Summer with KineDok in Czechia

We've handpicked some of the most compelling titles from our current catalogue – whether you're curious about happiness measured by statistics, a dangerous balloon adventure in the Brazilian favelas, subversive train travel across Europe, or an intimate portrait of freedom in socialist Czechoslovakia. Screenings will take place at tried-and-true favorites like Přístav 18600, as well as at new and exciting locations, including the Baden Baden riverside hangout.

While KineDok screenings happen all year round thanks to a wide network of screening venues across five countries, some events are curated and organized directly by the KineDok team – and this summer, there’s no shortage of them. This article highlights a few special screenings happening across Czechia. Curious about what’s on in other KineDok countries? Check their local programs, they’re just as exciting: Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Croatia.

We kick off the summer in a former Baroque church that now serves as a cultural venue in Prague 3. In the past, we screened A Happy Man here, followed by a discussion featuring Lenka Králová, Matty Oaks, and Marcela Macháčková. This time, we’re diving into a film that asks: Can happiness be measured?

Screening starts at 8.30 PM and admission is free. More information can be found on this website.

AGENTS OF HAPINESS (dir. Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó, 2024, Hungary, Bhútán, 94 mins.)

Amber is one of 75 agents who took on the mission to measure Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness, traveling across the country to meet people from all walks of life. He and his partner survey them with over a hundred questions in nine categories. Director Dorottya Zurbó showcases the sprawling beauty of the Bhutanese landscape alongside the everyday realities of various Bhutanese people. 

Meanwhile, Amber is on his personal journey for happiness, namely through his search for marriage in the little spare time he has juggling his work and caretaking of his mother. The difficulties of distilling happiness into a single cohesive form are left for the viewers to contemplate.

An explosive journey into the heart of Brazilian favelas awaits at the legendary Vyšehrad garden bar Na Hradbách. Last year we followed a Romanian priest’s journey — this time, we take off with the baloeiros: Brazilian rebels who build giant hot-air balloons and risk everything to launch them.

The event includes an expert introduction by Tomáš Poštulka, Head of Programme at the One World Film Festival. The event starts at 8.30 PM and admission is free. Find more information in this Facebook event.

BALOMANIA (dir. Sissel Morell Dargis, 2024, Denmark, Spain, 93 mins.)

In the heart of Brazil’s favelas, hot air balloon construction is a treasured and highly competitive art form. But authorities have made it illegal, driving baloeiros underground. Filmmaker Sissel Morell Dargis gains rare access to this secret world to witness the sacrifice and obsession required to build balloons that reach over 70 meters high and take over 100 people to launch into the sky. As she embarks on a wild ride, Dargis’ film provides an intimate look at the baloeiro community, challenging Brazil’s authorities’ portrayal of baloeiros as criminals. The film reveals a story of art, freedom, and a community that defies stereotypes about gang life and favelas.

Our screenings at Přístav 18600 –a beloved riverside cultural space created by a group of friends who decided to transform the neglected Karlín riverbank – are a perennial highlight. This year, we’re screening the first-ever Hungarian animated documentary, Pelikan Blue, a wild Balkan journey through the 1990s. Three friends offered an entire generation a way to see the world — using forged train tickets.

The screening will be followed by a thematic discussion (in Czech) on how travel has changed since 1989, featuring historian Pavel Mücke. The events starts at 8 PM and admission is free.

PELIKAN BLUE (dir. László Csáki, 2023, Hungary, 79 mins.)

What follows the collapse of oppression? In post-Soviet Hungary, young people gaze at a world suddenly full of opportunity — but realize that dreams of adventure are still out of reach without money. The film follows three young men, Ákos, Petya and Laci, who decide to change that — for themselves and for their peers. What begins as a personal quest grows into a vast underground network of forgers, sellers, and buyers. Their tickets are cheaper than the official ones, but there’s one strict rule: never reveal the source. Pelikan Blue, Hungary’s first film to combine animation and documentary in such an innovative way, captures the spirit of freedom and the hunger for adventure after decades of censorship and control.

On Prague’s Štvanice you'll find Baden Baden, a riverside cultural hangout – the perfect place for both relaxation and reflection. We're thrilled to screen here for the first time, bringing the powerful self-portrait of artist Libuše Jarcovjáková, who documents her search for freedom through the lens of her camera. The film has been recognized at both the Czech Lion Awards and the Czech Film Critics’ Awards.

You can find more information in this Facebook event. We will start at 8.30 PM and admission is free.

We wrap up the summer where we began – back at Atrium Žižkov. If you missed the screening at Štvanice, here’s another chance to experience this moving portrait of one of the most compelling Czech photographers.

The event starts at 8.30 PM and admission is free. More information can be found on this website.

I’M NOT EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE (dir. Klára Tasovská, 2024, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, 91 mins.)

Through unique, raw photographs of the era and candid diary entries, the film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be draws viewers into the hidden world of Libuše Jarcovjáková – a fearless young artist searching for truth and freedom in communist Czechoslovakia. Despite state repression, she turns the lens on herself, the forgotten corners of Prague, and those living on the fringes of society: migrants, the queer community, and the underground scene.

After a tragic event, she escapes to Berlin, where she struggles to find work and meaningful relationships. A return to Tokyo brings commercial success, but not personal fulfillment. As the Iron Curtain begins to tremble, Libuše feels an irresistible pull back – to the city that shaped her, and to something she was never able to capture through her lens.

Visually striking and poetic, composed entirely of Libuše’s photographs, the film is not only a portrait of an artist, but also a meditation on memory, resistance, and the elusiveness of the self.