Rock the Boat
Third Annual Film Festival Peli-Cannes
- Tuesday 8 April 2025, 4:30 p.m. — 11 p.m.
- The festival is organised by the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in cooperation with the Memory of Nation and students from the Department of Documentary Film, FAMU.
- The festival is primarily intended for faculty, hospital staff and university members, but everyone is welcome to attend.
- It is held in the lecture halls of the Second Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and Motol University Hospital.
- The first 200 visitors will receive a celebratory toast.
- Refreshments: popcorn, nachos, and more (cash only).
- Admission is 80 CZK. You can pay by card on the spot or get the ticket in the online presale.
- Czech/English subtitles (depending on the original language of the film).
- Audience Award will be announced.
Programme
Great Lecture Hall (map)
Section in cooperation with the Memory of Nations: Waves/68
| 16.30–17.15 |
Discussion with Jiří Suchý / hosted by Pavel Klusák (45 min.) — in Czech |
| 17.20–18.45 |
A Well-Paid Walk — in Czech |
| 19.00–20.00 | 
Composed programme in cooperation with the Memory of Nation: Year 1968 — in Czech |
| 20.00–20.30 | break |
| 20.30–21.00 |
Waves: Freedom of Speech, Censorship and Reforms During the Prague Spring of 1968 The period of the Prague Spring is unique in Czechoslovak history because censorship was legally and factually abolished. How did this happen in a socialist dictatorship and what did it mean internationally? |
| 21.00–22.31 |
Waves The period film Waves, directed by Jiří Mádl, unveils thrilling and previously hidden stories of journalists from Czechoslovak Radio. Set in the late 1960s, when rock and roll dominated the airwaves and student revolts were reshaping the world, the elder of two brothers joins a prestigious radio newsroom. He soon finds himself embroiled in a dangerous conflict between editors and secret services. As events spiral out of control, everyone's lives are at risk, and the protagonist faces a harsh dilemma: protect his brother or uphold the truth and support his colleagues? The film is inspired by the true story of a group of journalists from the international newsroom of Czechoslovak Radio and their unwavering determination to deliver independent news at any cost. |
Little Right Lecture Hall
Oscar Cinema
| 17.20–20.00 |
Substance / directed by Coralie Fargeat, UK/USA/France, 2024 (141 min.) Have you ever dreamed of a better version of yourself? Aging TV star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) gets the chance to try a miraculous substance that can make her younger, more beautiful, and perfect. There's one catch, she has to share time. One week for her, one week for her new, better self, Sue (Margaret Qualley). Every seven days. Perfect balance. Easy, right? If you follow the rules, what could go wrong? Director Coralie Fargeat's film is a sharp, biting, and shocking satire that stunned the Cannes Film Festival and won the Best Screenplay Award. |
| 20.00–20.30 | break |
| 20.30–22.32 |
The Girl with the Needle Copenhagen, 1918. The euphoria of the end of the war quickly fades and the world continues to be crushed by inequality and poverty. Karoline, a poor textile worker, is left alone – her husband disappeared on the front, a brief romance with the factory manager ends in disappointment. In the depths of despair, she meets Dagmar, a woman who is the only one to show kindness. But behind her merciful mask, something terrifying may be hiding. Director Magnus von Horn was inspired by a true event and made a drama of horror proportions that turns into a nightmare about the boundaries of good and evil. The Girl with the Needle was nominated for an Oscar for Best International Film after being shown at Cannes, Toronto, and Karlovy Vary. |
Little Left Lecture Hall
FAMU
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Part 1 FAMU: Young Generation |
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| 17.30–17.40 | Directorial-dramaturgical introduction to films from FAMU (10 min.) |
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Touching Darkness / directed by Jamaica Kindlová, 2024 (4:50) Ten-year-old Vítek has extraordinary abilities – he feels and hears things that not everyone can. This animated documentary, made using sand animation technique, opens the door to Vítek's world and shows that the absence of one sense does not have to be just an obstacle. |
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Anděla / directed by Viktorie Novotná, 2025 (20:07) Aging TV actress Lydie hosts a party to say goodbye to her acting career. Paulína takes her place. During the party, the relationship between the two actresses intensifies and the negative emotions they awaken in each other uncontrollably come to the surface. |
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Brickhead / directed by Jan Jansa, 2025 (14:17) Cyril Kostka is a dealer. His customers can literally trample over his goods, as Cyril sells something very unusual... LEGO sets. Stepping on LEGO bricks can cause pain for most people, but not for his customers. Euphoric pain combined with self-indulgence is an addictive combination. Cyril sees everyone as miserable people who are running away from the real world. Confronting his own distorted perception of reality and himself will be even harder for him. |
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Butterfly Girl / directed by Ema Hůlková, 2024 (23:41) “I don't know if I can handle it all, because holding a stroller in one hand, a book in the other, and trying to read…” Viktorka is a six-year-old girl with an extraordinarily kind view of the world, living in a complicated family environment. Thanks to her unique perspective, we experience her daily adventures and worries with her. Despite the difficulties, Viktorka sees beauty where others easily overlook it. |
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Alone Together / directed by Chihyu Lin, 2024 (18 min) In the summer mountains, an unexpected bond forms between an Asian millennial and an older Czech woman, who must deal with the language barrier and their loneliness. |
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Pit Stop Reporter / directed by Zora Čápová, 2024 (54 min.) Ivana Svobodová, a journalist for the weekly Respekt who specialises in the Czech disinformation scene, does not create her reports from the desk but in the field. She engages in opinion clashes with people who believe in the views spread by bloggers like Vidlák. Opinion pluralism has turned into a battlefield, divided into good and bad media. A confrontational portrait of the role of a liberal periodical in the time of burgeoning conspiracies on social networks with a sociological overlap deals with the impossibility of dialogue. It asks about the difference between opinion and fact and what authority is respected by those who are against authorities, and who is the watchdog of democracy. |
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| approx. 19.45 | break 15 min. |
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Part 2 On the Edge |
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| approx. 20.00 | Introduction (5 min.) — in Czech |
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Scenes of Soul and Body / directed by Ondřej Hošek, 2022 (8:05) Images of the Soul and Body are a minimalist adventure of the first intimate meeting. Max goes on a date with an almost unknown person, where he experiences new sensations beyond reality. Will he leave the same as he came? The film represented FAMU at the prestigious Camerimage cinematography festival in the student film competition. |
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The First Patient / directed by Ondřej Nuslauer, 2024 (19:20) Czechoslovakia, summer 1968. Šarlota is taken to the hospital after a collapse caused by a heart defect. Doctors state that there is no other way to save her life than through a heart transplant. |
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Sisters / directed by Andrea Szelesová, 2021 (11:27) The failure experienced by one sister as she tries to save the other from constantly sinking into deeper depths reminds us of the need to distinguish between a bond and dependence on another, no matter how much they are loved. |
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Balkan / directed by Markéta Sehnalová, 2024 (12:09) Taťána is lost. Despite all efforts, she is unable to form long-term intimate relationships with people around her. Her cold childhood with an alcoholic father has affected her more than she is willing to admit. Through random sex with strange individuals, repeated escapes, and humour, she tries to overcome the feeling of emptiness. Through a sarcastic game with herself, she leads a dialogue about her own life and the situations she seemingly randomly finds herself in. |
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Checkpoint / directed by Olexi Chubun, 2024 (13:38) During a dangerous mission to evacuate women from occupied Ukraine, Bohdan faces unexpected challenges. When he discovers the secret of one of the refugees, Anna, this revelation threatens not only her safety but also his own life. Bohdan, forced to make a difficult choice that tests his determination and moral principles, decides to hide the truth to give Anna a chance to escape. |
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Office Party / directed by Marek Mrkvička, 2022 (19 min.) Aleš is struggling with his job at a call center. Thanks to Eva, he realises that he can't go on like this. Will he be able to quit or will he continue to run away from everything? |
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| Break 5 min. | |
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Part 3 Experiment |
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| approx. 22.15 | Introduction (5 min.) — in Czech |
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Love Is Just a Death Away / directed by Bára Anna Stejskalová, 2020 (10:51) The carcass of a dog, a landfill, and beautiful moths high in the sky. This is the life of the parasite Steve, who desperately longs for a kindred spirit. Every attempt at closeness ends in disappointment. The bird he saves from another dog dies. The rat that touches him dies. Cockroaches rob him to the bone under the guise of friendship. Completely defenseless in the skeleton of a former host, he almost loses his life under the wheels of a junkyard. |
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Home / directed by Yana Kadurina, 2025 (3.46) An animated film that plays with Daliesque physics to illustrate the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty from the instability of home values. It develops the theme of balancing an individual on the edge between reality and virtual space. |
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Among Us Animals / directed by Adéla Kaiderová, 2024 (21 min.) In their pride and arrogance, humans sometimes forget that they are not superior to the animal kingdom but merely a part of it. This documentary essay juxtaposes images of empty human activities with the animal's disruption of the natural order. Without overt moralising, it invites us to reflect on the arrangement of the world among us animals. |
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| 22.45–23.00 |
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