The Circuit

by Will Tizard   
Czechs proved themselves arthouse fanatics once again at Febiofest, filling cinemas even during working-day hours to catch obscure Asian, Israeli and South American (and, of course, the European Masters section) during the 10-day sprocket opera.

Discounted tickets sell out fast for the 200-plus films that screen here, and moved like hotcakes this year, thanks in large part to a retooling and refocusing of the program by respected film curators Stefan Uhrik and Hana Cielova (pictured right of Fero Fenic, general manager). The two were lured away from the Karlovy Vary fest, where the programmed the hugely popular Forum of Independents for years. Their connections to helmers like the Coen brothers and Hal Hartley have benefited Czech auds for over a decade, who turn out in droves to hear the auteurs speak about their work.

This time around, auds took in the insights at talks and Q&As with Roy Andersson, Jos Stelling, Isild le Besco, Nae Caranfil, Rajko Grlic, Jim Stark and Peter Naess. Many of these originals were spotted after their spiels in sub-basement 3 of the Palace Cinemas Andel, fests's HQ, where local bands rocked. Food stands dished up classic Slovak grub, from halusky - a kind of Slavic gnocchi - to spicy bean soup, a tradition of fest founder and docu-maker Fero Fenic, who insists on bringing a taste of his home country to Praguers. Others lined up for vegetarian fare from the busy Krishna stand.

Many industry-ite guests commented on the youth and the passion of Febio auds, a refreshing break from fests focused more on business, they said. Fest, in turn, lets auds know they're the stars by unrolling the city's longest red carpet for them to walk up in front of the theater in the city's Smichov district.

Fest's New Europe section, a new edition, featured 15 pics from the European Union's freshman member countries, all in their Czech premiere. Aside from Estonian winner "Magnus," auds queued for tix to Simon Gross' "Fata Morgana" and Brigitte Marie Bertele's debut, "Night Before Eyes," two strong new showings out of Germany. Hungary's Csaba Bollok focused on haunting, but spirited neglected children in "Isca's Journey," while Polish cinema shined at the screenings of Andrzej Jakimowski's "Tricks" and Polish-Slovak co-prod "Strawberry Wine."

For all this, Czechs also proved their lust for classic Westerns hasn't diminished in the least as they jammed into screenings of "There Will Be Blood" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." In fact, projectionists apparently got so excited they accidentally screened 10 minutes of the latter one night when the former was scheduled.

Not one complaint was heard and it all wrapped decadently as partiers filled Prague's 19th-century National Museum at the top of Wenceslas Square for the wrap gala April 4. Even the mammoths looked satisfied somehow.