Czech and Slovak Films Project

The history of Czech and Slovak cinema is quite different from the traditions we are more familiar with. When the first film screening was held in Prague in 1896, it was an architect, Jan Kříženecký, who purchased the Lumière equipment and created the first “Czech” short films (though at the time these regions were still under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Another interesting local feature: while the names of the actors in the earliest Lumière films are unknown, we do know who appeared in these first Czech film experiments: Josef Šváb-Malostranský and František Gyra.

Despite this early start, it would take years before local film production truly developed, and it remained almost entirely concentrated in Bohemia, with Slovakia nearly excluded. The first small film companies appeared in the 1910s: Kinofa, Illusion Film, and Asum. The outbreak of World War I effectively halted production, but it resumed in 1917 thanks to the Lucerna company, which had also produced the last local film in 1916.

The year 1918 was a turning point, marking both the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the birth of Czechoslovakia—a nation that would last (except during the Second World War) until 1992, when Czechs and Slovaks separated following the Velvet Revolution, one of the rare examples of a consensual and peaceful split between states.

As mentioned, Czechoslovak cinema began its first real phase of growth after the war, highlighted by the founding of the A-B Film studios in 1921. This early rise, however, abruptly stalled after 1922, when distributors increasingly favored foreign imports (particularly German, French, and American films). Yet the great period of Czech silent cinema was still to come: from 1926 onward, directors such as Karel Lamač, Karel Anton, Svatopluk Innemann, and Gustav Machatý revived the industry, creating films capable of attracting international attention.

Czech filmmakers often turned to literary adaptations, spanning a wide variety of genres. Among them, several works were based on the country’s most famous novel, The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, the comic tale of a simple-minded man caught up in World War I. Influences from German and Soviet cinema were also present, especially in films exploring rural themes.

For this project, I have chosen to divide the films according to their place of production: Slovak films (of which only the gem Jánošik has survived) and Czech films. Unlike in other sections, I will only list the films that are available today and can be accessed or restored. As is often the case with silent cinema, many works are lost or survive only in fragmentary condition within archives.

It is also worth noting that the overall volume of local production was not particularly large. According to the key reference work Czech Feature Film I: 1898–1930 (CFF), published by the Národní filmový archiv, fewer than 400 silent features were made. At its peak in 1922, 35 films were produced, but by 1924 the number had dropped to just 8. Almost none of these Czech and Slovak silent films were ever imported into Italy, but for clarity I will always include translations of the original titles.

SLOVAK FILMS:

1921: Jánošik – Jaroslav Siakel’

CZECH FILMS: