The year 2008 has come to an end. Today is the last day. If you still don’t know what to do for New Year’s, the last issue of Do It may give you some ideas.
Before setting off for a party, you may want to do something for your body. Winter swimming in the Vltava river already took place, unfortunately. But you can go for a run. One race starts today at the Riegrovy sady sports hall in Vinohrady at 2pm. The 3.4-km run takes place every year in memory of Jarda Štercl, a Czech musician, actor and adventurer. The fee is CZK 30. The second running event (a 5-km race) today starts at 10am in Apolinářská zahrada, Prague 2.
If you like fireworks, you certainly don’t want to miss the official major New Year’s fireworks explosion on Letná by the metronome on 1 January. This year’s show will present an image of the Czech Republic as well as nine other countries, each presentation lasting 99 seconds. The best spot to view the show is across the river on Dvořákovo nábřeží or Na Františku street. Of course, and there will be many amateur fireworks all over the city tonight if you can’t wait.
What else is there besides celebrating the end of the year? The City of Prague Museum in Florenc is hosting an interesting photo exhibition, presenting images of today’s Prague in juxtaposition with ten-year-old and 100-year-old photographs of the same places. Open through 15 February. The same museum has a new leisure facility for children, designed in the style of a medieval house. Children can learn about the 14th-15th century lifestyle while playing games. It is open Tuesday to Sunday until 6pm.
The City Gallery Prague is going to extend its opening hours at selected exhibition halls in January. The Stone Bell House, the Golden Ring House and the Municipal Library will stay open every day except for Monday until 8pm. See the gallery site for information on the current shows.
The Stone Bell House and four other historical venues in Prague – the Municipal House, the National Museum, the Museum of Czech Literature and the Café Na Prádle – are hosting an international music festival České doteky hudby from 2 until 7 January. It’s an invitation for those who want to explore historical architecture in combination with classical music.
Divadlo Ponec stages a series of modern dance performances on Tuesday, 6 January. Come and see Jiří Bartovanec exploring his own life or Jan Wrána making his body ring. Starts at 8pm.
Pass the Popcorn
What is there to see in Czech cinemas in the first days of January? How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is a US/UK comedy about a British writer struggling to fit in a high-profile magazine in New York. Robert B. Weide’s film is based on a memoir of Toby Young and his attempt to become a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.
Made in FAMU is a project aimed at the current productions of students from the Film Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. If you understand Czech, don’t miss the 80-minute screening of four short films, including a sci-fi film nominated for a student Oscar, I am bigger and better. (Village Cinemas Anděl, 1 January and Světozor, 6 January)
The vampire genre is arriving in Czech theatres these days and it’s nothing less than Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, a 1979 remake of Murnau’s striking silent film from 1922, Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie der Grauens. Among the numerous Dracula adaptations, the 1979 remake with Klaus Kinski playing the vampire count is considered one of the best.
The follow-up film to Jean-Francois Richet’s Public Enemy No. 1., a story of a notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, will hit the cinemas on 1 January.
