After an uncertain start, the Prague International Film Festival has been proved a success with many screenings selling out and a healthy number of international stars in attendance after an uncertain start, the Czechs in the last two weeks have defied their critics with a determined effort. They have so far seen off the opposition, they have unearthed some genuine stars, and are now firmly among the top outfits in Europe. As the beer flows and the car horns blare in Wenceslas square, the people of Prague have united behind the heroic performances by the Czech Republic's football team.

Comparisons with this year's Prague International Film Festival are a little fanciful, but the festival has also grown in confidence during the last week, after a shaky start. The presence of big names such as Peter Greenaway and Andrzej Wajda, along with Nikita Mikhalkov and jury chairman Max Von Sydow at tonight's closing party, make it the second hottest ticket in town today (after the wedding of Czech football star Vladimir Smicer).

Many of programme director John Riley's selections have been vindicated. The Polish retrospective and the Wajda tribute, examples of his insistence that the festival celebrate the achievements of central and eastern European cinema, have been among the most popular screenings.

His decision, with the Maverick sidebar, to focus on an auteur European filmmaker such as Peter Greenaway has proven a big hit with Prague audiences, who have clearly enjoyed seeing his visual splendours on a cinema screen. They have also appreciated the chance to see an almost complete retrospective of his work, rather than the sort of three- or five- film selection offered by other festivals.

The Rack focus on Iceland's filmmakers has been popular and offers a lesson for Czech filmakers about creating a distinctive national cinema which nevertheless manages to appeal to international audiences.

This is also the case with the young bloods of American independent cinema who have once again provided some of the festival's hot tickets, especially among Prague's thriving American community. and Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse and (not-so-young) Ulu Grosbard's Georgia were among the sellouts.

The Czechs have also started to get behind the festival. Evidence of how a festival can connect to a community was offered at the screening of Melissa Hacker's documentary My Knees were Jumping: Remembering the Kinder Transports. The film recounted the story of the children evacuated from central Europe (including Czechoslovakia) to England in 1939. Some of those children, who managed to return hereafter the war, were among the audience at this week's screening, nearly 60 years later. Such moments serve to remind us, as a good film festival should, of the power of film to touch people's lives.

Nick Thomas

Po nejistém zaãátku vzali âe‰i vítr z plachet v‰em svùm kritikÛm. Zatím stihli vyÞadit soupeÞe, blùskli se nûkolika novùmi jmény svûtového formátu a jejich hvûzda se rozzáÞila na evropském nebi. Zatímco automobilové klaxony zní Václavskùm námûstím a pivo teãe proudem, PraÏané se sjednotili nad hrdinskùmi vùkony ãeského fotbalového tùmu.

Srovnání s Mezinárodním praÏskùm filmovùm festivalem znûjí moÏná trochu fantasknû, ale také festival po jistùch poãáteãních nesrovnalostech získal to správné tempo. Úãast takovùch jmen jako je Peter Greenaway, Andrzej Wajda a Max Von Sydow v roli porotce na dne‰ním slavnostním ukonãení dûlá z veãera druhou nejvût‰í událost dne (hned po svatbû ãeské fotbalové hvûzdy JiÞího ·micra).

Volba vût‰iny filmÛ, vybranùch pro festival programovùm Þeditelem Johnem Rileym, se ukázala jako správná. Retrospektiva polskùch filmÛ a zvlá‰tû pásmo filmÛ Andrzeje Wajdy stejnû jako ostatní stÞedoevropské a vùchodoevropské snímky patÞily mezi nejpopulárnûj‰í a nejnav‰tûvovanûj‰í.

Ze sekce Na vlastní pûst, v níÏ se Riley rozhodl zamûÞit na dílo originálního evropského reÏiséra Petera Greenawaye, se stal v prÛbûhu festivalu doslova hit. Praωtí diváci, kteÞí kaÏdù den plnili vût‰inou vyprodaná pÞedstavení jeho filmÛ, ocenili také moÏnost vidût Greenawayovo dílo témûÞ kompletní. To divákÛm ostatní festivaly obvykle neumoÏÀují.

Sekce RozostÞeno, zamûÞená na islandskù film, prezentovala celou Þadu pozoruhodnùch projektÛ. Zde pÞedstavená islandská kinematografie by mohla bùt pro ãeské filmaÞe lekcí jak dûlat „domácí film, kterù mÛÏe zároveÀ promlouvat i k zahraniãním divákÛm.

Podobnû tomu bylo s filmovou mladou krví v Americkém nezávislém filmu. Lístky na snímky z této sekce patÞily mezi nejprodávanûj‰í a u pokladen jste mohli vidût hlavnû ãleny praÏské americké komunity. Filmy Welcome to the Dollhouse Toda Solondze a Georgia Ulu Grosbarda byly zcela vyprodány.

Festival mûl i jiné dimenze neÏ pouhé promítání vybranùch filmÛ. To, jak se obãas podaÞí navázat kontakt s diváky, se ukázalo napÞíklad pÞi promítání dokumentu Melissy Hacker My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (Kolena se mi tÞásla: Vzpomínky na dûtskù transport). Film se zabùvá osudem Ïidovskùch dûtí, evakuovanùch v roce 1939 ze stÞední Evropy (vãetnû âeskoslovenska) do Anglie. Nûkteré z tûchto dûtí, kterùm se sem po válce podaÞilo vrátit, se tento tùden zúãastnily promítání. Takové chvíle nám pÞipomínají, jakou moc ovlivÀit lidské Ïivoty mÛÏe film mít. A to by mûla bùt i úloha kaÏdého filmového festivalu.

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