The Restored Films of Jan Špáta

A selection from a unique project to digitally restore the films of legendary Czech documentarist Jan Špáta. One of Špáta’s first accomplishments as a director is the renowned film essay Respice finem (15 min) about old village women humbly waiting for the end of life. In 1965, during eminent trumpeter Louis Armstrong’s visit to Prague, the director created the report Hallo Satchmo (26 min). In Variations on Gustav Mahler’s Theme (Variace na téma Gustava Mahlera, 13 min) Špáta rendered his relationship to and admiration for the world-renowned, Czech-born musical genius. In 1990 he and photographer Jindřich Štreit observed the lives of the subjects of Štreit’s photographs from the border region in Between Light and Darkness (Mezi světlem a tmou, 24 min). Athletic Variations (Atletické variace, 28 min) is a sophisticated essay on winning and losing during the 1982 European Athletics Championships held in Athens.