The best Martin Sitta’s movies

Born in the early 20th century, herbalist Jan Mikolasek became rich and famous after curing countless diseases with unorthodox means. A true emblem of Czechoslovakia before World War II, the healer became even more appreciated during the Nazi occupation and the communist regime. Each regime appreciates his skill and protects him. But how much will it cost him to maintain his status in a new political change?

The congenial Vojta is bashful and his family is batty. His short-tempered father, who once failed to swim the English Channel, wants him to be a competing swimmer and his loving mother, a former child ice revue star, sees a talented pianist in her son. But Vojta has completely different priorities - most of all his red-haired classmate Ela, an enchanting synchronized swimmer who is leaving for Paris in November. If Vojta doesn't do something radical, and fast, Ela will disappear behind the Iron Curtain forever. The year is 1989.

A bittersweet comedy starring the great Vlastimil Brodský as Fanda, an old man who refuses to grow up. Despite pleas from his exasperated wife who wants him to make serious decisions about the future, Fanda ignores the nagging and spends his days seeking amusement and adventure.

ComiBaran, a protestant blacksmith arrives in the little village of Lakotice to kill Sekal, a cruel Nazi collaborator.

This unofficial Czech remake of Alexander Payne's blockbuster seriocomedy Sideways (2004) concerns Jirka and Honza, two friends who check in as complete opposites on every level; Honza is a polished urbanite, Jirka a nickel-and-dime crook with a flair for wooing women. The men's friendship is characterized by an unending series of wild schemes and escapades. When Honza learns of his grandfather's impending death, it brings him face-to-face with his own mortality and encourages him to fulfill his long-held dream, while he still has the opportunity: to embark on a dream vacation to the vineyards of Morovia, with buddy Jirka in tow.

A motley of vacationers on a bus headed for a week long vacation at a seaside resort. Among them: a single, moderately famous singer; a nerdy, onanistic man; a couple of old ladies reaching senility; a couple of young gals looking for an amorous adventure; a family with a boy unsure about where he fits sexually; a beautiful woman that, besides working as a trip guide, has pretensions of being a music composer; a couple of gay men; and another family where the parents are stuck in a sexual ice age while their twentyish daughter is looking to connect with a man.

A drug dealer named Mikes, who lives in Prague and longs to escape his own clichéd life.

Situated in Prague, a 20-year-old Vietnamese named Song, hoped for a better future in Europe. But now in a Vietnamese district in Prague, he is trapped in a marijuana grow house and has life of a modern slave. Police rounds up the place. Song runs away on the rooftop of a condo building in a nearby district where he breaks down. Mr. Rypar (78) lives alone. He is fond of the old times, living in a strong opposition to modern world. Rypar goes up on the roof and meets Song standing on the very edge of the roof crying and the story begins.

ANNA ALEXANDROVNA BARKOVA (1901-1976) Journalist and poet, meeting suspicious characters. Involved in immoral love affairs. Work in the Kremlin, fired. 1934 - Arrested, 5 years of penal servitude in Karaganda. Lived in Ukraine during the WWII. 1946 - Arrested, 5 years of penal servitude in the Komi Republic. 1956 - Rehabilitated, disability pension. 1957 - Arrested, 10 years of penal servitude. The film 8 Heads of Madness is about the eternal struggle between the artist and external circumstances, the artist and her demons and longings. 8 Heads of Madness is a drama woven from fragments of an appalling era. An unhappy cross-section of the 20th century in an unhappy country, as seen through the sensitive, perceptive vision of a poet.