Catalogue of Czech Television Programmes
One-hundred-and forty medals, including seven gold and four silver Olympic ones, make the gymnast Věra Čáslavská the most successful among Czechoslovak athletes of all times. Following her impressive triumphs at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, she was declared the best sportswoman of the world, and became the second most popular woman of the planet after Jacqueline Kennedy, with the whole world falling at her feet. In the same year, she signed the “Two Thousand Words” manifesto, the most important document of the Prague Spring, calling for a democratic reform of the communist regime. Enthusiastic ovations were followed by her social fall; yet she never disavowed her signature under the manifesto. After the Velvet Revolution she became adviser of President Václav Havel, but in 1993, following a family tragedy, she effaced herself. Now, after sixteen years of retirement from the public scene, she is taking her place on it again. The full-length document narrates the life story of Věra Čáslavská, one of the most successful women of the world, inter alia holder of the supreme Japanese honours, which at the same time mirrors Czechoslovak history, and reflects a unique phenomenon in the history of the Czech nation.
HD | 52´ or 90´ | © 2012
director(s): Olga Sommerová
producer(s): Czech Television, Evolution Films, s.r.o.
scriptwriter(s): Olga Sommerová
director of photography: Olga Špátová
rights available: TV, Video, Internet
original language: Czech
subtitles available: English
other data: Awards: 26th FINALE PILSEN 2013 - The Golden Kingfisher award best documentary *** SHANGHAI 2013 - Magnolia International Documentary Awards - Best of Documentary *** 10th Atlant International Sportsfilm Festival, Lipetsk – 2nd place in the Sports and Person category