- Occupation
Producer, Director - Country
Czech Republic
Císařovský Josef
Lover Beyond Death
A story of unfulfilled love between Ludwig van Beethoven and Countess Almerie Esterházy. Speculations about who was the consignee of Beethoven's three love letters emerged immediately after the letters were found in his estate. The identity of the woman who was the composer's "Lover Beyond Death" was revealed by archivist Jaroslav Čeleda. Five years ago, researcher Oldřich Pulkert published Čeleda's theory. Director Josef Císařovský used the Napoleon period as a backdrop for his story. Music plays a significant part in the film.
Zikmund Reach's Fictitional Diary
An album of 68 old photos from the early 20th century. "Buildings and Yards of Smíchov and Košíře" by antiquarian, dealer in teaching aids and photographer Zikmund Reach tells some remarkable stories, which have become part of the area's genius loci. The film uses historical maps, period construction plans, land use proposals and other archive materials. The exciting reconstruction of Reach's journey shows that the life and secrets of an old album live on in the present.
In the Footsteps of the Vampires
After portraying sculptor František Bílek, Josef Císařovský chose another distinctive character of the Czech cultural scene, maybe the largest individual. Josef Váchal inspired him by his mystical dimension: he sets the writer and artist into the theosophist and spiritual societies, carried away by occult sciences, the meditating xylographer is being shown as a follower of a new spirituality.
How Marijuana Smoke Is the Poets' Verse
The producer was inspired by confessional retrospective poems of Jaroslav Seifert (1901-1986), a Nobel prize winner, including poems from a collection called Halley's Comet to his last collection Being a Poet, and created this ambitious project. He chose a couple of poems and accompanied them with a multifarious collage of emotional and scenic scenes, and fragments from old weekly magazines.
The Map of Places Sacred and Cursed
A poetic documentary film that ties together maps, landscapes, spirituality and cultural heritage.
Justice of the World...
Inside the Interior
Evil, elevated to a social force is the main feeling of the film portray of Kamil Pixa, co-founder of State security police, director of state short film company Krátký film during Normalization and intelligent predator who was born in the deformed morals of communist regime. His testimony creates a tangible image of relations in Czech culture and recalls the significant role political power - so arrogant that in some selected cases it was even generous - played in film making.
The Landscape of Home
This film dwells on the past and future of the Czech landscape.
Unknown No. 44
The life of a man who successfully concealed his identity from State Security for nearly 30 years.
Notes About Beasts
A film essay about spiritual ecology.
In the Twilight of Silence
A film essay about the meaning of the last remnants of the wild forest in the Czech Republic and humankind's relathionship to it.
Zikmund Reach's Hamlets
The cultural and natural heritage of the Cibulka manor in Prague.
Four moments of Silence
The film shows parts of the present landscape which Czech landscape painters of the 19th century chose as their themes; it also seeks the connection between the shape of the exterior world in which futility is rife and ther state of our body and soul.
At the End and at the Beginning
Fire & energy.
When a Ray of Sun Was Dying on the Wood of Life
A film on the life and work of Czech sculptor and visionary František Bílek (1872 - 1941).
The Story of One Renewal
The fatal transformation of the town of Louny didn’t only affect its historical center, it also changed the destinies of its residents. A person endangered by others of his own kind.
Overhead – Stars, the Hamer and Sickle
Dreams about My Father
A mysterious collage on the monster trial of the 1950s, one of whose victims was the weak-current electricity expert Alfréd Plocek. His tragic fate is uncovered by his granddaughter Lucie, who, through archive documents, discovers the shocking details of Communist lawlessness. This collage of totalitarian crimes, which emphasises the need for repentance, also uses some acted scenes. One of them reconstructs Plocek's last visit from relatives before he was executed in November 1951. The second part of the film looks at the public prosecutor who sent an innocent man to his death, and whose daughter Plocek's granddaughter subsequently meets.
A Man with a Pipe
"A Man with a Pipe" is a story of the life of a Czechoslovak diplomat who, almost forgotten in his homeland, has indirectly influenced the course of our contemporary world. He raised two US Secretaries of State; his daughter Madeleine Albright and his student Condoleeza Rice. Josef Korbel’s journey was rich in dramatic moments and unexpected turns. He loved his country, yet he was forced to leave it twice; the first time because of the Nazi, the second time after the Communist coup in February 1948. This time it was to be forever. Documenting one human fate, this film mosaic transcends to a more general level, reflecting upon human destiny that is intertwined with history, and upon the possibilities of man to resist the forces of evil.
The Fifth Quarter
The essential idea of the project is to depict the modern history of the Prague ghetto; also known as Josefov or the "fifth quarter"; on the backdrop of concrete people's lives. They will speak about the genius loci of the place, about its turning points; it was many times that history marched through Old Times Square; as well as about how the place formed the lives, fates and dreams of the contemporary generation. The people to speak about their relationship to the quarter will include many of its known and unknown natives; artists, doctors, actors, architecture and art historians, rabbis; illustrious as well as obscure figures with their bizarre stories. In this way, the film will point out the difference of the historical development of the ghetto in comparison with other Prague quarters; while the surrounding parts of Prague expanded outwards, the Jewish ghetto has always grown inwards. This "compression" concerned both buildings and lives of the people connected with the quarter. Having undergone many catastrophes, such as fires, floods, multiple exodus, and holocaust, the ghetto has become a fascinating backdrop for a whole millennium of people's lives and stories.
A story of unfulfilled love between Ludwig van Beethoven and Countess Almerie Esterházy. Speculations about who was the consignee of Beethoven's three love letters emerged immediately after the letters were found in his estate. The identity of the woman who was the composer's "Lover Beyond Death" was revealed by archivist Jaroslav Čeleda. Five years ago, researcher Oldřich Pulkert published Čeleda's theory. Director Josef Císařovský used the Napoleon period as a backdrop for his story. Music plays a significant part in the film.
Zikmund Reach's Fictitional Diary
An album of 68 old photos from the early 20th century. "Buildings and Yards of Smíchov and Košíře" by antiquarian, dealer in teaching aids and photographer Zikmund Reach tells some remarkable stories, which have become part of the area's genius loci. The film uses historical maps, period construction plans, land use proposals and other archive materials. The exciting reconstruction of Reach's journey shows that the life and secrets of an old album live on in the present.
In the Footsteps of the Vampires
After portraying sculptor František Bílek, Josef Císařovský chose another distinctive character of the Czech cultural scene, maybe the largest individual. Josef Váchal inspired him by his mystical dimension: he sets the writer and artist into the theosophist and spiritual societies, carried away by occult sciences, the meditating xylographer is being shown as a follower of a new spirituality.
How Marijuana Smoke Is the Poets' Verse
The producer was inspired by confessional retrospective poems of Jaroslav Seifert (1901-1986), a Nobel prize winner, including poems from a collection called Halley's Comet to his last collection Being a Poet, and created this ambitious project. He chose a couple of poems and accompanied them with a multifarious collage of emotional and scenic scenes, and fragments from old weekly magazines.
The Map of Places Sacred and Cursed
A poetic documentary film that ties together maps, landscapes, spirituality and cultural heritage.
Justice of the World...
Inside the Interior
Evil, elevated to a social force is the main feeling of the film portray of Kamil Pixa, co-founder of State security police, director of state short film company Krátký film during Normalization and intelligent predator who was born in the deformed morals of communist regime. His testimony creates a tangible image of relations in Czech culture and recalls the significant role political power - so arrogant that in some selected cases it was even generous - played in film making.
The Landscape of Home
This film dwells on the past and future of the Czech landscape.
Unknown No. 44
The life of a man who successfully concealed his identity from State Security for nearly 30 years.
Notes About Beasts
A film essay about spiritual ecology.
In the Twilight of Silence
A film essay about the meaning of the last remnants of the wild forest in the Czech Republic and humankind's relathionship to it.
Zikmund Reach's Hamlets
The cultural and natural heritage of the Cibulka manor in Prague.
Four moments of Silence
The film shows parts of the present landscape which Czech landscape painters of the 19th century chose as their themes; it also seeks the connection between the shape of the exterior world in which futility is rife and ther state of our body and soul.
At the End and at the Beginning
Fire & energy.
When a Ray of Sun Was Dying on the Wood of Life
A film on the life and work of Czech sculptor and visionary František Bílek (1872 - 1941).
The Story of One Renewal
The fatal transformation of the town of Louny didn’t only affect its historical center, it also changed the destinies of its residents. A person endangered by others of his own kind.
Overhead – Stars, the Hamer and Sickle
Dreams about My Father
A mysterious collage on the monster trial of the 1950s, one of whose victims was the weak-current electricity expert Alfréd Plocek. His tragic fate is uncovered by his granddaughter Lucie, who, through archive documents, discovers the shocking details of Communist lawlessness. This collage of totalitarian crimes, which emphasises the need for repentance, also uses some acted scenes. One of them reconstructs Plocek's last visit from relatives before he was executed in November 1951. The second part of the film looks at the public prosecutor who sent an innocent man to his death, and whose daughter Plocek's granddaughter subsequently meets.
A Man with a Pipe
"A Man with a Pipe" is a story of the life of a Czechoslovak diplomat who, almost forgotten in his homeland, has indirectly influenced the course of our contemporary world. He raised two US Secretaries of State; his daughter Madeleine Albright and his student Condoleeza Rice. Josef Korbel’s journey was rich in dramatic moments and unexpected turns. He loved his country, yet he was forced to leave it twice; the first time because of the Nazi, the second time after the Communist coup in February 1948. This time it was to be forever. Documenting one human fate, this film mosaic transcends to a more general level, reflecting upon human destiny that is intertwined with history, and upon the possibilities of man to resist the forces of evil.
The Fifth Quarter
The essential idea of the project is to depict the modern history of the Prague ghetto; also known as Josefov or the "fifth quarter"; on the backdrop of concrete people's lives. They will speak about the genius loci of the place, about its turning points; it was many times that history marched through Old Times Square; as well as about how the place formed the lives, fates and dreams of the contemporary generation. The people to speak about their relationship to the quarter will include many of its known and unknown natives; artists, doctors, actors, architecture and art historians, rabbis; illustrious as well as obscure figures with their bizarre stories. In this way, the film will point out the difference of the historical development of the ghetto in comparison with other Prague quarters; while the surrounding parts of Prague expanded outwards, the Jewish ghetto has always grown inwards. This "compression" concerned both buildings and lives of the people connected with the quarter. Having undergone many catastrophes, such as fires, floods, multiple exodus, and holocaust, the ghetto has become a fascinating backdrop for a whole millennium of people's lives and stories.
Josef was born on 28th May 1952 in Prague. Graduated from film school in Prague, study director of documentary films (1977). Between years 1979-81 he was working in Czech TV as a external scriptwriter and director. In eighties, he was scriptwriter and director in Short film Prague. Since nineties he has been cooperating with Czech TV. Czech documentary has received numerous Czech and also abroad awards. His work is thematically very colorful. His films are connected by seeking of the ethost, timeless values, reverence, humility, and compassion. Togedher with Poltikovič there are only one dokumentarits dealing with seeking of the real inner spirituality. As Císařovský matures, mature also his films and there surprise us by timelessness and mystically.
Dreams of My Father (2010) Josef Čapek’s Eternal Pilgrimage (2010)Overhead – Stars, the Hammer and Sickle (2009)Inside the Ministry of the Interior (2008)In the Shade of the Cathedral (2007)The Life and Times of the Writer Karel Čapek (2007)In the Twilight of Silence (2006)Zikmund Reach’s Fictitious Diary (2006)To My Eternal Love (2005)The Soul of Europe (2004)The Map of Places Blessed and Cursed (2003) Like Marihuana Smoke Are the Lines of Poets (2001)Pages from a Diary of a Legionnaire (2000)The Unknown no.44 (1999)The Poppy Fields (1999)The Starry Heavens Disappeared as Though Closed Like a Book (1998)The Goddess Returns (1997) Four Moments of Silence (1995) Mythical Trilogy (1994)Bestiary (1992)Viva Musica (1991)Pictures of Bohemia (1990)The Time of Shame, Silence and Hope (1990)Want to kill? (1988)Hey, Buddy, Look! (1987)Each Yard of Greenery (1985) Mutagenes (1984) The Bomb of Motoring (1982) Genes (1976)