Discover Václav Havel through cinema: as a friend and inspiration to filmmakers, the subject of intimate documentaries, and a director himself. Three days of screenings bring together his life, creative world, and enduring sense of the absurd.
From behind-the-scenes portraits to biting satire and surrealist animation, the Film Marathon offers a fresh perspective on Václav Havel beyond his political legacy. Meet the writer, husband, friend, and artist whose curiosity and humor remained inseparable from his convictions.
The program brings documentaries about Václav and Olga Havel into conversation with films by Miloš Forman, Jan Němec, Pavel Juráček, and Jan Švankmajer. Their explorations of freedom, conformity, and the absurdities of power echo themes running throughout Havel’s work. The marathon concludes with Leaving, his only feature film as a director.
Join us for the opening screening of Citizen Havel with a drinks reception on Friday, and a special screening of Havel’s Audience with History followed by a Q&A with producer Michael Wolkovitz on Saturday.
The Film Marathon takes place October 2–4 at the Czech Center New York, as part of Havel 90 Festival, a four-day celebration marking the 90th anniversary of Havel’s birth through film, theater, family activities, and food.
Friday, October 2
6:00 PM | Citizen Havel
Directed by Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek, Czechia / USA, 2008, 120 min. Drawing on thirteen years of behind-the-scenes footage, this documentary offers an intimate, candid view of Havel’s presidency and political power from within.
Preceded by: Václav Havel’s Address on Jan Palach’s Sacrifice (Vystoupení Václava Havla k oběti Jana Palacha)
Directed by Sylvia Pojarová, Czechoslovakia, 1969, 3 min. A short archival film recording Havel’s remarks on Jan Palach’s sacrifice.
A drinks reception will follow the main feature to celebrate the opening of the Film Marathon.
TICKETS: Citizen Havel8:40 PM | A Report on the Party and the Guests
Directed by Jan Němec, Czechoslovakia, 1966, 71 min. Reportedly Havel’s favorite film, this unsettling political allegory explores conformity, coercion, and the absurd rituals of power. It was banned in Czechoslovakia after 1968.
TICKETS: A Report on the Party and the GuestsSaturday, October 3
12:40 PM | Olga
Directed by Miroslav Janek, Czechia, 2014, 87 min. An intimate portrait of Olga Havlová, Havel’s first wife and closest companion, brings her sharp wit and independent spirit to life through archival footage, secret police files, and memories shared by friends.
TICKETS: Olga2:30 PM | Havel
Directed by Slávek Horák, Czechia, 2020, 103 min. This biographical drama follows Havel from the Prague Spring through his dissident years to the Velvet Revolution, exploring the private experiences and choices that shaped his public life.
TICKETS: Havel4:30 PM | Every Young Man
Directed by Pavel Juráček, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 86 min. An absurdist, quietly antimilitarist portrait of young conscripts and their everyday routines, frustrations, and dreams, featuring a brief appearance by Havel himself. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1966.
TICKETS: Every Young Man6:30 PM | Havel’s Audience with History
Directed by Jiří Menzel, USA / Czechoslovakia, 1990, 58 min. This television documentary interweaves excerpts from Czech and American productions of Havel’s Audience with footage of his inauguration and reflections from friends and fellow artists. The featured stage productions were directed by Jiří Menzel and Frank Corsaro, respectively. Introduced by Paul Newman.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker and producer Michael Wolkowitz.
TICKETS: Havel’s Audience with History8:30 PM | The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 73 min. A wickedly funny comedy about a disastrous firemen’s ball turns a small-town celebration into a timeless satire of bureaucracy and conformity. Forman was Havel’s lifelong friend.
TICKETS: The Firemen’s BallSunday, October 4
3:00 PM | Jan Švankmajer Shorts Series
Directed by Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 1968–1990, 49 min.
Dimensions of Dialogue (Možnosti dialogu, 1982)
Darkness, Light, Darkness (Tma, světlo, tma,1989)
The Garden (Zahrada, 1968)
The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (Konec stalinismu v Čechách, 1990)
Four shorts introduce Švankmajer’s unmistakable surrealist world, where bodies, materials, and everyday objects become darkly comic visions of communication, confinement, and ideology. Like Havel, Švankmajer belonged to a generation of Czech artists whose work was curtailed by communist censorship. Havel found his language in absurdist drama and Švankmajer in surrealist film, each using dark humor to probe conformity and the dehumanizing machinery of power.
TICKETS: Jan Švankmajer Shorts Series5:30 PM | Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me?
Directed by Petr Jančárek, Czechia, 2023, 87 min. Filmed over several years, this documentary follows Havel toward the end of his life as he pursues a long-deferred dream: directing his first feature film. Its unusually close perspective reveals a man reflecting on his life and legacy without losing his humor or creative curiosity.
TICKETS: Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me?8:30 PM | Leaving
Directed by Václav Havel, Czechia, 2011, 97 min. The marathon closes with Havel behind the camera. Adapted from his own play, his only feature film is an absurdist tragicomedy about a former leader’s struggle to relinquish power and the life built around it.
TICKETS: LeavingThe Film Marathon as part of Havel 90 Festival is organized by Czech Center New York in collaboration with Vaclav Havel Center and with support from the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
