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FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM

Illustration
  • Where: Lucerna, Vodičkova 36 – Štěpánská 61, Prague 1
  • When: November 14, 2014, 15:00 – November 17, 2014, 18:00

The Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Lucerna Palace presents launch of exhibition, various debates and presentation of books within the frame of Festival of Freedom.

  • 14. 11. / FR / 15.00 / Lucerna Passage

READING FROM MICHAEL ŽANTOVSKÝ’S BOOK HAVEL

Václav Havel from the perspective of Michael Žantovský. His former associate offers not just an “insider’s” view but also critical observations, telling Havel’s gripping life story with the utmost objectivity and human and expert erudition. A “draft”, consisting of three sample chapters, sparked unfeigned enthusiasm in the publishing world. At present the rights to the 600-page publication, originally written in English and translated into his mother tongue Czech by the author, have been sold for translation into 10 languages. It has been published by Argo in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library.

Friends of the authors and others will take part in the reading.

  • 14. 11. / FR / 17.00 / Lucerna Passage

LAUNCH OF PAVEL HROCH’S PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION WITH A PASSOIN FOR FREEDOM

An exhibition of black and white photographs by Pavel Hroch from the former Czechoslovakia capturing not only the period of mass demonstrations in 1989 and the subsequent revolution but above all the first half of the 1990s, a white hot period full of political and social changes, carnivalesque festivity, celebrations, hopes and expectations.

The exhibition will last until 14. 12. 2014. The electronic version is available on Google Cultural Institute.

  • 15. 11. / SA / 15.00 / Marble Hall

READING FROM EDA KRISEOVÁ’S BOOK VÁCLAV HAVEL

Václav Havel knew writer Eda Kriseová from dissident circles and she experienced alongside him the most tempestuous weeks of the revolution. She became his adviser and later director of the Complaints and Pardons department at Prague Castle. What happened at that time will never happen again: thinkers, writers and philosophers took the reins of power… admittedly without any practical experience of governing, but with the purest of intentions.

The author has written the life story of a positive hero to give people an example, an idol, after the mire that they have lived in for 14 years.

Twenty-five years after the Velvet Revolution we lack ideals and values. After the initial enthusiasm, we have become too sober. The title Od utopie k realitě (From Utopia to Reality) sums up the focus of the book. It has been issued by the Prah publishing house and, by contrast with the first edition, also maps Václav Havel’s unforgettable first two years at Prague Castle. The book will be read by Jan Kačer.

  • 15. 11. / SA / 16.30 / Marble Hall

FEMALE STUDENTS REMEMBER 1989

The publication in book form of the authentic diary records and memoirs of Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová from the 1980–1989 period. Vezměte s sebou květinu! (Take Flowers with You!) is the voice of the most distinctive “girlish face” of the Velvet Revolution. At times her voice is fragile and vulnerable. At others she presents an uncompromising account of the mire of normalisation, the period of cautious political thaw and the fall of the communist regime after the events of November 1989.

Andrea Sedláčková’s book is entitled Moje pařížská revoluce (My Paris Revolution). In September 1989 there was a thaw in Poland and Hungary, 10,000 East Germans fled from the country and one unimaginable report after the other was emerging from a Soviet Union undergoing perestroika. Everything was in flux. Only in Czechoslovakia did it seem that nothing was happening. Two months before November 1989, a young FAMU student decided on a risky and fateful step. She would stay in Paris. What followed were weeks and months full of dramatic situations, uncertainties and disappointments, but also the enchantment of a new environment, a beautiful city worth living in and freedom worth breathing in.

Erika Zlamalová has put together the evening, which will feature readings from both books.

  • 15. 11. / SA / 18.00 / Marble Hall

THE ACCELERATED PULSE OF HISTORY: A REAL DRAMA ABOUT 10 MEETINGS

A staged reading from authentic records of negotiations between Civic Forum and Public Against Violence and representatives of the state headed by Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec in November and December 1989. Václav Havel’s secretary Vladimír Hanzel recorded the meetings on tape. Program prepared by:  Anna Freimanová, Ondřej Pavelka, Kryštof Pavelka. Staged reading: Ladislav Adamec - Jiří Štrébl, Václav Havel - Lukáš Příkazký a další.

  • 16. 11. / SU / 16.00 / Marble Hall

STUDENTS AND REVOLUTION

Meeting and discussion between student leaders of the Velvet Revolution – Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová, Šimon Pánek, Jan Potměšil – and contemporary students who have lived their whole lives in democracy. How do the young generation view the events of 25 years ago? Chaired by Michal Horáček.

In cooperation with the Forum 2000 Foundation.

  • 16. 11. / SU / 18.00 / Marble Hall

THEATRE AND REVOLUTION

Evening of memory and debate featuring important actors in the events of November 1989: then students from the Theatre Faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts, directors, actors, dramatists and dramaturges. Authentic film footage will also be screened.

Bohemian and Moravian theatre people and the students of arts schools played a key role in November’s events. Emotional reports from students about clashes with police on Národní třídá were the immediate spark for theatre strikes around the country. The extensive network of theatres in Czechoslovakia also made their stages available for open debates, frequently replacing the non-functioning totalitarian media. People from the world of theatre were highly active in the Coordinating Centre of Civic Forum and Public Against Violence, including negotiations with government representatives. The Theatre Faculty, numerous theatres and the Theatre Institute in Prague became production centres for the revolutionary events.

The evening has been prepared by Anna Freimanová and Veronika Bednářová.

  • 16. 11. / SU / 20.00 / Cinema

GALA PREMIERE OF THE FILM LIFE ACCORDING TO HAVEL

Special invitations only.

In her latest film, Andrea Sedláčková maps the life of Václav Havel exclusively using period recordings, photographs and other historical materials. Only situations that require “external” explanation are supplemented by an authorial voiceover. The first documentary to depict Havel’s life on the basis of archival material was coproduced by Czech Television, Arte, Negativ and the Václav Havel Library. The film is being simultaneously shown by the German and French TV station Arte.

  • 17. 11. / MO / 17.00 / CHURCH SV. VORŠILY, NÁRODNÍ TŘÍDA

THE CHURCH AND REVOLUTION

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Photo (c) Pavel Hroch

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