VACLAV HAVEL, PRAGUE - CASTLE (Screening plus Discussion)

Picturehouse Cinemas, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Czech Centre London present a unique screening of VACLAV HAVEL, PRAGUE - CASTLE in remembrance of Václav Havel, the Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and former President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic who died on 18 December 2011. The screening will be followed by a discussion with HE Ambassador Michael Zantovsky, Havel's close friend and former spokesman. Sunday 15 January, 3.00 Director Petr Jančárek’s documentary VACLAV HAVEL, PRAGUE - CASTLE explores the earliest days of Václav Havel’s presidency, as told by members of Havel’s inner circle and the playwright himself, including the arrival of his team to Prague Castle in the wake of the turbulent 1989 elections and his historic speech to the U.S. Congress. Havel and his advisors' immediate goal was to lead the country to its first free elections as quickly as possible. Interviews with Havel, his advisors and staff, as well as Madeleine Albright and others, tell the story of a truly unique period in the history of the former Czechoslovakia and the complex personality of the former President, who suddenly went from being a dissident to becoming the head of a free democratic state. We discover the character of Václav Havel as seen through the eyes of those around him. The film also chronicles his first trips to European countries, the USA and the Soviet Union, as well as the first visits of Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama to the former Czechoslovakia. [url=http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Gate_Picturehouse/News/Item/Vaclav_Havel_Prague_Castle_Q_A/]Cinema Gate Booking Link[/url]