Legendary Cinema Světozor in Prague recently hosted a real “experimental massacre”, as the organizers – International Documentary Film Festival Jihlava – announced.
IDFF Jihlava organized the Documentary Monday (on March 17th) with two experimental documentaries on the programme, one of them being “Winter/Miracle” by Željka Sukova and Gustavo Beck.
The organizers of the Documentary Monday in Cinema Světozor reminded the audience that the “Winter/MIracle” won the award for the best European documentary in the section Between the Sea last year in Jihlava. Therefore, their intention was to show the movie to those Chech cinema-lovers who missed the chance to see it in Jihlava. Together with the “Winter/Miracle”, Documentary Monday in Cinema Světozor also hosted another experimental documentary, “White-Black” by Vladimir Turner.
Cinema Světozor is a legendary art-cinema in the mere center of Prague. It was established in 2004 as a first art-house cinema in Prague, with the plan to only screen first-rate Eureopean and non-European art movies.
The cinema has a long history. The first screening took place at the beginning of 1918. A few years later, the cinema Světozor changed into a cabaret. It returned to its original purpose in 1957, when it was rebuilt into a panoramic cinema. In 1968, the famous Kino automat, first introduced at the Montreal World’s Fair, Expo ‘67, was moved here for a year and a half. Kinoautomat was the world’s first interactive movie, conceived by Radúz Činčera for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo ’67 in Montreal. At nine points during the film the action stops, and a moderator appears on stage to ask the audience to choose between two scenes; following an audience vote, the chosen scene is played.
Nowdays, each week in Cinema Světozor is accompanied by a premiere of one art film, one evening in the week is stipulated for the presentation of documentary films and one night for the presentation of minor and experimental genres such as animation, video art, net art, commercials, video-clips, short films etc. Every visitor of the cinema has the possibility to “adopt” a chair on the one year period, and for the full art-house expirience, the bar of the cinema is decorated in the spirit of the famous art movie scenes.
Cinema is also specific of its shop specializes in film posters, film DVDs and film literature (books, magazines). Its called “Terry Posters”, which is connected with repeated visits of the famous director Terry Gilliam, a member of the legendary group Monty Python.
During one of his visits in autumn 1999, when Terry Gilliam was having a discussion with the cinema audience, all the persistent questioning might have made him take off his boots. Barefooted with his socks exposed he finished the discussion. This legendary moment was captured on nowadays just as legendary photo of Terry in his socks.
