Canada.
Linda Zeman Spaleny & Ludmila Zemanová. Photo credit © Jiří Štarha
Linda Zeman Spaleny is a lawyer in Canada and together with her mother she works to sustain and expand the legacy of her grandfather’s films around the world. Together, Linda and Ludmila co-produced the documentary film The Film Adventurer Karel Zeman (2015) and they co-wrote a detailed biography of Karel Zeman and his films entitled The Magical World of Karel Zeman (published by Albatros Media). Together they have also been a major driving force behind the creation and success of the Karel Zeman Muzeum in Prague – see: https://karelzemanmuseum.org/
Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman was a director, artist, animator, screenwriter, and in his time a futuristic filmmaker. Zeman was also called the magician of the screen or the Czech Meliés. He was born in 1910 and was pushing the boundaries of the film world until 1989.
He made several short, medium, and feature films. The most famous ones are The Journey to the Beginning of Time, Invention for Destruction, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, and The Stolen Airship. Karel Zeman made Czech cinematography of the 20th century famous worldwide and won numerous awards and appreciation at prestigious film festivals. His filmmaking is still highly regarded today and the techniques he used are taught in film schools worldwide. The aesthetics of Zeman's work influenced a number of world filmmakers, for example, the director, artist, and member of the Monty Python group Terry Gilliam or the directors Tim Burton and John Stevenson.
Karel Zeman and Jules Verne
"I was and still am a great admirer of Jules Verne's work. He is the writer of my youth, but I think he will also be the writer of my grandchildren… Man has created a grandiose world of technology, which often gives rise to horror and fear… Fortunately, it is not only technology that determines the events of the world and the way of life. The whole long development of human civilization is marked by yet another effort. I strive for the creation of beauty - the creation of something that enriches life, that makes it not only bearable but also engaging and beautiful… Even in Verne's work, we find that beautiful, romantic charm." – Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman built several of his enormously successful films on the stories of Jules Verne, which are still considered the best adaptations of Verne‘s book models. World fame was brought to Zeman by the film Invention for Destruction, when in 1958 at the EXPO in Brussels amazed the jury and the public with its perfect technique and artistic stylization. Invention for destruction sovereignly won the first prize and was ranked among the most successful films in the world. The film was immediately sold to 72 countries around the world and became the most successful Czech film of all time. The film was so successful that it was screened in 96 theaters simultaneously in New York alone.
Zeman planned to make a whole series of films based on Verne's books. In 1966, after two years, he completed the film The Stolen Airship, the adaptation of the book Two Years of Vacation. Through his filmmaking skills, he was able to perfectly portray that beautiful and romantic charm in the film.
The Stolen Airship
Czechoslovakia, 1966, 88 min. Directed by Karel Zeman. Animated film.
In Czech with English subtitles.
In this artistically elaborate adaptation of Jules Verne‘s novel Two Years‘ Vacation, Karel Zeman took inspiration from Art Nouveau advertisements and newspaper collages. The five boys’ suspenseful airship flight is intertwined with a humorous tale of espionage, the aim of which is to obtain the invention of non-flammable gas. The rapidly escalating pace of the story sits well with the increasingly hectic world of the late 19th century.
The charm of Zeman‘s style lies not only in his faithful depiction of a child‘s world but also in the poetics of his varied inventions. Airships, unruly vehicles, grotesque horse-legged conveyances, benevolent submarines - all seem to have lives of their own. Zeman uses the widescreen format for the first time here, which helps him to show his visually rich world even more perfectly, with many purely cinematic gags.
Steampunk, flying, agents, a mysterious island, an investigation, suspense, adventure, and two incompatible worlds - the strict world of adults and the unbridled world of children, full of imagination and adventure - all this lies at the heart of Karel Zeman’s Stolen Airship.
The screening starts at 6 pm.
Free registration here.
The digital restoration of this film was funded by a donation from Ms. Milada Kučerová and Mr. Eduard Kučera and was carried out by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in collaboration with the Karel Zeman Museum, the Národní filmový archiv Prague and the Czech Film Fund, Universal Production Partners (UPP) and Soundsquare.
Invention for Destruction
Czechoslovakia, 1958, 78 min. Animated film / Sci-Fi. Directed by Karel Zeman
In Czech with English subtitles.
In 1958, this film literally circled the globe. It was showered with prizes and became one of the most significant films of the 20th century. Among its many awards, it won the Grand Prix at the World Exposition EXPO 58 in Brussels. It is the first of several Zeman films inspired by the works of Jules Verne. In it, the director tried a new artistic style to bring to life the black and white engravings made by the first illustrators of the Jules Verne books, Édouard Riou and Leon Bennett.
Throughout his life Zeman continued to develop this new style, using it to create his visionary worlds. Together, Verne’s timeless story of an exploited inventor whose work falls into the hands of criminals, threatening the entire world, along with the hand-crafted look of the scenes and dramatic stylization of the whole film, all contribute to the unique appearance and original atmosphere of this masterwork of cinematic art.
The screening starts at 8 pm on the Rooftop.
Tickets here.
Invention for Destruction has been restored thanks to the project Čistíme svět fantazie / Restoring the World of Fantasy, a joint project of the Czech Film Foundation, the Karel Zeman Museum and Czech Television in cooperation with Universal Production Partners (UPP) and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the State Fund for Cinematography of the Czech Republic.
The event organizer has the right to refuse the attendees' entrance to the venue despite previous registration due to capacity and security measures. Participants must arrive on time; in case of late arrival, we cannot guarantee that your registration will remain valid.
