Czech Film Center

Synopsis

Late night talks with mother, a stylized self-portrait by the leading Czech film director Jan Němec, this original testimony is based on a fictitious dialogue between Němec and his deceased mother. In his personal story we follow the 'march of time' through 20th-century Prague - from Nazism, to the Soviet invasion of '68, up until today's Vaclav Havel. The story takes place in Prague along the route of tram number 11, which leads from the statue of St. Wenceslas through Vinohrady to the crematorium in Strasnice, and is interspersed with major events in Czech history. The Official Jury of the Video Competition Locarno 2001 has awarded unanimously: 'The Golden Leopard prize is awarded to a major European filmmaker who with this new video has created a very passionate film that is imaginative, poetic and moving on a universal level. It is a work that with its use of montage, with new and found images, offers CINEASTES OF THE PRESENT challenges for the future.'