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A new Czech-Slovak film is just coming to cinemas around the country. The film - made by the Slovak director Martin Sulik - is called "The City of the Sun or Working Class Heroes". It is a black comedy on a social theme, located in the industrial city of Ostrava in the North-East of the Czech Republic.

On Monday the winners of the annual Magnesia Litera literary awards will be announced in Prague, and the ceremony will be shown live on Czech Television. One book has been nominated in two categories, best fiction and important event in publishing. It is called "Zatim dobry" or "So Far So Good" by the Czech-born author Jan Novak who now lives in the United States. The 800-page book tells a true story of the escape of two brothers, Ctirad and Josef Masin, the sons of a Czech anti-Nazi resistance hero, to West Berlin in 1953. Opinion is divided on

Prague architecture has been influenced by the cultures of different nations for centuries. Especially German and Italian architects have left their mark in the Czech Capital. In the 16th century - during the reign of Emperor Rudolph II many Italian builders and masons came to Prague to help to extend Prague Castle. And they were followed by other Italian craftsmen and traders, says Italian ambassador Giorgio Radicati.

Animated film is a very important part of Czech cinema. Names like Jiri Trnka, Hermina Tyrlova or Bretislav Pojar are very well known to every animated film fan. Friends of Bretislav Pojar's work can now enjoy a new film. As Czech animated film is well known even in Japan, Japanese film producers asked him to make a film based on a story written by the Japanese writer Yeto Sato.

The year 2005 marks the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth. The prolific Danish writer's life and work are being celebrated this month in an exhibit at the Czech National Library, Klementinum. Kate Barrette was at the opening, and has more on Andersen's colourful experiences in the Czech Lands more than a century ago.

Like Vienna and Budapest, Prague also was once famous for its café culture. The coffeehouse tradition - which was interrupted by the communist regime that took power after the Second World War - has today a number of followers. To the list of famous cafés that were re-established in the nineties - like Vaclav Havel's old hangout, Café Slavia - has now been added another one - the famous cubist Grand Café Orient on the first floor of the House of Black Madonna.

The Theater of Estates - or Stavovske Divadlo - is the last existing theater where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart featured his operas. Mozart lived in Prague for some time, and composed a number of pieces here, such as the Prague Symphony and the opera Don Giovanni. The city is proud of the heritage of the great composer and since next year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Prague is already now planning great celebrations.

The largest Paris private photo-gallery - Galerie VU is currently featuring selection of its collections in the Prague Langhans Gallery. What you can see there is work of 28 contemporary photographers from different countries of the world. As the Langhans Gallery spokeswoman Dagmar Cujanova says, it is the first time they decided to present another commercial gallery in their rooms.

Post-War travellers Jiri Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund are extremely well-known in the Czech Republic and elsewhere for their travel reporting and best selling books. Jiri Hanzelka passed away two years ago but Mr Zikmund is still going strong at 86; on Thursday he opened an exhibition of their photographs at Prague Castle, and spoke to Radio Prague about the two men's travels and international fame.

Today's Arts takes a look at the Czech literary phenomenon that is Michal Viewegh. Loved and hated in equal measure in the Czech Republic, he is yet to take the English-speaking market by storm. When he does, we too can expect to see his face all over the covers of magazines, and stands in bookshops dedicated to his considerable output. I met up with Michal Viewegh to ask him about how it was to be a writer in the current Czech climate.