25. May 2012

New (and newer) new waves in CEE

Therefore it is – by the way – very hard to write about the film new waves (NW) in the 60s of the 20th century. Because some people know for sure, that the new waves in the 60s were the most important movements in the history of cinema.

Other ones are positive about the NWs being completely useless and only damaging, eventually totally destroying the – at that time already perfectly established – cinema art. There is also the opinion that the NWs in the 60s actually did not exist at all, or that they were only an invention of media (conspiracy theory).

Well, we will try to say a couple of things about it. Maybe also to sustain our belief (alright, we are subjective, too) that in CEE the new waves in the 60s really existed and influenced for sure the evolution of the world cinema including today´s trends. Or to try to explain why, despite the Czech and Slovak new waves in the 60s being maybe the most impressive in our region, there appeared no new waves-like movements after the year 2000 neither within the Czech, nor within the Slovak cinema. Or to remark the almost miraculous appearing of the most convincing contemporary new waves just in Romania, maybe the only country in CEE that gave no film new waves-like movement in the 60s. Or to argue that there really was (wasn´t it?) a strong and beautiful Hungarian new waves in the 60s and whether the young generations of Hungarian film directors that emerged around the year 2000 are (aren´t they?) or are not (are they?) influenced by their older colleagues. And so on.

Of course, we are prepared to face different (even contrary) opinions. And mainly: we are prepared and happy to inform the audience of the LET’S CEE Film Festival about the (old or new) new waves in CEE, to provoke, to trigger a discussion about all this. Be our guests, come to visit us, meet our NWs and watch our films!

Mircea Dan Duţă, born in 1967, studied mathematics, theatre and film sciences, as well as Romance languages and literature in Bucharest and Prague. For many years, he worked as a producer for Romanian television; since 2000 he has presented numerous events in Prague and has been teaching at the famous FAMU in Prague. Ever since 1993, Duta has published articles on cultural issues in the Czech, Slovak and Romanian media, where he is also present on TV and radio time and again. Since 2006 he has been head of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Prague.