Section: Zlín Industry Days

The Proud Princess in Color – Project Presentation

Fri 27.05 | 18:00, Congress Centre

6 pm - 7.30 pm, Congress Centre, Small Hall

Why Should The Proud Princess Be in Color? Because that's what Bořivoj Zeman, the director of this fairy tale, had always wanted. He literally suffered from the fact that he wasn't shooting a color film. Often, when "Proud" was on TV, he would recall how beautifully colorful the costumes and sets were. Everything had been prepared for a color film shoot! Costume designer Jan Kropáček reminisced: "I designed and sewed the costumes keeping in mind the color negative to match the colorful sets. Unfortunately, the color negative ended up going to a more politically significant film." It was 1952 and the Barrandov Film Studio did not have enough for two color films at that time. Therefore, Bořivoj Zeman's granddaughter and son-in-law, camerawoman Jana Hojdová and cameraman Petr Hojda, decided to fulfill his wishes. And not just for him. Most of all, for the generations of today and the future. The original black-and-white version of The Proud Princess will soon be digitized, so it will still be available in distribution even for those who love the original version.

Even 70 years after it was first shown in cinemas, the fairy tale The Proud Princess, directed by Bořivoj Zeman, is the highest grossing film in the history of Czechoslovak and Czech film. Over 10 million moviegoers saw it in cinemas alone. It was shot based on the motifs of the fairy tale by Božena Němcová The Punished Pride in 1952 and is still considered by many to be the most beautiful Czech fairy tale film. The film won the Best Film for Children Award at the Karlovy Vary IFF VII in 1952. And Princess Krasomila, played by Alena Vránová, was the most popular fairy tale princess at the same film festival in Karlovy Vary 45 years later.

Free entry
Language: Czech