Czech Center New York will screen a documentary about Věra Čáslavská, a Czech champion gymnast who earned seven gold Olympic medals. Věra Čáslavská would have turned 80 on May 3rd.
Registration here.
The documentary directed by Olga Sommerová offers the portrait of the world-respected Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská. During her eleven-year sports career, she won a total of 140 medals. She was excluded from sports and social life for many years due to her political leanings.
Behind the Iron Curtain she became infamous for the political stand she took at the awards ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. Competing not long after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Caslavska intentionally lowered her head and looked away during the playing of the Soviet anthem – embarrassing and angering Brezhnev and his Czech counterparts.
As a result, the lithe and lovely blond with the bouffant ‘do who had been a beloved superstar at home was blacklisted, forbidden from finding employment, traveling outside the country or even attending sporting events. She was reduced to cleaning houses to support her family until the Mexican government brokered a deal for her to leave the country.
The situation was changed after 1989, when Věra Čáslavská became a close associate of the former Czechoslovak President Václav Havel. She also became the President of the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee and later Czech Olympic Committee. After a family tragedy and subsequent health problems she withdrew from social life for a long time.
The film's title refers to the 1968, the Prague Spring, but also to the personal engagements of Věra Čáslavská during this time. The film includes archive materials from Czech Television, Krátký Film a.s. and Film & Sociologie s.r.o. company. Photographs of Stanislav Tereba, Tomki Němec, Jaroslav Skála, Antonín Bahenský, and photos from the private archive of Věra Čáslavská are also included in the film.
More information about Věra Čáslavská can be found on the website www.vera-caslavska.com.
Vera 68
Documentary, directed by Olga Sommerová, 2012, Czech Republic. In Czech with English subtitles. 90 minutes.
Registration here.
