Czech Film Screenings: The Heart Above the Castle & Joseph Killian

The Heart above the Castle (Jan Nemec, 2007, 48 minutes) - In this documentary, Nemec follows Havel behind the scenes at the 2002 NATO Summit in Prague and brings the formal world of politics and the grandeur of NATO into the realm of the everyday. Traveling into areas normally inaccessible and interviewing people normally unreachable (heads of state, for example), the footage shows a surprisingly “human side” of top politicians, capturing comical commentaries, hesitancies, and small stresses.

Joseph Killian aka A Person to Be Supported (Pavel Juracek, 1963, 38 minutes) - A man searches for an old acquaintance in Prague. On a whim, he enters a state-run cat rental shop and leases a feline for a day. When his search for Kilian proves futile, he attempts to drop off the cat, but finds that the rental store has completely vanished.

Introduction and Q&A with Igor Lukes, Professor of International Relations, Boston University, and Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Boston

Films are in Czech with English subtitles. Co-sponsored by the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership. Free & open to the public.