Eastern Europe and Czechoslovakia (From 'Women in Film: An International Guide') - (By Barbara Einhorn and Zuzana Blueh - 1990) - Movies - http://maxpages.com/czechcinema/History_from_Women_in

***Eastern Europe***

It is impossible to speak of 'East European' cinema as a single body of work, just as it is impossible to make general statements about East European literature or politics, or the economies of the East European countries. Far from presenting a monolithic structure, the situation is very diverse, with both practical conditions (training, film studios) and output (amount, quality) differing widely from country to country. However, from the point of view of women in the film industry, some generalizations can safely be made. Women directors, scriptwriters and producers are very much in the minority. The few 'big name' women directors such as Marta Meszaros in Hungary or Larissa Shepitko in the Soviet Union are individual exceptions, not representative of any trend toward greater parity in the film industry. It remains difficult, despite universal (though very differently realized) policies in favor of equality of opportunity for women in all the East European socialist countries, for women to be taken seriously and to succeed in this industry. A scene in Meszaros' "Naplo Szerelmeimnek" / "Diary for My Loves" in which the central figure is ridiculed for wanting to become a director- acting is surely a much more suitable profession for women- remains as true today as it was for the early 1950s depicted in the film. Difficulties like unsocial hours and travel for directors, or the heavy equipment handling for camera operators, go hand in hand with traditional prejudice to perpetuate the status quo.
The best-known film-producing countries in Eastern Europe outside the Soviet Union are undoubtedly Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. In all three, a film industry was well established before World War II. Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia have smaller and on the whole less well-established film industries. Among the few women filmmakers working in these countries are Binka Zhelyazkova of Bulgaria ("When We Were Young" [1960], "Golyamoto Noshtno Kupane" / "The Big Bath Night" [1980]) and Elisabeta Bostan of Romania, who specializes in children's films. Throughout Eastern Europe, the fortune of film production since 1945 have fluctuated in line with political developments in the various countries. There was general pressure in the 1950s and early 1960s to produce films which would impart an optimistic and commited view of contemporary reality- building socialism. This cultural policy, developed from the theory of socialist realism, constrained both styles (it was anti-experiment and anti-abstraction) and themes (it favored depictions of concrete social reality in the factory or on the land) of early East European films.
For a variety of reasons- their own countries' cultural policies undoubtedly among them- some directors (such as Milos Forman of Czechoslovakia or Roman Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski of Poland) accepted the lure of Hollywood and the West. On the other hand, even prior to glasnost, Hungary, and more recently Romania, have attracted western production companies as venues for autonomous productions or for co-productions. This is because despite bureaucratic difficulties these countries offer low-cost, high-quality facilities and actors.
The 1970s and 1980s, particularly since glastnost, have seen more differentiated developments; so that, for example, Hungarian cinema today- like its Soviet counterpart- is in a ferment of change, producing features and documentaries which rediscover and confront the hidden history of the postwar, and particularly the Stalinist, years. In Czechoslovakia and East Germany, on the other hand, there is still reluctance to lift the veil on such painful topics. However, socialist control and censorship of scripts in Eastern Europe has never prevented production of some of the greatest films of the postwar period by internationally acclaimed directors.
(Copyright - Barbara Einhorn)

***Czechoslovakia***

Czech cinema has a coninuous tradition, dating from before the turn of this century, while Slovak cinema started only after World War II. At an early stage Czech cinema demonstrated its ability to adapt to new technical and artistic realities, continuing to flourish after the introduction of sound and proving its flexibility after World War II, when it was able to adjust itself to numerous sociopolitical changes. Probably the best-known director in the history of Czech cinema is Gustav Machaty, who made the famous (and much-censored) poetic film "Extase"/"Ecstacy" (1932).
After 1945, Czech cinema contiued virtually without interruption: indeed, a number of films started and abandoned under German occupation were later completed and released. The Czechoslovak film industry was nationalized in 1945. This meant that, being liberated from the pressures of the market, directors faced no financial worries. At the same time, however, as both producer and distributor, the state gained full artistic and ideological control over the industry. Even today a film does not need to be overtly censored, since it can be stopped at any stage of production or distribution. Nevertheless, apart from heavy-handed didactic 'fairytales,' a number of directors have produced quality work.
After Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin in 1956 a brief period of thaw took place in Czechoslovak cinema, with films like "Touha"/"Desire" (Vojtech Jasny, 1958)- a return to Czech lyricism of the thirties- and also ideologically courageous works such as "Velka samota"/"Great Seclusion" (Ladislav Helge, 1959). During this period all the Eastern European cinemas were trying various ways of solving ideological and historical problems, and looking for new styles for expressing reality: these they often found in metaphors. In Czechoslovak cinema, symbols stemmed directly from daily life. The years between 1961 and 1968 saw a spell of relative freedom for Czechoslovak filmmakers which produced the Czechoslovak 'film miracle' or 'New Wave'; an early example of which was "Slnko v sieti"/"Sunshine in a Net" (Stefan Uher, 1962). This film was closely followed by "Cerny Petr"/"Peter and Paula" (Milos Forman, 1963); "Krik"/"The Cry" (Jaromil Jires, 1963); "O necem jinem"/"About Something Else" (Vera Chytilova, 1963)- all of them concerned with contemporary themes presented in a nonglamorized way. With liberalization it became possible to comment the horrors and absurdities of the previous decade, as in "O slavnosti a hostech"/"The Party and the Guests" (Jan Nemec, 1966); while directors like Milos Forman, Evald Schorm or Ivan Passer dealt more directly with the compromises and crises of daily life. The film considered to be the manifesto of the 'New Wave' is "Perlicky na dne"/"Pearls in the Abyss" (1965). With the exception of Milos Forman, all the major representatives of the movement took part in this film's production: Jiri Menzel, Vera Chytilova, Jan Nemec, Evald Schorm, Jaromil Jires, Juraj Herz, and Ivan Passer. After the Prague Spring of 1968, Gustav Husak's succession to power signaled the start of a 'normalization' which for cinema meant an abrupt end of the 'New Wave' and stricter controls. Since that time only a handful of films of any originality have been made.
In features production, women- with the exception of Vera Chytilova- are conspicuous by their absence. Women usually figure lower down the credit list as production assistants, clapper-girls, make-up artists, or at best as script editors or writers. A slightly better situation obtains in the field of short, documentary, or newsreel films. A more important 'female' domain has, however, been puppet, animated, and cartoon films; though even here women mainly work as rank-and-file animators for men directors. Hermina Tyrlova was the founder of puppet film production at Zlin (Gottwaldow) studios. She made several series of fairytales, and in her later films drew more on reality, creating a new world of animated objects, often combining puppet animation, live child actors, and special effects. Her pioneering films were well received at festivals all over the world, and Tyrlova encouraged many new talents.
(Copyright - Zuzana Blueh)

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