Current Affairs | All stories

The Czech Republic’s biggest film festival, is now in full swing. Reporter Sarah Borufka talked to Daniela Lazarová about which actors and films have so far made an impact at the 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The first question was: “What was the biggest highlight so far?”

Two parts of the 6-kilometre tunnel being dug near Prague Castle collapsed on Tuesday, burying a worker for six hours and leaving a gaping hole in a garden of the Ministry of Culture. And it wasn’t the first time; the Blanka Tunnel has collapsed on two other occasions in the course of its construction, and concerned citizens and officials are losing their patience.

It was a long weekend for the Czech Republic this weekend, with the country closing early on Friday afternoon and public holidays on both Monday and Tuesday. But while most people spent the five-day break relaxing at the cottage or cooling off in the local pond, dozens of families across the Czech Republic are mourning the 26 people killed in road accidents – often senseless, always horrific – that took place over the holiday weekend.

One of the sections of the official competition at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is East of the West – a showcase for films from Eastern and Central Europe. This year, it features ten different films from countries like Armenia, Slovenia and Azerbaijan. Sarah Borufka talked to Lenka Tyrpáková, who works for the festival’s program department, about what East of the West is all about and what we can expect from it this year.

Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych came close to his first Grand Slam crown at Wimbledon as he faced world’s number one, Rafael Nadal, in Sunday’s final. But the Spaniard outclassed the Czech underdog and wrapped up the match in just three sets, spoiling Berdych’s hopes of becoming the first Czech since 1973 to win the tournament.

Ever since the fall of communism governments have struggled to deal with the segregation of Romany children, a vast number of whom end up in special schools which severely limits them in their future development. Now the incoming administration is looking at the problem in terms of money and it seems that, paradoxically, cost cutting measures may succeed where good intentions have failed.

The Czech Republic scored a major diplomatic victory over neighbouring Germany and Austria this week after the European Union granted the cherished protected geographical status to the country’s pungent Olomoucké tvarůžky cheese. That means only the original cheese produced in the village of Loštice - near the Moravian city of Olomouc - can sell the product under that name; everything else is an impostor.

On Friday, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival once again kicks off in the west Bohemian spa town. In its 45th year, the country’s biggest and most renowned film festival will show 205 films, a quarter of which are world premieres. We hear from our reporter Ian Willoughby, who is currently in Karlovy Vary, about what we can expect this year and what the atmosphere is like there ahead of the opening ceremony.

Fast on the heels of an agreement on the share out of cabinet posts, the incoming Czech government has hammered out the main lines of its proposed budget for next year. The aim is for the state to pay its way on less borrowed money with the help of deeper cuts in public spending.

The former president Václav Havel has begun directing a film adaptation of his latest play, Leaving. The play, which premiered in 2008, deals with a politician's painful adjustment to a new life after retiring from politics. The 73-year-old playwright led his country for 13 years, but since his own political retirement has returned to stage work – and is now making his debut in film.