Jiří Menzel is living his 75th Capricious Summer
A photography exhibition accompanying his new film Don Juans and his memoir writing

Director Jiří Menzel’s important jubilee will be commemorated by a unique exhibition based on his works.  His wife, Olga, has prepared the exhibition with her company, MEDIALOGUE, s.r.o. as a birthday present. The exhibition consists of photographs and popular phrases from Menzel’s films and is based on documents, books, posters and screenplays from the Oscar director’s private archive.

Olga Menzelová Kelymanová, producer and Jiří Menzel’s wife, has commented the origin of the exhibition: “I’ve been preparing exhibitions of photographs and documents for years so it was just natural to prepare one for Jiří.  This year’s jubilee was a good reason for preparing an exhibition.  It is, however not a monument built to him and his works, but just a reminder of what he is doing for people, both in his films and in theatre.  I am really impressed by how my colleague Veronika Gondová, the author, approached to the exhibition and I am sure people will like it.”

The exhibition is a collage of mostly unpublished photographs located on fifteen double-sided panels. Visitors will be able to see photographs from the films Larks on the String, Closely Watched Trains, My Sweet Little Village and more accompanied with popular quotations: 

“It’s OK. You had a good luck Jaromír. It’s just beside it. It won’t affect the function.”“Do you mean the function of plant breeder?” “Oh, definitely …” (My Sweet Little Village)

“In fact he doesn’t take a brick in his hand, but he’s a respectable professional.” “He’s an expert. He has built three villas here in this way.” (Seclusion Near a Forest)

“The project is not a detailed retrospective mapping the complete works and life of the author.  It is actually a humorous display of unique snaps and popular quotations from the director’s films as well as a reminder and revelation of interesting events from the other spheres of his activities.  The text part of the exhibition, moreover, includes the first passages from the memoirs that Jiří Menzel is working on at the moment,” adds Veronika Gondová, the author of the exhibition. The exhibition precedes the premiere of Jiří Menzel’s new film Don Juans.

Project implementation    
The project was prepared by Medialogue, s.r.o. in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, the Czech Center in New York and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles with the support of the Municipal Government of the Capital City of Prague.

General Partner of the Project:
PSJ, a.s.

Partners of the Project:
ALUKOV HZ spol. s r.o.

 See www.www.medialogue.cz for current information on the exhibition.