Skalny Lecture
Screening of two Czech films from the film program “The Play’s the Thing: Vaclav Havel, Art and Politics”
Sunday, December 7, 4:00 pm
Hoyt Auditorium, University of Rochester River Campus
The program “The Play’s the Thing: Vaclav Havel, Art and Politics” features archival footage and documentaries obtained from the National Film Archive in Prague as well as Havel’s directorial debut film. It is based on the places and people
that Havel knew, from the influential Theatre on the Balustrade where his theatrical career began, to his friendships with filmmakers of the Czech New Wave, to his political ascendancy in Prague. The following films, received courtesy of the Embassy
of the Czech Republic, will be presented at the University of Rochester:
1. The Uninvited Guest (Nezvaný host), Vlastimil Venclik, 1969, 22 min.
After completing this short parable about life under socialism, director Venclík was forbidden to make films for twenty years.
2. Leaving (Odchazeni), Václav Havel, 2011, 94 min.
In 2008, Havel returned to the theater with a new play, Leaving, in which an ex-government official tries to reenter his former life. His film version premiered shortly before his death in December 2011. As the action unfolds, comparisons
to Havel’s own life become clear.
Free and open to the public