Monday, 18 July 2016 Issue 125 l newsstand price CZK 24/¤ 1 l www.e15.cz

Trump or Hillary?Well-known Czech expats in America reflect on how they’ll vote at crunch timeTOP STORY pages 8–9

The next SpielbergHaving revived Star Wars, and declined the sequel, J. J. Abrams is hot propertyPROfile pages 12–13

Daniel Novák

The broad Evropská avenue is the key corridor leading from the west of Prague to Václav Havel Airport. Of late it has also beco-

me a major target for developers and real estate investors playing for a bonanza. Ka-rel Komárek, head of behemoth KKCG, is preparing to invest billions of crowns there, as are Czech Coal barons Vasil Bobela, Petr Pudil and Jan Dobrovský. Petr Kellner’s PPF group bought itself office headquar-ters in the location some years back. Now

Kellner, the wealthiest Czech, is set to build his Open Gate school on Evropská, at the site of the demolished Hotel Praha.

“In terms of office space, Evropská re-mains a relatively underdeveloped loca-le,” noted Katarina Wojtusiak, head of the office space division of consultancy firm CBRE. “For a long time, the area lacked both a metro connection and public ser-vices.” But then last year Prague’s A-line was extended all the way to the Nemocnice Motol station. The new underground line is thus proving a magnet for developers.

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Last year’s extension of the metro A-line prompted developers to turn their gaze towards the Prague 6 quarter. The area around the long thoroughfare Evropská now tops the rankings for the sheer number of planned office development projects. But local inhabitants are less than enthused, with intolerable road traffic being their chief anxiety

governmentPavel Otto

Until just lately it ap-peared that nothing stood in the way of

the construction of a new factory near Prague by US firm General Electric Avia-tion. But the multi-billion-crown investment has hit the bumpers thanks to a dis-agreement between finance minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and trade and industry mi-nister Jan Mládek (Social Democrat) over a financial injection required for the Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT). Under the deal, ČVUT is set to develop small and medium-sized airplane turboprop engines for the Americans, as well as motors for drones. They would not only be built in this country, but would also be designed, developed and tested here.

The theory doing the rounds is that Babiš does not want Mládek to gain politi-cal capital from one of the decade’s largest foreign in-vestments. And yet, back in January, the finance minister teamed up with PM Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrat) in the US to sign the very deal with GE Aviation that he is now seeking to revise. Speci-fically at issue is CZK 2.7bn which the government com-mitted to providing to ČVUT for the training of hundreds of engineers and develop-ment of motors. These funds should later be reimbursed by way of EU grants.

“The ministry of finance is expressing objections against misleading claims, according to which GE Aviation fun-damentally rejects subsidy support,” says the finance ministry. “The ministry sup-ports [the project], but simply does not want it to go ahead in

news2/3

GE investment turns political footballState cannot be a servant in a relationship with the investor, says finance minister Babiš

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Gov’t shuts out road toll rivals

Nazi silencing

of the bells finally ended

Not long ago three new bells arrived at the Church of

the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and

St. Charles the Great in Prague’s Karlov district. Created in

Poland, the bells will chime in the autumn,

following a blessing by Cardinal Dominik

Duka, the Archbishop of Prague. The late-

-Gothic-style Church, consecrated in 1377, has lacked any large

bells since WWII, when they were

confiscated by the Nazi authorities

Plenty of allure. The GE Aviation investment would mean decent wages for highly qualified personnel, and a chance for the Czech Republic to play a technological development role in a prestigious field

Pavel Otto

After a sharp exchange of opi-nions, the cabinet approved a three-year extension to the Kapsch contract for the opera-tion of the electronic road toll system. The 2017-2019 sup-plementary deal, worth CZK 6bn, has been granted witho-ut the calling of a tender that would force Austria’s Kapsch to outdo rival bids. The state should earn around CZK 10bn annually from the toll operati-on. The anti-monopoly office and courts of law may test the new arrangement’s legality. But prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrat) said any possible tender that might eventually see Kapsch replaced would only be rea-died by mid-2017.

The decision to go for the Kapsch extension was not unanimous. The Social Democrats said that the proposal of transport minister Dan Ťok (ANO) was opposed by

the Government Information Society Council [RVIS] and a regional development ministry working group. “I am glad that the government has accepted our arguments and has supported the only pragmatic solution,” said Ťok. Although it gave permission to Ťok to negotiate the extended deal’s details with Kapsch, the cabinet did not vote on the recommendation to proceed without a tender, instead simply noting it.

A key factor was the stan-dpoint of Ťok’s ANO party colleague and regional de-velopment minister Karla Šlechtová. “It’s always the case that in undeclared negotiation procedures the transport mi-nistry must demonstrate that it has undertaken all steps to rid itself of, or remove, depen-dence on the current supplier. Our stance was that the reaso-ning which transport presen-ted is in line with the law on public orders,” she said.

a manner that is beneficial on all fronts for the given com-pany, while the Czech state – meaning taxpayers – bear the overwhelming majority of costs and risks.”

According to the ministry, GE believes that the govern-ment will provide no-strings start-up support in the order of CZK 2.7bn, which the firm will use up and only then deci-de whether to truly establish production in the Czech Re-public.

But Mládek rejects such concerns. “I would very much like to believe that the dispute is centred around the finan-cial participation of the state and has nothing to do with issues of ‘prestige’, because a simpler solution could be found,” he told E15.

Furthermore, the trade and industry ministry is of-fering to help shoulder the costs of offering subsidies to ČVUT, it says.

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Jan Pavec

The Prague Public Transport Company [DPP] has put out invitations to tender in another attempt at securing new buses with air conditioning. Its three commissions call for an overall supply of 500 vehicles. DPP anticipates spending around CZK 2.95bn. The extent of the tender markedly exceeds that of the originally prepared plans and a subsequent cancelled bidding contest.

“The announced commissi-ons arise from the long-term plan to revive the vehicle fleet,” DPP spokesperson Jiří Štábl told E15. “Given the intended [bus] service life of 12 years, it is necessary to annually pur-chase an average 100 buses,” he added.

The bidding conditions re-main similar to those of the previous tender – the buses should be contractually pro-vided across five years, and bidders must verify that they have sufficiently met a range of

similar contracts in the prece-ding three years. According to daily Lidové noviny, in the pre-vious tender eliminated bidders Iveco and Solaris complained about the allegedly over-strict evaluation commission, which threw out their bids because they did not fulfil formal con-ditions.

DPP wants to deploy during

the coming five years the new buses on most of its routes including the service to Pra-gue airport. The airport route could also see plans for enviro-friendly electric or gas buses come to fruition. Last year, the public transport compa-ny bought 10 short midibuses, 40 standard buses and 16 long jointed buses.

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Boom on changed DlouháMedia-savvy businessmen, American entrepreneurs, seasoned restaurateurs – all have swarmed of late to Dlouhá street just off Prague’s Old Town Square. Twenty years ago, the street was chiefly known as a magnet for late-night revellers thanks to the presence of music club Roxy. Today, Dlouhá is very much transforming into a locale frequented by those drinking beer – and stronger stuff – as well those in search of good food. New pubs and bars are springing up like mushrooms after the rain...

DPP calls air-con buses tender

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Don’t wing it the summer holidays are under way and seve-ral airlines have cause to celebrate. A freshly-released world’s top airlines ranking for the diligent traveller arrives courtesy of British airline industry consultan-cy Skytrax. What better time to release it than the tourist high season? In all, Skytrax processed millions of customer reviews across 41 categories. Specifically: 19.2 million passengers across 104 countries evaluated over 280 carriers. Catering, comfort levels and customer service were among scored criteria. Emirates came out on top, beating 2015 winners Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines. Turkish Airways and Germany’s Lufthansa received the best ratings of Europe’s carriers. In low-cost, Malaysia-based Air Asia

impressed most, battling its way to 23rd. Rock bottom of the World’s Top 100 Airlines – 2016 list was Indian carrier SpiceJet.Some conclusions? For one, Arab and Asian carriers are field leaders, focusing on comfort and top-quality customer service. And they enjoy a strong reputation in Europe – at the expense of local carriers. So is the new rule-of-thumb: fly with an Arab or Asian airline and you can’t go wrong? Ticket prices have been favourably low for a long time now. Of course, the destination often automa-tically determines the carrier and, presently, far-off exotic destinations are proving less of a draw. While, unfortuna-tely, for short flights across Europe, the ranking may not be such a relevant aid to finding the ideal flight.

Stop f***ing about?music publisher Bigg Boss has released a rap video serving as a declaration of its opposition to so-called symbols of hysteria in the Czech public sphere. The musicians behind the song, Czech rap group Peneři strýčka Homeboye, or PSH, call for greater detachment, love, ideological variety and freedom. The clip is called “Fuck Off”.The list of those blamed in the song for today’s state of affairs is long – asides from Zeman, there’s Anti-Islam Bloc leader Martin Konvička, neo-Nazi musician Tomáš Ortel and the similarly far-right minded heavy metal musician Aleš Brichta. The video also points the finger at those fond of such figures, lampooning a materialistic

and panic-ridden public obsessed with cooking, discount shopping, and, more and more, seeking “radical solutions” to today’s problems.Further “fucks” are aimed at those who’ve failed to fulfil their dreams, haven’t tried hard enough or have “wasted” their lives. In the uncompromising rap music world, even such harsh words amount to weak tea. In terms of Bigg Boss’ stated efforts to cultivate a better public space, one has to question if such finger-wagging at the supposedly less-than-adequate is the right answer. After all, surely they too are able to manifest their “Fuck off!” But instead of making music videos, all they need is the ballot paper.

Jan Vávra’s notebook

Igor Záruba’s notebook

4/5

brewing industryDušan Kütner

If only they could improve their crop yields, Czech hop growers would stand

to make a small fortune. The microbreweries boom, seen both in this country and across North America, would take care of that. But the hop exporters have so far missed out, with their harvests pro-ving insufficient during years of late.

Hop growers are thus awai-ting the results of this year’s harvests with added tension. “If the harvests are abundant then the level of contracted volumes will surely climb. We estimate that it would be possi-ble for the American market to over two or three years absorb so many hops that it would lift the Czech export volume by around 100 percent,” said Pavel Šponer, commercial director of largest Czech hop exporter Bohemia Hop.

The heightened interest in world-famous Czech hops

was clear to those hop growers who attended the recent Craft Breweries Conference in Phila-delphia, now a regular date on the calendar for microbrewe-ries. “In terms of our hops, we’ve heaps of newly interested parties in the craft breweries segment of the US and also in Canada, including some of the biggest in the top 10 and top 20,” added Šponer.

But, observed Šponer, the forecast output capacity of Czech hop growing has been pre-sold for the next several ye-ars. That is the case even thou-gh the Czech Republic is only the third biggest hop cultivator in the world, behind Germany and the US. Czech hop farmers have experienced weak har-vests during three of the past four years. “We’ll hold on to the new contacts. But unfortuna-tely we’ll only be closing new trades with the new harvests if we see above average crop yields,” Šponer said.

Given the growing demand, hop growers are endeavouring to expand the amount of land

given over to hop cultivation. A decline that set in during the nineties saw the land area fall to a record low of 4,319 hecta-

res in 2013. Since then there has been a gradual improve-ment. Last year, the area was recorded at 4,783 hectares, the

peak figure of the last six years. Hop cultivators are targeting more than 5,000 hectares wi-thin a few years.

Farmers hopping mad at harvestsPoor hop crops mean growing demand from North American breweries can’t be met

Another renaissance for chateau LalottaAt the end of the 19th century, factory owner Hans Kropf built Lalotta, a Renaissance Revival chateau in the outlying district of Prague-Hodkovičky. The latest chapter in the history of this architectural gem – once owned by Přemysl Šámal (1867-1941), a First Republic politician who served as chancellor to presidents of Czechoslovakia Tomáš G. Masaryk and Edvard Beneš – has seen it completely restored with the use of period photographs. Its new interior was created partly thanks to the efforts of Bořek Šípek, the internationally acclaimed architect and designer who passed away in February. The current owner of Lalotta is selling the property after owning it for nearly 20 years

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A heady brew. Back in the 1970s there were only around one hundred craft breweries in the US. Sharp growth, seen at the end of the past decade, meant that by last year the number had brewed up to 4,225

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“In many places, Evropská falls short of being the kind of ave-nue which connects an interna-tional airport with the centre of a metropolis, and which for many people is in fact a point of entry not just into Prague, but also into the Central European region,” said Martin Churavý, spokesperson for Prague 6 municipal authority.

BPD Development, opera-ted by Bobela, Pudil and Dob-rovský, has already built the Blox administrative centre just a stone’s throw from the lar-ge square of Vítězné náměstí. Internet giant Amazon, mean-while, has established an inter-national centre at this site.

The erstwhile coal barons are now planning on tying into that project with a new nearby office building called Telehouse.

The Bořislavka shopping and office complex represents another major project for Ev-

ropská. Karel Komárek’s KKCG group is preparing the deve-lopment near the A-line’s Bo-řislavka metro station. Back in the spring, Prague 6 approved zoning changes to enable the project to go ahead. However, several citizens’ associations have appealed this decision, and so now the wait is on for autho-rities to reassess the project.

In the meantime, the deve-loper is moving forward with its plans. “Our architects are working on the project in pre-paration for gaining a building permit,” said project spokesper-son Václav Sochor. “At the same time we are preparing a tender process to find a general con-tractor. We plan on initiating construction at the start of next year.” The planned centre will benefit from the relocation of Sazka, among others.

Israeli developer AFI Euro-pe is also planning an entirely new office project on Evrop-ská. But so far the details re-main secret.

business

Office Eldorado

Daniel Novák

Prices for older (non-new build) apartments grew 8.4 percent year on year in the Czech Re-public during the first quarter of this year, while flats outside Prague experienced a price leap of 9.3 percent. The num-bers, released by the Czech Statistical Office [ČSÚ], show prices strengthening far in ex-cess of inflation. They are partly explained by the severe price decline that occurred during the recession. In all, prices have not yet crossed the average seen in 2010.

The spread ‘scissor blades’ demonstrating the apartment market differences between the capital and the rest of the coun-try are also opened wide in the case of new build properties. The vast majority of new flats are being built within Prague.

It is mainly apartments in Brno that are costing far above the national average, according to the analysis of developer Tri-gema. Also expensive are flats in the northern Královéhra-

decký region. But this region’s figures are skewed by expensive apartments in Krkonoše [The Giant Mountains]. “The diffe-rences between the capital city and the regional cities are huge. Not one of the regional cities is at all approaching [Prague’s] overall volume of transactions,” said Miroslav Linhart, head of the real estate department at consultancy firm Deloitte.

That fact is one reason why the statisticians currently only monitor new build price de-

velopment in the capital. The first-quarter figures show that the upward development seen in this segment is slacker than in the case of older dwellings. In the first three months, it re-ached a year on year tempo of 3.7 percent. “The demand for new build homes is being kept up by the record low mortgage interest rates and the anticipa-ted positive development of the national economy,” said Evžen Korec, general director of de-veloper Ekospol.

Flat prices: dizzying upwards spiral

France denies insecticide users bite of the cherry marketFrance has announced it is to stop importing cherries from countries that use anti-fruit fly insecticide dimethoate, saying that health risks could not be excluded on the basis of available data. Italy and Spain are also to make the move. The Czech Republic is on the French list of nine countries that the ban covers, but domestic cherry growers said they never exported their produce to France and never used dimethoate. France imported around 7,000 tonnes of cherries in 2014, while its domestic production amounted to 47,000 tonnes, according to figures from farm office FranceAgriMer. Observers said the move could be designed to protect French cherry cultivators from Turkish imports

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up and down

David Cameron Former British PM

He gambled on winning the ‘Brexit’ referendum to settle the age-old EU membership row plaguing the Conservative Party and preserve his premiership – and lost. Last Wednesday, he was replaced by Theresa May.

Mark Zuckerberg CEO-chairman, Facebook

A group of Israeli and American citizens is suing Facebook for USD 1bn, claiming its services facilitated fatal Palestinian Hamas militant attacks on their relatives in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.

Miroslav Jarolím Executive director, Jablotron Group

Owner of the security systems firm Dalibor Dědek has sold the executive and commercial director 40 percent of the business. Dědek described Jarolím as a “capable successor”. From small origins, the group, founded in 1990, grew to record turnover of CZK 2.6bn last year.

Karel Feix CEO, Kapsch

His company has benefited from Czech delays in drawing up a new tender for a motorway toll system contract. Rivals have been denied the chance to challenge its existing deal.

Szabolcs Hajdu Director

Szabolcs Hajdu’s sharply observed portrait of dysfunctional Hungarian couples “It’s Not the Time of My Life” scored the Grand Prix in Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Ignazio Visco Bank of Italy governor

State capital intervention may be needed to support private Italian banks to counter mistrust threatening the Italian financial system, said the central bank governor.

E15 weekly, economic and business news magazine | www.e15.cz Igor Záruba, Executive Editor, igor.zaruba@cninvest.cz; Marian Hronek, Editor,marian.hronek@cninvest.cz | Translation: TextMasters, textmasters@textmasters.czContact: Adéla Nová, Secretary | Call (+420) 225 977 668Postal address: Komunardů 1584/42, 170 00 Praha 7 | Published CN Invest a. s., Pařížská 130/26, 110 00 Praha 1 Josefov, IČ 04312945 Advertising: Šárka Kamarýtová, Sales Manager, sarka.kamarytova@cncenter.cz Production and distribution: Monika Šnaidrová, Executive Manager, monika.snaidrova@cninvest.cz | Registration: E 21420 E15 weekly, ISSN 2464-711X Reprints & Permissions: The Publisher will consider requests for reprints or any other reproduction | Printed by EuRoPRINT a. s.

Prepare to pay extra. The high prices of apartments in brick housing is also driving up demand for panel building flats, according to real estate company Maxima Reality

opinion

joke

6/7

Jana Havligerová’s diary

Not pay-grade monkeysCzech deputies and senators are certainly no B-leaguers. And anyone thinking that MPs are unable to earn a living doing anything other than sitting in the lower or upper houses of parliament, would be very much mistaken. Asides from those who entered politics as already we-althy individuals, such as Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09), Andrej Babiš (ANO) and Synot owner Ivo Valenta, last year’s MP income declarations reveal that ANO’s Jaroslav Faltýnek, chairman of the party’s parliamentary caucus, is also a ‘millionaire’, ha-ving received CZK 2.38m in his capacity as an Agrofert board member. And ANO MP David Kasal made about a million as the chief surgeon of a hospital in Chrudim. Additionally, Jiří Zlatuška took home a CZK 1.7m paycheck for services rendered at Masaryk University. Mean-while, Social Democrat deputy Jan Birke came in just shy of a million, receiving CZK 960,000 for leading the supervisory bo-ard of the Czech Republic-China Chamber. The second job of the last person cited in the above list, namely Birke, is at least in service of the government’s agenda – to help cultivate trade ties with a country high up the Czech Republic’s list of economic partners...

Martin Konvička, former head of the Bloc Against Islam, is facing a lawsuit filed by Brno politician Svatopluk Bartík (Žít Brno). At issue is a Konvička event entitled “Ramadan Czech-style”, and specifically a de-monstrative burning of a Koran which formed part of said event. To explain – during the first week of July, anti-Islam activists arranged a week-long celebra-tion of “our cultural traditions” in front of a mosque in Brno. Asides from burning a copy of the Koran, they drank beer, ate goulash, and eyed-up scantily clad females. It probably doesn’t amount to criminal intent, but on the other hand it’s probably about time that Konvička got his comeuppance.

Signed, sealed and delivered. Large shopping centres will have to close their doors during seven national holidays. But we doubt it is the final word – one could write entire books about Czechs’ weaknesses for shopping centres on non-work days. As the Third Commandment states – Sunday should be a day of rest. In neig-hbouring Germany, for example, the law mandates that Sundays are precisely that. But good luck seeing a step like that passed by this government before the next election...

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inzerce

package – only a tiny percen-tage of users then decide to upgrade to a paid version.

Such a business model is known as “freemium” and is common in the world of soft-ware. It has certainly helped both Avast and AVG to attain their current market posi-tions. In the case of security software, “freemium” has one additional advantage – when the free antivirus programme detects something suspicious, then not only does it defend a user’s computer, but the program also “phones home”. This means that company he-adquarters have, in effect, an army of control scouts out in the field reporting on the spre-ad of dangerous software. The-

re could hardly be a better sys-tem to help in the battle against malware. The merger of both companies will no doubt create an even more effective system, with an even larger monitoring scope. No other company on earth even approaches this potential.

The merger of the two firms’ developer teams also represents a major consoli-dation. There is no shortage of software programmers in the world; but the difference between an average one and an excellent one is the diffe-rence between night and day. The new Avast will be able to set out in multiple directions

simultaneously – focusing on the traditional field of PC safe-ty; on mobile devices; and also on the newest, largest and most problematic field, the “internet of things”.

The result could also see an interesting fusion taking place among the Czech Republic’s top export goods. For exam-ple, what if Škoda cars could gain a new reputation for be-ing the most resistant in the world to software attacks? All while users of rival brands could not be quite as certain that their vehicles will not fall prey to hackers... And what if the future biotechnologies of our Czech breweries were protected in a similar way? Be-cause software is playing an

ever greater role in our world, and software in itself is incre-asingly becoming a key pillar of infrastructure, meaning its protection extends far beyond the needs of tech experts and into the daily lives of us all. Simply put: software security is a component of our general security. And the Czech Re-public is now home to the most significant player in this field. Setting politics aside, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on that fact – for we Czechs are well entitled to savour a little national pride...

The author is an E15 magazine contributor

The merger of technology firms AVG and Avast is worthy of major attention. It is a significant event not just within the hi-tech sector, but for the entire Czech economy

Cars, beer and anti-virus software – such could be the revised list of the

Czech Republic’s best exports. It’s not a bad list, and inclu-des both tradition as well as a nod to the future and prin-ciples such as innovation and advanced skills. Add to that, all three of these sectors are unmistakably useful and in

demand – future sales are gu-aranteed.

The acquisition of AVG by Avast represents a business event of the first order. Not only for the hi-tech sector, but for the national economy as a whole. The merger of these two domestic giants will lead to the creation of a true behemo-th, unassailably number one in its field as far as user numbers are concerned. Incidentally, the tally of users is fast appro-aching half a billion. However, in the financial sense, even af-ter the merger, Avast will still not be top dog. That’s because the majority of its “customers” make use of its free anti-virus

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Petr Koubský

The new Avast will focus on the newest, largest and most problematic internet field, the “internet of things”

Time for a little national pride

“Your insurance won’t pay for an expensive procedure, so we’ll be doing your colonoscopy with my cell phone camera.”

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top story

The most important elections since Reagan

Miroslav Cvrček

MILAN ZELENÝeconomist, Fordham University, New York

1. I mostly don’t vote in US elections, because I am an advocate of direct democracy and  not  voting for  delegates. Furthermore, I do not consi-der the win-ner-takes-all system to be a democratic one, because it  throws  up to 49 percent of  voices  into the  proverbial wastebasket. The president is not elec-ted by voters, but rather by an 18th century electo-ral college system. Which is why I only vote when I am so enthralled by a candidate that the results don’t matter to me – meaning more from a sense of preserving my own sense of integrity. I never vote for the lesser of two evils, because by definition that still  involves electing an “evil”. And I never vote for anyone simply because they enjoy the support of the masses; rather the converse – I tend not to trust the majority.2. Right now, the sensation-seeking media is fuelling the propagation of Trump,  elevating  his  non-sequitur outbursts, which appeal to the lowest 

common denominator in our society. We are witnessing a complete regress of so-called party “democracy” towards an Antediluvian form, in which both 

political parties have failed to come to terms with 

either national or international 

socialism – meaning Trump a n d San -ders. B u t t h e true bre-

aking point 

is  still in Ame-

r i c a ’ s future. 

3. I real-ly  cannot 

imagine  an America led by Trump. It would lead to the signifi-cant atrophying of Ame-rican  society,  culture, politics and economics. And it would further divi-de an already divided, tra-ditionally dependable and driven, society. As in the Czech Republic, the greatest price would be paid by the majority who put in power an oligarch like this.  With Clinton I can only imagine a continuation of Obama’s policies under new conditions 

– meaning the further sidestepping of attempts to solve the economic, poli-tical and foreign policy problems of American society. I don’t intend to vote for either of these visions. In terms of America’s future, I see a growing and una-voidable relative autono-my and self-governance by individual states.

JAN TŘÍSKAactor

1. I already voted for Hillary Clinton du-ring the Californian primaries. 2. But the key moment won’t be until Novem-ber 8.

3. I can easily imagine a President Hil-lary, because I hope that she will be 

as good as Pre-sident Oba-

ma.

IGOR LUKEŠ

history and inter-national relations professor, Boston

University

1. I intend to vote, because voting is not just a privilege but a civic duty. And for whom will I vote? That is simple. This won’t be an election about mere cosmetic differences. Absolutely everything will be at stake this time. Because Trump is entirely unprepared for the post of president. In itself that need not be a catastrophe. For Truman, too, 

didn’t know much about the world when the office fell on his shoulders. 

But Truman did possess a  sense of responsibility, a longing to learn, and a great sense of humility. Conversely, 

Come November, a number of Czechs with US citizenship will be among those voting in the American presidential elections.

Reflex magazine contacted some such expats for their take on the trials and tribulations of today’s America – as well as the crucial question of how they intend to vote

Trump is a shallow know-it-all. It would be a third term for (Václav) Klaus.  Such a person cannot be allowed to become president of a nuclear superpower.2. Senator  McCain  and  Governor Romney,  the  previous  Republican candidates  for  president,  were American  patriots.  Not  everyone agreed with their views, but surely no-one doubted their honour, seriousness, and their respect for the office of the president. In contrast to that Trump will  say  and  do  anything  that  pops into his head. For me, the key moment  came when the two worst people on the planet praised Trump – namely Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin. Anyone considering voting for Trump should think long and hard about this fact.3. An America  led by  a  President Trump  is  one I  can  only imagine  as some kind of comedy sketch – a l b e i t one that s o o n t r a n s -f o r m s i n t o a  never-ending ho-rror  story. America  un-der Hillary will be open and pro-gressive at home, but on the international scene will probably be under the thumbs of powerful lobbyists pushing for further escapades in the Middle East, for exam-ple in Syria.

IVAN PASSERdirector

1. Hillary Clinton. She is the most qua-lified of all the candidates.2. Victory for Clinton in the Democratic primaries.3. Will  likely  be  very  similar  to the  America  under  President  Bill Clinton.

MIROSLAV VITOUŠmusician (founding member of Weather Report) 1. I would vote for Clinton, so as to prevent Trump becoming pre-sident!!2. I  don’t know,   as I don’t follow politics  clo-sely.3. I believe that if Trump became president,  then we  would  pretty soon  find  ourselves in World War III.   That individual lacks even a drop of tolerance, nor has he the slightest  patience.  His fuse is so short it ba-rely exists at all.

RUDY LINKAmusician (once descri-bed by US magazine Down Beat as one of the top 10 jazz gui-tarists in the

world)

1 . My vote is going  to Hi l l ary Clinton, because I am not a  maso-chist.2. Simi-

larly to the way that Mi-

khail Sergeye-vich Gorbachev 

once orchestrated the demise of the Po-

litburo of the USSR, now Donald Trump is seeking to do the very same to the Republican Party. And he is doing a very good job...3. With Trump, America would have a very sexy First Lady and everyone would have to learn to mow their own lawns. With Hillary, America will have the most likeable First Gentleman in its entire history...

IVAN KRÁLmusician(Patti Smith, Iggy Pop)

1. One  doesn’t say,  and  it 

doesn’t do to ask.

2. I am f o l -

lowing the cam-

p a i g n , sadly.  Each 

day  the  news reaches us,  and  it 

is so sad to watch. Some-thing has begun here the likes of which I have never seen before. Suddenly you are hearing the same news on 30 chan-nels. And that is also tied to what is going on in Europe. In the past, whe-never something happened in Europe, America helped. But now there is the kind of fear in the air which I have never before experienced.3. It is diametrical. These really are the most  impor-

tant elections since the time of Reagan, when I voted for the first time – at stake is the very America that I know.

LACO DÉCZISlovak-American jazz trumpeter

1. Definitely Donald Trump, because he is a good person, even if here in Europe peop- le have a distor-

ted  view, b e -

cau-se  they 

don’t  know that politicians lie a lot. Donald speaks quite openly, and we are not used to hearing that. Imagine if America was led by Hillary Clinton – scandal-ridden, a liar, a small-town girl who barely even knows New York [which she represen-ted as a Senator –Ed.].  Nor do I want to imagine what might happen if a pre-sident got period pains!2. I hope that Trump wins. He is a real man, the same as Reagan was. I know people who work for him... He real-ly is not a crackpot, as many people believe. He simply speaks the truth, expressing what is on many people’s minds; expressing our fears – that he will happily deport Muslims who are not integrating, and that the wall – if it really is built – should be paid for by Mexico, since they are the ones causing the problems [at the border]!3. I believe that he will actually try to achieve the things he has determined should be done. Even now he is saying 

that he can’t make a promise, but that he will try. In the end, even Obama achieved a few things, for exam-ple better access to healthcare for the poor. And while we are on the subject of Trump and Obama,  then Trump quite logically  rebuked  him  for travelling to Nagasaki and laying wreaths there. 

Taken from the magazine

Questions:1. Assuming you have decided

to vote in the US presidential elections, whom will you vote for?

2. What do you consider to be the key moment so far in the presidential campaign?

3. Can you imagine an America led by either a President Donald Trump or a President Hillary Clinton?

10/11

face to face

Phot

os: A

nna

Vack

ová

Michal Macourek

People want to keepprescription drugs face to face

Stanislav Šulc

Has your firm encountered the pro-blem of not being able to reach out to target groups buying pharmaceutical products online?Not at all. Internet-based sales of medicines are to a great extent fuelled by people who make regular purchases and know exactly what they want. For example, say you purchase the well-known Geriavit [a ginseng plant extract, vitamin and mineral anti-fatigue formula falling under the Pharmaton trademark made by US drugs firm Boehringer Ingelheim –Ed.] once every two or three months. You take it regularly and don’t need to undertake a consultation with a doctor or pharmacologist beforehand – you simply know that you need it. So you buy it online. That isn’t the same as purchasing a mobile. In the case of a phone, you have some general parameters and requirements, and when you visit your e-shop of choice,

Benu is the second largest pharmaceutical

chain in the Czech Republic. Last year, the firm entered the field of online sales, battling its way onto the top five in the country. “This year’s sales should climb as high as CZK 100m,” says Benu’s e-commerce manager Michal Macourek

you enter these to narrow your search and help you make a final selection.

So what do you see exactly in analyses of your online customers’ behaviour?What we see is that they don’t spend as much time clicking through the cate-gories on offer, but rather they directly use our search engine to type in the product which they are seeking.

What is the most common way that customers access your stores? Most often, in around 30 percent of ca-ses, they go directly to our website. That is the most advantageous method for us – because, for one, to us that is a free vi-sit. And secondly, these tend to be more loyal customers. Customers coming to us directly in this way also spend more. And their visits are more frequent. This also represents an important source of information for us about the reputation of the Benu brand.

So what are the other methods?The second most common method is via a PPC [pay-per-click – the advertiser must pay search engines a sum each time an ad is clicked –Ed.]. And the third most common is a combination of the above two approaches – first a customer comes by way of a spon-sored link shown by a search engine, but then the second time they enter our website address directly via their browser. We have been quite surprised that price comparison sites are only the fifth largest sales channel for us. In other sectors, that tends to be the other way round.

Can you describe an archetypal Benu customer?A typical customer of our online phar-macy is a woman aged between 30-40.

Is that not closely tied to which catego-ries of product are more popular?Of course. In general, non-prescription drugs enjoy the highest sales. Among these, food supplements represent a crucial segment – with joint and hair-oriented preparations the most popular. Dermatological cosmetics are another top seller.

Which products sell poorly?We expected medical supplies to show far stronger sales.

Is that because of relatively high prices?Mainly because very often customers decide to return goods. They buy some-thing online, like joint braces, then they find out they don’t fit properly. Which is why in this segment customers con-tinue to prefer traditional brick and mortar shopping, where they can try out something before buying.

Is there a difference in behaviour between urban customers, for exam-

ple in Prague, and rural and regional ones?Prague and Brno are crucial for us. We also have customers in the places our brick and mortar stores are loca-ted – because more than 80 percent of customers opt for in-person pickups of goods. At the same time, we don’t want to be issuing prescription medicines anywhere other than in pharmacies. There’s no chance of being able to pick up medicines or anything of the sort ordered from us via some outlet ope-ration in a newsagent, or anything like that. In the regions we are observing a gradual growth that is tied to a gene-ral increase in customers getting used to the idea of shopping for a range of products online.

Who created your e-shop? Did you pur-chase some pre-existing template?It was completely custom designed by a Czech contractor. Presently we are also building a mobile phone applica-tion version.

Your company is number two in terms of Czech brick and mortar pharmacy chains. What is your ranking in the on-line sales arena?

We are in the top five. But it is difficult to state that with any precision, because no-one makes public their detailed data. In first place is lékarna.cz, followed by Pilulka and Dr. Max, and Teta drogerie is also in the top five.

Your e-shop has been up and running sin-ce last October. Has it fulfilled your ex-pectations? After all, you were entering an already quite saturated market...This year we should see revenues of around CZK 100m. And we are hit-

ting our monthly targets. So we are succeeding – in fact, we are around 10 percent above our targets. The previ-ous quarter is crucial in this business in terms of assessing whether targets are being met. But Christmas is also a key period, as people are increasingly purchasing non-prescription medicines as presents. At the same time, that is the season when people catch colds.

What are your future aims?The hope for the ensuing years is to grow twice as fast as the market.

What percentage of Benu’s revenues are represented by online sales?In terms of the non-prescription sector, it is about five percent.

Can you describe the overall shape of the online pharmaceuticals market?It is very difficult to calculate, because it depends on what exactly you incorporate into the numbers. Medicines are actually a small segment, but then you have food supplements and children’s nutritional supplements – albeit these are also sold by other types of e-shops, including the largest ones such as Alza or Mall.cz. And then

dermatological cosmetics, which are a very strong sales item – they are also sold by specialist perfumery outlets. But in general, the working figure is that Czech online pharmaceutical stores have revenues of around CZK 2bn per year. Last year the numbers were just below this, and this year we are expecting roughly 20 percent growth.

Selling prescription drugs online has been the subject of much debate. Will

the legislation change to make the pro-cess easier?Probably not in the foreseeable future. And I myself am against the idea of selling prescription drugs online.

Why? You must surely be the only one in your industry with this view...There are a number of reasons. Among the main ones are the need for a con-sultation [over what you a receiving] with a pharmacist, which can even be at the root of why a later prescription is written. In the online sphere, this process could be quite problematic. Then there is the logistics side. Many prescription drugs are governed by very strict transportation require-ments, especially regarding tempera-ture exposure. And a carrier might not necessarily adhere to these. Which is why we still prefer personal pick-ups, even for non-prescription medication. And this is a service we offer for free. But interestingly, some countries do permit the online sale of prescription drugs. But even so it does not represent a major business sector. Basically, pe-ople don’t want to buy drugs this way. They prefer a one-on-one consultation with a pharmacist.

We are the first firm in the count-ry to offer customers the opportuni-ty to make an online reservation for a prescription medication.

Is this system fully up and running?We have a pilot programme opera-ting in four pharmacies in Prague. We will gradually introduce the sys-tem to around 30 of our pharmacies around the country throughout July. And then after that, into the rest of our network. The system works similarly to non-prescription medications. You use the e-shop to locate a medication according to its name or the number on a prescription. You select the pro-duct size and then the pharmacy at which you would like to pick up the item. One advantage is that you have the direct ability to see if the medica-tion is in stock, or, if not, when it will be. Then you receive an email or SMS notification that the drugs are ready to be picked up.

Do such messages contain payment in-formation?No. That is only settled in-person at a pharmacy.

Michal Macourek (33)Studied at the University of Eco-nomics, Prague (VŠE). Has been involved in the field of online sales since 2009, previously heading online retail efforts at Fotolab. Since 2015 has been e-commerce manager at the Benu pharmaceu-tical chain. Lives in Prague.

The average customer visiting our online pharmacies is a woman aged between 30-40

J. J. Abrams – A force awakened

12/13

profile

Serialised TV shows are all the rage. Top actors and producers are actively pursuing small screen fame. The television series Lost was the catalyst for this transformation, premiering on US

network ABC in September 2004. The chief talent behind the show, co-creator J. J. Abrams, can be described as one of the fathers of the modern television entertainment industry. After Lost, Abrams, who recently turned 50, went on to infuse new life into two huge big screen franchises – Star Trek and Star Wars

Stanislav Šulc

J. J. Abrams has always been a fan of epic storytelling. “As a boy, I was an avid reader; my parents were quite shocked by it,” he has said. Despite this literary fascination, it was moving pictures that would define his future career path. Both his parents, father Gerald and mother Carol Ann, worked in television produ-ction. And so like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas a generation earlier, little Jeffrey Jacob grew up surrounded by the world of the moving image. Which helps explain how the basic tenets of catchy storytelling made their way into Abrams’ blood, later to be put to use on both the small and large screens. “It‘s more important that you go off and learn what to make movies about than how to make movies,” today’s Hollywood su-perstar told BAFTA Guru in 2013, citing an adage learned from his father.

Trek to the topAbrams first found work in the film in-dustry at the tender age of 15, writing the music for Don Dohler‘s 1982 film Nightbeast. While still at university, he teamed up with Jill Mazursky to wri-te a treatment, which was bought by Touchstone Pictures. The pair was then assigned to write the script, which beca-me the 1990 comedy film Taking Care of Business. It was a largely forgettable effort, but for Abrams, it proved to be a crucial stepping stone.

Abrams’ creative touch has played a role in numerous well-known films such as Gone Fishin’ (1997), again te-aming up on scriptwriting duties with Jill Mazursky; Armageddon (1998), in which he co-wrote the script; and in assisting with pre-production on the blockbuster animated film Shrek (2001). In 1998, Abrams linked up with Matt Reeves to co-create his first television show, Felicity which aired on The WB Television Network from 1998-2002. In 2007 Time magazine ranked the colle-ge drama among its top 100 greatest TV shows of all time. But this series served as a mere springboard for later success.

A naughty robotThe main part of Abrams’ career be-gan in 2001, when he teamed up with Bryan Burk to found production com-pany Bad Robot. “I love the idea of an-thropomorphising machines. I love the idea of taking technology and giving it a personality,” Abrams told the New York Times in 2006. And it was via this company that Abrams would go on to co-produce a number of hit TV shows and films.

The first product off the Bad Robot production line was TV series Alias (2001–06), which is well-known to Czech viewers. The series revolves around a fe-male CIA double-agent played by actress Jennifer Garner. Along with co-executi-ve producers and writers Roberto Orci

and Alexem Kurtzman, Abrams created an attractive mix of action, spy thriller and sci-fi, which became a major pheno-menon at the start of the new millenni-um. The series ran for five seasons and picked up a host of awards, including four Emmys.

But at this time major filmmaking success still eluded Abrams. In 2001, Bad Robot made the Abrams’ co-penned horror Joy Ride. After this largely for-gotten film came a big screen lull which continued for six years.

Television smashSeptember 22, 2004 represents a key date not just in Abrams’ career but in the entire history of television entertainment. For this was the date on which the pilot epi-sode of the TV series Lost first aired on US televisi-on. The series would go on to become a major smash hit.

The success of Lost can be attribu-ted to three revolu-tionary principles. The first was the series’ approach to storytelling – Lost was not your average TV dra-ma built around a small group of staple characters. Rather, the show – which followed a group of 70 plane crash survi-vors stranded on a tropical island, mixed in elements of sci-fi and the supernatu-

ral. The end result enabled a rich array of different characters to rise and fall, as well as a liberal usage of

The third trick plugged into modern TV viewing habits. Many viewers across the world – using both legal platforms (DVD box sets or Apple’s iTunes) and pirate platforms – would watch entire series at a time, giving rise to the con-cept of “binge-viewing” done outside of the traditional weekly time-slot presen-tation offered by TV channels. Abrams and his team fuelled this phenomenon via a non-traditional construction of episodes, which would end just before the climax of a tense plotline. And so viewers would have no choice but to immediately fire up the next episode of the series. Lost perfectly reflects Abrams’ ethos, as expressed during a 2008 TED talk, that “maybe there are times when mystery is more important than knowledge”.

Big budget testIn 2006, following on from the success of Lost, Abrams was given the assign-ment of his dreams – to write and direct his first feature film, the second sequel in the Mission: Impossible series starring Tom Cruise (who also served as co-pro-ducer). M:I-3 was released just before Abrams’ 40th birthday. The film was both a critical and commercial success, with Abrams lauded for breathing new life into the film series, which kicked-off back in 1996. Many continue to consider M:I-3 the best of the hitherto five-part saga.

At this point Abrams’ entered a phase in which he seemed to have a golden touch. But his next major co-creating TV series effort, the sci-fi series Fringe, failed to meet sky-high expectations. Even so, Fringe still ran for five seasons (2008-13) and is considered to be a wor-thy and interesting effort. Next up came attempts to revive Bad Robot’s feature filmmaking capabilities. In 2008, the horror film, Cloverfield, produced by Abrams, served this purpose relatively well.

Then came a major challenge – Para-mount Pictures hired Abrams to revive and reboot the long-running Star Trek motion picture series (dormant since 2002). If not handled well, millions of Trek fans would certainly be ready to howl. But the USD 150m dollar effort was largely viewed as a shot in the arm for the series. A sequel, also directed by Abrams, followed in 2013. A second sequel, Star Trek Beyond, produced by Abrams, is set for release this July.

The new SpielbergAsides from Star Trek, in 2011 Abrams also directed the well received sci-fi film Super 8 – his only stand-alone auteur movie. The project harks back to a friendship with Steven Spielberg, a man Abrams has admired since childhood. As a teenager, Abrams was asked to help restore two amateur films Spielberg had made in his youth called Firelight and Escape to Nowhere. Spielberg would serve as producer on

2011’s Super 8, which tells the story of a group of teenagers making their own film in the 1970s using the Super 8 film format – a precursor to today’s home video. Abrams also consulted with Spielberg about whether to take the responsibility for reviving the Star Trek film franchise – with the veteran filmmaker firmly in favour.

The Force Awakens“There‘s nothing wrong with doing sequels, they‘re just easier to sell,” Abrams once told US broadcaster PBS. And that adage was certainly confirmed at the end of last year with the relea-se of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Abrams himself has described George Lucas’s saga, which was first unleashed on audiences in 1977, as the most in-fluential film series of his generation. “It’s the personification of good and evil and the way it opened up the world to space adventure, the way Westerns had to our parents’ generations, left an indelible imprint,” he told an audience at Disney’s D23 expo in 2015. And it was Disney that backed the seventh film in the series, having purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for USD 4bn, thus gaining the right to make new Star Wars movies.

The selection of Abrams as the key creative force (director, co-producer and co-writer) turns out to have been justified. The route to such success had already been demonstrated by his ability to breathe new life into Star Trek, whilst largely avoiding aliena-ting die-hard Trekkers. And that trick was repeated again with the decidedly more intricate fabric of Star Wars. In essence, Abrams presented a “Best of” rehash of the first two films in the saga (Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back), placed a female lead in the centre of the action, and utilised the beloved characters from the ori-ginal series, as portrayed by the likes of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford. The end result, with box office takings exceeding USD 2bn, amounts to the third most successful film of all time. However, Abrams has declined an offer to direct the inevi-table sequel.

narrative devices including flashbacks, to weave a complex, ethereal story.

The second revolutionary principle was Lost’s ap-

proach to marketing. Shocking twists and turns would fuel lively online debate, which was

itself mined for maximum effect to glue viewers to the-ir sets for the next

instalment. The end result was a cultu-ral phenomenon akin to sitcom Fri-

ends or The X-Files. But in this case, the prover-bial balloon was delibe-rately in-flated far more qui-ckly and effectively – a marke-ting trick since used by many TV shows (the most r e c e n t example being US h o r r o r d r a m a s e r i e s T h e W a l -k i n g Dead).

Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (50)» Born in New York on 27 June,

1966 to a family of television producers

» Gained his first film industry job at 15, made his first feature film at 35

» Co-creator of TV series Alias, Lost and Fringe

» Has directed five feature films including two instalments of the Star Trek franchise and 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens

» Married with three children

food14/15

Celebrated Czech “rajská omáčka”,

or tomato gravy sauce, is only at its best when it is silken and sweet. During the tomato season, make sure of using freshly pressed tomatoes in place of processed puree

Štěpán Vašák

Cook the rice, cool it and mix it with the minced meat in a ra-tio of 1:2. Salt and pepper and stuff the white peppers. Gent-ly fry the pork fat on the lard, drop in small pieces of sliced carrot, and add the stuffed peppers. Sprinkle on allspice, bay leaves, thyme, pepper and salt to taste, cover in a pan and bake at 180°C for around 60 minutes. Now and again pour in stock. When the peppers are baked, remove them and mix the dripping from the carrots, spices and fat with the puree. Warm, take out the bay leaves and mix until smooth. Return to the baking pan, and add the remaining stock and cream. Add the sugar, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Place the peppers back in the sauce, add the thyme and heat. Make the dumplings. Slice the bread rolls into small cubes and mix with the flour and salt. Finally, add the baking power to the bread mixture and eggs, im-merse in water and thoroughly mix. From the dough you can make two loaves. Each side should be boiled under the water line for 14 minutes. TIP: Lavender is a great secret ingredient that can make this dish quite unforgettable. It is enough to add two ground dry flowers with the other spices and seasonings.

Now that’s saucy

Phot

o: D

avid

Tur

ecký

Stuffed peppers in tomato gravy 4 servings

preparation: 120 minutes

100 g rice 500 g mix of minced beef and pork meat salt and pepper 8 white peppers 1 tablespoon lard 50 g pork fat 2 carrots 3 pcs allspice 2 bay leaves 400 ml beef stock 300 g tomato puree 400 ml cream (33%) 5 tablespoons crystal sugar lemon juice handful of thyme

DUMPLINGS 4 ‘rohlík’ bread rolls 500 g semi-coarse flour ½ baking powder 2 eggs 500 ml water

Taken from the magazine

society�

PwC staff swap office comforts for pig pens at Ostrava ZooEmployees of the Ostrava branch of assurance, tax and advisory company PwC ČR spent what has become a traditional annual day helping out at Ostrava Zoo. Computers were ditched in favour of shovels, rakes and various other work tools as the volunteers set about weeding flowerbeds, cleaning the pig and bush pig pens and replacing old benches with new ones. The PwC ČR office has been helping out at the zoo for eight years Ph

oto:

Lin

de

Phot

o: P

wC

Bog standard stuff in France, but meanwhile over in Velké Bílovice...Gripping football clashes, stirring goals and, all in all, incredible enthusiasm for the beautiful game thrilled crowds in the South Moravian locality of Velké Bílovice as it held its annual five-a-side tournament. The Linde Fotbal Cup 2016 – arranged by Linde Material Handling, a maker of forklift and warehouse trucks and a warehouse solutions provider – was won by the team entered by engineering firm ČKD Kutná Hora. In what was the fifth edition of the competition, they emerged victorious from the 14 participating teams

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trump or Hillary?Well-known Czech expats

in America refl ect on how

they’ll vote at crunch time

TOP STORY pages 8–9

The next Spielberg

Having revived Star Wars,

and declined the sequel,

J. J. Abrams is hot property

PROFILE pages 12–13

Daniel Novák

The broad Evropská avenue is the

key corridor leading from the

west of Prague to Václav Havel

Airport. Of late it has also beco-

me a major target for developers and real

estate investors playing for a bonanza. Ka-

rel Komárek, head of behemoth KKCG, is

preparing to invest billions of crowns there,

as are Czech Coal barons Vasil Bobela, Petr

Pudil and Jan Dobrovský. Petr Kellner’s

PPF group bought itself offi ce headquar-

ters in the location some years back. Now

Kellner, the wealthiest Czech, is set to build

his Open Gate school on Evropská, at the

site of the demolished Hotel Praha.

“In terms of offi ce space, Evropská re-

mains a relatively underdeveloped loca-

le,” noted Katarina Wojtusiak, head of the

offi ce space division of consultancy fi rm

CBRE. “For a long time, the area lacked

both a metro connection and public ser-

vices.” But then last year Prague’s A-line

was extended all the way to the Nemocnice

Motol station. The new underground line is

thus proving a magnet for developers.Continues on page 4

Visu

alis

atio

n: K

KCG

977

1803

4543

140

01

25

Offi ceOffi ceEldorado

Last year’s extension of the metro A-line

prompted developers to turn their gaze towards

the Prague 6 quarter. The area around the

long thoroughfare Evropská now tops the

rankings for the sheer number of planned offi ce

development projects. But local inhabitants are

less than enthused, with intolerable road traffi c

being their chief anxiety

01-04-05 E15W 125.indd 1

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16

diversions

Hajdu finally gets out of his apartmentOne of the most remarkable things about Hungarian art house director Szabolcs Hajdu’s “It’s Not the Time of My Life” – winner of the Grand Prix at the 51st Karlovy Vary Film Festival – is that it was shot entirely in the filmmaker’s own Budapest apartment. Indeed the outside is only ever glimpsed through a window during the independent feature, a sharply observed portrait of two dysfunctional Hungarian couples, one of whom has suddenly returned from Scotland. Hajdu, who also got the festival’s best actor nod for his performance in the film, earned praise from critics who said the movie never feels “stagebound” despite the single set, and is cleverly sprinkled with character epiphanies amid the bourgeois home. Writer-director Ivan I. Tverdovskiy’s “Zoology”, an ironic look at nonconformity in Russia, took the special jury prize

invitations

picture of the week

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festival

Mighty Sounds in Tábor

Promoters promise three nights crammed with the very elite of punk, punk rock, rock & roll, ska, reggae, rockabilly and hardcore. More than 120 artists (Lagwagon, Skindred, Perkele, The Bones, Ire Revoltes, Prague Conspiracy, The Chancers… to name but a few) will feature on three live stages and there will be three DJ stages. July 22-24. Čápův dvůr airport, Tábor.

concert

We Are Scientists at Lucerna Music Bar

The New York based power pop troupe lately released their fifth album, Helter Seltzer. The band is known for incorporating off-the-cuff stand-up comedy into their stage performances (Singer Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain once recorded a series of TV comedy shorts entitled Steve Wants His Money). The 26 July gig will go down as their first Prague performance.

theatre

Finita la Comedia by Bořivoj theatre

Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV is lying on his death bed. Before him are two imperial jesters. And Death. Together they prepare the final act for the emperor. What occurs is a tragedy of humour and a comedy of death. The play combines slapstick, clowning, puppet theatre and music. July 27. The courtyard of Bethlehem Chapel, Prague.

exhibition

Příhoda’s interventions and installations

Sculptor Jiří Příhoda (b. 1966) works on the thin edge between the object and architecture, creating spatial installations and architectural interventions. His momentous works are often made with new technologies and materials which he adapts from the world of industrial production. Together with Brian Eno he created the sound-space installation Music for Prague. Troja Château, Prague. Until October 30.

film

Kids at Trade Fair Palace

American drama Kids (1995) portrays a day in the life of a hedonistic bunch of sexually active, substance abusing New York teens at the height of the AIDS epidemic during the mid-1990s. The story focuses on Telly whose stated goal is to deflower as many virgins as he can. The plot turns when one of his old encounters discovers she is HIV-positive… The showing will be on the roof of Prague’s Veletrzní palác. July 19.