Originally a management graduate in Germany, festival director Martin Pachovsky worked for 10 years with Czechoslovak Film Export as head of international co-productions, until in 1991 he formed his own production company, Alfa Films, with - among others - cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek, well-known for his collaboration with Milos Forman on such films as Amadeus.

Alfa Films has specialised in facilitating foreign productions in the Czech Republic, most recently Jean Pierre Prevost's Le Rat de Bibliothèque (The Library Rat), and most significantly Alex Corti's Pochod Radeckiho (Radetzky's March), a two-part, FF80 (US$411) million French-Czech-German-Austrian feature starring Jury Chairman Max von Sydow, which will receive its theatrical world premiere at the festival on Sunday.

"Although there is no longer the same financial advantage to filming in Central Europe - prices have gone up considerably - international producers can still benefit from our locations and facilities, as well as skilled technicians. The festival has invited some 30 foreign filmmakers to meet with their Czech colleagues in the hope that they will instigate a series of joint ventures," Pachovsky says.

To create a film festival ambience in the Palác Kultury, four floors in the North side of the building - with the imposing view of Prague's skyline - have been redecorated by production designer Jindrich Smetana, providing cafes, restaurants and "an atmosphere which should encourage audiences to visit the place not just for the screenings, but to stay on for cocktails and laughter," adds Pachovsky.

And although he has not imported the glitz and glamour from Cannes, he has been inspired to copy an essential element of the festival on the Cote d'Azur - Le Petit Carlton, the traditional terminus for festival regulars, will have a Prague equivalent, with a happy hour every night from 22.00 hours at the Palác Kultury's Film Café.

Jørn Rossing Jensen

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