A propagandistic documentary sequence introduces the audience to one of the most impressive Czech films of the post-war era. The main characters are a young Jewish doctor, Hana, and her "Aryan" fiancé Tonik. The tragedy of the Kaufmanns, Hana's ordinary middle-class Prague family, and as well as of their friends, unfolds with a relentless rhythm. Although the film is not historically descriptive, it very accurately reconstructs specific events connected with the persecution of the Jewish population in the last months before the Nazi occupation and during the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Distant Journey, 1948. Director: Alfred Radok.
Introduction by film historian Tereza Czesany Dvorakova.
The theater director Alfred Radok, without much filmmaking experience, was able to use the means of the film fully and originally. He processed the dramatic story expressively, using many interesting film and theater practices. For Alfred Radok, Distant Journey was a life project also because artistic ambition intersected with the director's personal experience. Radok was partly of Jewish descent, having spent part of the war in an internment camp, and both his father and grandfather died in the Terezin concentration camp.
The screening is part of a film series that features well-known and lesser-known films telling the stories of Czech and Slovak Jews in the turbulent 20th century, organized by our member, Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews. Each film is introduced and discussed by a film historian or other relevant expert.
Free and open to the public. Suggested donation $15. Seats are limited, on first-come first-served basis. RSVP through Eventbrite.
About
TEREZA CZESANY DVORAKOVA is a film historian specializing in Czech film during the Nazi occupation and state socialism, the history of film production, and the history of film schools. She currently works as the head of the Department of Production at FAMU in Prague and as an assistant professor at the Department of Film Studies at Charles University in Prague. She is the (co)author of several books and dozens of academic studies.
The event is organized by the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews with support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.