Čestmír Gebouský

The Czech film Svítalo All Night was made to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Army and is dedicated to all those who fought and gave their lives in Prague in the May Uprising of 1945. Behind the historical events, the creators see mainly their simple, unassuming participants. Thus, we are presented with a number of apt portraits, whether it is the central hero Dr. Soukup and nurse Daniela on the side of the fighting Czechs, or a captain and a simple private in a Red Army unit coming to the aid of the fighting Prague, or an old, war-weary German major, who only realises the senselessness of the war at the sight of a fanatical, cynical lieutenant for whom Nazi ideology represents the meaning of life.

In the 1980s, a number of films were made about teenagers. At first they dealt with the confusing search for life orientation, the difficult entry into adult life - and gradually the interest shifted to delinquent youth. This film charts the conditions in a dehumanised housing estate, where youths, out of boredom, gather into gangs that wander aimlessly, humiliate passers-by, and attack the defenceless. He discovers that parents have too little time for these children, that their actions are downplayed until tragedy strikes.

In a Czech school friendship grows between a teacher and a student. The friendship turns into an intimate relationship. Till the student begin to blackmail the teacher.

Helpless, the young convent student Richard has to watch as his mother Sarazenin Zobeida is condemned by the inquisitor Heinrich Institoris as a witch and burned at the stake. From then on, Richard swears revenge on Institoris for what he did to his family. He can escape and is taken by the merchant Jakob Fugger. He wants to teach him not only to seek blind revenge, but to manipulate people like puppets and thus to reach his goals. The two travel from Florence to Rome to influence the upcoming election of the pope and to witness the power struggle between the Medicis and the Borgias up close.