FF40: Apathy + Q&A From the perspective of cultural anthropology

The screening of a series of short films will take place as part of the FAMUFEST 40 festival and will be completed by a cultural anthropological discussion.

Apathy, apathy, apathy… A word that one can encounter in different areas of life, but will almost never have a positive connotation - whether it relates to personal relationships or perhaps a social issue that others are maybeČ ignoring. Invisibility is not always a dream superpower, but also an affliction. Who knew that a simple "no" created so many different worlds. Some choose to fight it, some just quietly resign, some take it in stride. And it's this diversity of characters and perspectives in the films in this block that definitely deserves your attention.

Of People and Snow / Viktorie Aldabagh / Czech Republic 2023 / 7 min. / without dialogue - There’s less and less snow each year and people can’t come to terms with it. Of people and snow is a film about how far we’re willing to go to preserve our beloved snow.

Mashkin Killed Koshkin / Aurel Klimt / Czech Republic 1995 / 4 min. / without dialogue - The puppet film Mashkin Killed Koshkin, based on the short story of the same name by Daniil Kharms (a.k.a. Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev; 1905-1942), is a small, absurd story of two heroes who personify the essence of the so-called "Russian soul".

Curaci / Insar Shaken / Czech Republic 2023 / 10 min. / Czech with English subtitles - The friendship of two DJs, Evžen and Marek, is put to a test, when they arrive at their first gig at a techno club. Karolína, the girl at the entrance, can’t find their names in the guestlist, which prompts Marek to accuse Evžen of a lie. Marek then hails a cab home. Evžen tries to save their shared dream of a DJ career. He then finds himself cornered and has to make some troublesome decisions.

• Summer 2022* / Filip Kraus / Czech Republic 2023 / 6 min. / Czech with English subtitles - A young man wakes up in a room with no windows or doors and gradually discovers the reason for his imprisonment through his memories.

What's Happening Around Us / Krystsina Ramanava / Czech Republic 2023 / 2 min. / without dialogue - The protagonist is so engrossed in her reading that she doesn't notice how her room gradually starts to fill up with ants. Her inattention, however, does her a great deal of harm.

Picture the Sound / Jakub Jedlička / 4 min. / Czech with English subtitles - The exercise of the third year students of the Department of Sound Design is designed to initiate their sound imagination, which is stimulated by visual perception. This semester the subject was a linocut by Josef Čapek entitled "Self Portrait" and the task was to complete the the artwork with a coherent and distinctive sound composition. The carrier of the idea in the case of my composition is the spoken word as one of the basic components of film sound, supported by an illustrative sound design. It is essentially a fictional narration of a prominent personality conducted as a monologue. It is a fiction and the information presented in this work does not contain statements made by the author himself or by other persons close to him.

Danjel / Dorota Hinštová / Czech Republic 2023 / 8 min. / without dialogue - Daniel, an ordinary man, works as a security guard in a shopping mall. To compensate for his undervalued profession, he creates the illusion that he is actually a guardian angel. Although it's not visible from the outside, his entire apartment is proof. Daniel is counting down the days until October 2 - Guardian Angel Day. We watch him on the day he is about to leave this world. But he leaves with the feeling that he is an angel, which the viewer will actually see in him for a brief moment.

The Man Who Couldn't Sleep / I-Ju Lin / Czech Republic 2023 / 14 min. / Czech with English subtitles - A young literature professor, Petr, suffers from insomnia after breaking up with two women in a row. One night, both women come back to him as a dream, as reality.

Against the Flow / Jan Kameník / Czech Republic 2023 / 5 min. / Czech with English subtitles - A portrait of Jakub Špicar, the Czech national speed canoeist, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis or Bechterew's disease at the age of nineteen.

The Last Day of Kamil Krofta / Filip Liška / Czech Republic 2023 / Czech with English subtitles - An older university professor, expert on Baroque art, Kamil Krofta feels underappreciated and unrecognized after decades and decades of his work. As he prepares his demonstrative protest, various obstacles keep on interrupting him. His last day at the faculty, however, is nothing like he imagined.

Running time: 72 min.