Havana + Q&A with director Jana Bokova and BBC producer and presenter Alan Yentob
This extraordinary documentary about life in Cuba opens with 16mm amateur footage of Fidel Castro’s triumphant revolution in 1959 moving between the pre-revolutionary past and the volatile present of Castro’s Cuba in 1989. Featuring an interview with the exiled Cuban poet Reinaldo Arena, and a direct inspiration for Julian Schnabel’s film Before Night Falls, Havana consists above all of residents talking about their homes, their city and Cuba in the midst of Havana’s dilapidated, ruined beauty. Striking, haunting images are punctuated by voice-over poetry by leading writers and stories of artists and ordinary Cubans, young and old such as an elderly lady who fell through the floor in her derelict building, a poet seeking for his identity, and a woman who would never again see her ageing mother, exiled in America. Full of captivating music and Bokova’s understanding of life under communism and in exile this is a wonderfully lyrical and honest hommage to Havana and its people.
AI Science Café Series 2020: Personal security in the age of AI. With Michal Pěchouček
Due to the complexities and related risks provided by the ubiquitous deployment of AI there is an ever increasing need to provide users with security and privacy, while living online and surrounded by connected devices. During the talk we will debate the current and future role of AI, namely machine learning and game theory, AI-enabled cybersecurity problems and how AI can help to increase user privacy and safety from AI algorithms both online and in the physical world.
Susanna Roth Translators Award 2020 – Call for Entries
Czech Centres and the Czech Literary Centre, a section of the Moravian Library, announce the 6th year of the International Competition for Young Translators – The Susanna Roth Prize, named after the celebrated Swiss translator Susanna Roth (1950 – 1997) who made a significant contribution to the promotion of contemporary Czech literature abroad.
Šárka Zahálková – Bluecoat Residency Programme
As the UK’s longest running arts centre, Bluecoat has provided space for artists and audiences at the heart of Liverpool for over a century. This year, Bluecoat’s international residency programme partners for the second time with the Arts and Theatre Institute and Czech Centre London and invites Czech curator Šárka Zahálková to develop her research into the role of civic space and public art as she prepares to curate a festival of art in the Czech Republic.
Touching 1989: Reflections & Recollections
30 years ago, the events of 1989 redrew the political map of Europe, affecting the lives of millions. Looking at those historical moments and their aftermath from today’s perspective – what do we remember and what has changed for us?
