The Czech Film Center will hold its annual presentation of upcoming feature and animated projects at the 21st annual Finále Plzeň festival of Czech films. A total of 70 Czech feature or animated films are in the works this year, 10 more than in 2007.

The presentation will take place on April 25. Of the 70 total upcoming Czech movies, the screenplays for 38 have been finished and 17 are in production and 15 in postproduction. Among the projects are 20 international co-productions.

The subject matter and filmmaking approaches for the upcoming films vary widely. Alois Nebel, Tomáš Luňák's animated debut based on the comics of the same name by Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromír 99, will be shot using rotoscoping, a technique combining live-action film movement with animation. Karel Janák's new film about teenagers, Ecstasy 2, will also be animated.

A number of dramatic moments in Czech history will be treated as well this year: Money from Hitler, based on the novel by Radka Denemarková, and Habermann's Mill, directed by Juraj Herz, shed light on the Sudeten German past. Lidice, based on Zdeňek Máhler's screenplay, depicts the leveling of a small town by the Nazis, while Bonds that Tie is set in the normalisation period of the 1980s.

After the event, a catalogue will be available for download on the Czech Film Center web site (www.filmcenter.cz).

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