October 03, 2019, 6:00 PM

Editor Josef Pazderka will present the book The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, The Russian Perspective, at the Delegation of the European Union on October 3, 2019, at 6 pm.  The edited collection is the first attempt to take a more coherent look at the Russian perception of the Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The publication is therefore a collection of interviews, memoirs and academic studies focusing on Russian soldiers, dissidents and journalists involved in and affected by the Soviet invasion. The book begins with a focus on the Soviet soldiers who came to Czechoslovakia. It depicts their inner world and the mighty machinery of the Soviet propaganda to which they were exposed. Join us at the EU Delegation for an evening taking a closer look at the 1968 Soviet Invasion. 

October 05, 2019, 11:00 AM

Creator and director of The Jüdische Kulturbund Project Gail Prensky and Associate Producer Mark Haney will lead a workshop on art and oppression at the Embassy of the Czech Republic on October 5, 2019, from 11 am-2:30 pm. This day marks the anniversary of the birth of former Czech President Václav Havel, who through his leadership, helped to peacefully overthrow the communist regime. As part of the Mutual Inspirations Festival 2019, the workshop stresses the use of art as a tool for dealing with oppression. This year’s festival banner personality Marta Kubišová used her voice, her signature ballad A Prayer for Martha, to unite the people during the Velvet Revolution, restoring freedom and democracy to the nation.  

October 08, 2019, 7:00 PM

The Czech Embassy will host the legendary Czech rock band Garage & Tony Duchacek on October 8, 2019, at 7 pm. In the 1980s under communism in the former Czechoslovakia, the band was a popular underground group, a symbol of total artistic and uncompromising freedom. The band supported and played for students during the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and continued to be popular among the youth even after the revolution. In the words of late Czech President Václav Havel, “If you would like to know the sound of the Velvet revolution, then you should attend the concert of the Garage band from Prague.” Come jam with Garage & Tony Duchacek to the sounds of rock that inspired generations to rise up against totalitarianism thirty years ago.

October 09, 2019, 8:00 PM

The Avalon Theatre will screen the film Talks with T. G. Masaryk (Hovory s TGM) on October 9, 2019, at 8 pm, as part of the Lions of Czech Film Series. The film follows two leading men of the 20th century - Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and visionary writer Karel Čapek. It reconstrucs a single conversation between the "father of the nation" and the author. In an interview with Czech Radio, the director said, “I wanted to approach these two major figures of Czech history not as they appear in history books – where they are placed on pedestals – but more as real people. Their meeting takes place in a gorgeous park in Topolčianky, where Masaryk had a summer residence and where Čapek visited him. As well as holding a clever, philosophical dialogue, they also silently looked at the countryside and discussed everyday issues." Savor an evening at the Avalon watching this psychological drama. (Dir. Jakub Červenka, 2018, 80 min., Czech with English subtitles)

October 17, 2019, 6:00 PM

October 30, 2019, 6:00 PM

The renowned puppet theatre company LokVar will present Daddy is Hero on October 30, 2019, at 6 pm, at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. This is a humorous, immersive story about a family: love between parents and a brother and sister who stick together even though they fight. Love helps them to overcome dragons, illnesses, and more. The one-hour show is performed live to music in English. Savor an evening of puppet theatre in the heart of Washington. 

November 03, 2019, 10:00 AM

Fairy Tales for Emma (Pohádky pro Emu) will screen at the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden on November 3, 10 am. One month before Christmas, a call changes one man’s life forever. Peter Miller has been working for the Immigration Office in London for many years, estranged from his family. Out of the blue, a call from a social worker in Prague informs him that he has been identified as the father of an eight-year-old child named Emma, whose mother has been in a serious car accident.  Peter can’t believe it, but what if Emma really is his daughter? In Prague, he meets Marie, a hotel manager consumed by her job. She offers her help during a critical time. So begins the game of love ... Will this be a “fairy tale” ending after all? (Dir. Rudolf Havlík, 2016, 112 min., Czech with English subtitles)

November 05, 2019, 8:00 PM

Alliance for New Music-Theatre will open the doubled bill of Václav Havel's seminal play Protest and Susan Galbraith's Vaněk Unleashed, on November 5, 2019, at 8 pm at the Dupont Underground. In Protest, Vaněk pays a visit to the lavish home of former colleague Staněk, who has invited the renowned activist to help him secure the release of a jailed radical musician, fiancé to his daughter. Vaněk also seeks a favor: the influential man's signature in a far-reaching protest. Vaněk Unleashed is a uniquely American response to the same, most beloved central character of Vaněk. In this work, Alliance adds to the tradition that includes playwrights Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard of paying tribute to Havel by making Vaněk a universal character. Audiences will find Vaněk still struggling with issues of the slipperiness of identity as he careens imaginatively between prison and the more terrifying and absurd world outside. Step inside the Dupont Underground as we explore a play performed in the underground and one inspired by Havel's endearing character.

November 06, 2019, 6:00 PM

Director Petr Jančárek will present a preview of his new documentary Havel Speaking, Can You Hear Me? on November 6, 2019, at 6 pm,  followed by a panel discussion with distinguished guests. The film captures the public and private moments of the last three years of former Czech President Václav Havel’s life.In the film, Havel travels the world, directs his feature film Leaving, and produces concerts for stars like Joan Baez and Lou Reed. Jančárek shows Havel‘s life journey as an incredible road movie, covering his fight for human rights and dignity, but also his struggle with time running out on his own life.  Delve into the life of an extraordinary leader and enter into the discussion about how his life can continue to serve as an example for today’s generation.   

November 12, 2019, 9:00 AM

The Czech Embassy and the Slovak Embassy in collaboration with Georgetown University will hold the conference Velvet Revolution @ 30: A Legacy to Uphold with keynote speaker former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at Georgetown University on November 12, 2019, at 9:00 am. Ambassador of the Czech Republic Hynek Kmoníček and Ambassador of the Slovak Republic Ivan Korčok will open the discussions, marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which brought freedom and democracy back to Czechoslovakia in 1989. Reflecting on the past and the future, two distinguished panels will include those who courageously led the way during the demonstrations and those who continue to lead the society into the years to come. Please join us to celebrate and reflect on the 30th anniversary of the movement, which propelled Central Europe into the next century. 

November 17, 2019, 4:00 PM

The National Gallery of Art will screen The Uninvited Guest and Case for a New Hangman on November 17, 2019, at 4 pm, marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The film screenings are part of the series Welcome to Absurdistan. The first of two allegories of life in socialist Czechoslovakia, both are imaginative, critical films “banned forever” by the regime. Produced at the Czech national film school FAMU, just months after the Warsaw Pact invasion crushed the Prague Spring, the dark-humored The Uninvited Guest portrays a couple in an apartment block who face a gruff intruder. (Dir. Vlastimil Venclík, 1969, 22 minutes) Case for a New Hangman is unique among the works of the Czech New Wave. Pavel Juráček adapted part three of Gulliver’s Travels into a sci-fi journey through socialist Czechoslovakia. The confining borders, polluted landscapes, perverted justice, and public surveillance of a socialist land transform into an unsettling new world, for discovery (in the film’s alternate title) by A New Gulliver. (Dir. Pavel Juráček, 1969, subtitles, 102 minutes)

November 19, 2019, 7:00 PM