Well, Jeden Svet really couldn’t have come at a more auspicious time, as right about that same time, the Friday after the Film Festival opened, I was notified that I had been accepted to William and Mary’s Honors program to produce a documentary of my own. But that was all in the future on Monday March 8.
That was when I was notified that I would not be volunteering to help out at the opening ceremonies, at Vaclav Havel might have shown up, mainly because the Festival was not looking for English speaking only volunteers, and my Czech is just kind of awful. As the door prize however, we, the rejected volunteers, received free invitations to the same opening ceremonies. They were to be held at a place called Prague Crossroads, which being from way out of town, I had never heard of. I didn’t really have time on Monday to figure out where that was though, as I was spending that afternoon with my Czech Students, and then I had my really awesome MittleEuropa class, and then I headed home and was kind of lame.
So, then Tuesday, between my first film class(search for identity) and my second(Eroticism Power and Fate) I set out to find the place, armed with a map provided by the ECES office, and my canny sense of direction(I was lost inside of two minutes). Fortunately, the crossroads was not far from one of the most famous landmarks in Prague, the Charles Bridge. Named King Charles IV of Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor in the 12th Century, the bridge crosses the Vitva, near a Jesuit College (and the Medieval Torture Museum) and Prague Castle on the far bank. It is decorated with statues of a number of Czech saints. It is helpfully located in the center of the touristy and well marked parts of Prague, and so from the Bridge, I managed to get to the Crossroads, as it turns out an old, retired Catholic Church, and then back in time for class.
Armed with information about where to go the next night, after classes, I headed out to the Estates Theatre, located near Wenslaus Square. The Estate Theatre, was home to Wolfgang Mozart during his time in Prague(it served as the setting for the film Amadeus), and was where he premiered a number of his famous musical works, including Don Giovanni. That evening, the Estate Theatre was hosting a performance of the classic Marriage of Figaro.
The inside of the theatre was very pretty, and very large, with four stories, at least of seating. Despite this we could see the stage very well, and the sur-title machine. The Marriage of Figaro, like most operas, has a very convoluted plot about two servants, Figaro and his wife, and their masters, the Count and the Countess, all romancing each other, in song. Eventually everyone , except the Count, ends up happy, and married. It was also three hours ago, with two and a half intermissions (sometimes they would turn the lights on, but not let anyone leave, thus half an intermission).
Fortunately, my high school class was canceled on Wednesday, they were skiing or something (lucky…so and sos), so I could just put on my jacket and tie for the opening ceremony that evening. (this got some comments, but whatever). I had to leave MittleEuropa a little earlier, but whatever. The walk and subway ride only took ten minutes, especially because I knew where I’m was going. We had to wait a couple of minutes for the ECES staff, and the dean of the faculty of philosophy to show up, and then went in to the church.
What we saw when we got inside.
We were among the first people there, and easily got the translator headsets, that would enable us to understand, more or less, what was going on at the ceremony, and then find our seats. The place filled up pretty rapidly, until it was pretty much packed to the gills. Then a short, white haired Czech man got up on stage, and started talking in Czech, and then the voice in my head (aka the translator) started to make the Czech into English. And then just for kicks, the moderator started talking in English, which the translator turned into Czech. A moment later, everything was right with the world, and show rolled on. They, a couple of human rights presenters, got up on stage, and explained what One World was all about, how they hoped to improve human rights, and why it was important. They then gave an award, the Homo Homini Award, to several of the student protesters from last year’s near revolution in Iran. To top it off, they even gave us, free, Persian Food. What did happen was that Vaclav Havel didn’t show up. Apparently was vacationing in Spain, and wouldn’t be back until the festival’s closing night. Oh well.
I didn’t get to see any of the films that night, or the next night either. Friday night, with about half the crew in Krakow, I decided that I wanted to try and go see a couple of the films. I managed to convince Allie and Jack to come with me to the theatre at Lucerna, to see a couple of movies about Tibet. When we got there the theatre was kind of hot, and the previews before the film were all in Czech, so my friends left, leaving me to watch two films about Tibet, one about how the Chinese are using music and culture to control the Tibetans, and one about how the Dalai Lama is leading resistance efforts against the Chinese. The Tibet Marathon concluded at about 12:30, and so I hopped on the tram and headed back to my dorm.
The next day, Saturday, Jake, Ian, and I headed up to Prague Castle. We spent a bunch of crowns on the audio guides, and maps, and then headed into the Castle. Our first stop was St. Vitus Cathedral. Vitus is like a lot of Cathedrals on the inside, with high valuated ceilings, and ornately decorated chapels. It is home to the bodies of a number of Czech kings, including the famous St. Wenslaus(the good king, yes) and Charles IV(Holy Roman Emperor). Unfortunately, on the day we visited St. Vitus, the crypts where the kings are kept was closed for “technical issues”.(Was the crypt collapsing, where the lights not working, had all the Bohemian kings risen from the dead…the world will never know).
From St. Vitus, we headed over to another smaller, older chapel located next door to St. Vitus, St. George’s. The chapel contained some of relics from another Saint, but was much less ornate. When then headed over to the Royal Palace, which served as home to a number of Bohemian Kings, and to the Habsburg governors. It includes a book case that is among the oldest pieces owned by the Castle, and to one of the most famous windows in the world. In 1619, the Habsburg’s had just increased their power in Bohemia, repealing an Edict of Toleration. This rather annoyed the Czech Nobles, who entered the palace, ascended the stairs, and through three representatives out of the window. Yep, I saw the Defenestration Window. It was pretty assume.
View from Defenstration Window, or something like it.
After spending the day at Prague Castle, we came back, and with Allie, started to make dinner. Somehow or other, yours truly ended up by “in charge” (really Allie told me what to do, and I did it, but it felt like I was cooking). So, I can now officially make Stir Fry, more or less.
The next day, Sunday, we relaxed and slept in, and then headed out to a theatre in Prague to see another movie, Green Days. Green Days was the featured film of the One World Festival. It told the story of a female theatrical director living in Iran during the last Iranian Election. It captured a very eye on the ground view of what went on in that country in the led up to the election.
The next Monday was pretty much the same as a normal Monday, though I did stop by Lucerna briefly to buy a ticket for my fourth and last One World Festival Film, which would take place on Tuesday. The film was called Enemies of the People. It was about Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia, and focused on the former killers and the quest of a crusading journalist to figure out why Pol Pot’s regime turned to mass executions. Like the other films, the narrator of the story, in this case the journalist, was also an important character. I think this tendency towards creating characters in a documentary is an interesting trend, it seems to be that it mirrors, in some degree, the tendency in history as a whole towards a focus on individuals, and cultural studies, and a move away from more political topics of the past.
Next: Prague Part VIII: TBD.
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