Ivan Kyncl: In the Minute marks 15 years since the death of the acclaimed, Czech-born theatre photographer Ivan Kyncl (1953-2004). His archive, acquired by the V&A in 2018, comprises over 100,000 negatives and is considered to be one of the richest chronicles of the British stage in the late 20th century. Focusing on the possibilities of theatre photography, the exhibition brilliantly…
| 04/07/2019
The distinctive deep blue and white of indigo print fabric, modrotisk in Czech, is the result of a material dying technique carried out in the Czech lands and Slovakia since at least the early seventeenth century. Its origins in Asia are thought to be a thousand years older. A white reserve is used to make patterns,…
| 02/07/2019
Before the film was screened, László Nemes advised the audience: ‘You’ll not need facts you usually need.’ And: ‘Accept the lack of control.’ There’s a nightmarish, disorderly quality in the bleached-out images of a pre-war Budapest of 1913 as the film opens. A young woman tries on hats in an exclusive hat shop. Scenes soon…
| 16/06/2019Using popular mobile apps like Prisma and DeepArt anyone can produce a piece of stylised art from an input photo, but Daniel Sykora and his research group at the Czech Technical University argue that this wouldn’t pass an artistic version of the Turing test – where even the artist would’ve difficulty judging whether a painting…
| 11/06/2019
In this innovative production of Leo Tolstoy’s timeless story of love, loss and sacrifice, “Anna Karenina”, the Xameleon Theatre Company fully lives up to its name. An all-female crew of four takes on thirteen different characters, most of which are men. Chameleon-like, the actors slip from one role into the other, taking the audience on…
| 03/06/2019
In 2015 when Ukrainian, Crimean patriot Oleg Sentsov was convicted of trumped-up terrorist crimes he didn’t commit, the Moscow district court was told he’s not afraid of the twenty year sentence – ‘the rule of blood thirsty dwarves in your country will end sooner’. Askold Kurov’s documentary frames the progress of Sentsov’s trial in the…
| 30/05/2019
It was only five months ago that Thom and his band first appeared at the Troubadour, but their show has changed a lot in that time. They included five songs from their latest CD All I Know but there were also a number of new ones, as well as three covers. The last time they were…
| 14/05/2019
The Riga indie trio Carnival Youth comprises twins Edgars and Emils Kaupers on guitar and drums respectively and Roberts Vanags on keyboards, while they all contribute vocals. They appear to have parted company with their bassist Alexsis in recent years. They’ve been together since 2012 and have so far released two albums, No Clouds Allowed (2014)…
| 30/04/2019
The 17th Polish Film Festival Kinoteka in London, featuring a selection of over forty different works, has served as a fitting example of positive direction within the issue of gender inequality in Polish cinema. The festival started and ended celebrating the success of Polish prominent men (opening with Another Day of Life, an homage to renowned Polish corresponder Ryszard Kapuscinski, and finishing with a gala celebrating…
| 19/04/2019
CEEL contributor Alison Miller met Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi just before the screening of his latest film, Ether (2018), at the 17th Kinoteka Polish Film Festival in London. A.M.: How did you direct your actors to portray ideas as well as come across as real people? K.Z.:The most important thing is always the cast – when the…
| 17/04/2019