Emphasis on craft, no matter how morally questionable, the metropolitan jungle painted in neons and shadows, and unsettling, almost voyeuristic cinematography – that is the neo-noir thriller from the workshop of Michael Mann. His characters and plots still fit comfortably within the genre borders: thiefs and murderers meet their narrative mirrors in hard-boiled or at least very determined investigators in cat-and-mouse chases of almost philosophical dimensions. But there i salso the common John Doe, in a bad place and at a bad time, thrown into dangerous and unpredictable events. In the selection of Mann’s oeuvre offered in this programme section, we are not fogetting Collateral (2004), where on a regular Los Angeles night, a regular Loas Angeles cabbie Max gets tangled up with Vincent, his mysterious passenger. Naturally we also cannot leave out Mann’s iconic, almost three-hour clash of personalities embodied by detective Hanna and master thief McCauley in Heat (1995), which also gives us opportunity to remember the late Val Kilmer. Certain thematic and character parallels can be found in his older filmic sibling, Thief (1981). These hits are accompanied by the also impressive story of John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp in Mann’s Public Enemies (2009) and also the director’s dip into cybercrime depicted in the possibly less known Blackhat (2015).

This year’s tributes are dedicated to two actors who rose to fame in the mid-1940s and remained at the top until the end of the following decade. Jane Russell (1921–2011) became a Hollywood sex symbol after producer Howard Hughes cast her in the controversial western The Outlaw (1943). The film and its scandalous promotional campaign emphasized the actress’s scantily clad body, and it was precisely her physicality, provocativeness, and sensuality that became key ingredients of her star image for years to come. Russell’s most iconic film was the 1953 Twentieth Century-Fox comedy musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which she appeared alongside Marilyn Monroe.

However, she maintained a long-term relationship with her mentor Howard Hughes and his company RKO. It was during their collaboration that the film noir His Kind of Woman (1951) was made, which we will be screening at this year’s festival. In the film, directed by John Farrow, the actress’s partner was the well-known film noir icon Robert Mitchum.

Richard Conte (1910–1975) made his film debut in 1939, but in the following years he preferred a career in theater. After a brief stint in the army, he signed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox, which struggled for a while to find the best use for him. It was not until the second half of the 1940s that his star image began to consolidate successfully in crime films. Conte appeared in quick succession in Somewhere in the Night (1946), 13 Rue Madeleine (1947), Call Northside 777 (1948), Thieves’ Highway, House of Strangers (both 1949) and The Sleeping City (1950).

One of the highlights of this prolific period is undoubtedly Cry of the City (1948), which will commemorate the actor’s legacy this year (and which also serves as a fitting link to the Robert Siodmak retrospective). As the son of Italian-American parents from New Jersey, Conte mostly appeared in roles with Italian origins.As the son of Italian-American parents from New Jersey, he mostly appeared in roles with Italian origins. However, he also demonstrated surprising versatility and was equally convincing as a sadistic gangster (The Big Combo /1955/), a slimy manipulator (Whirlpool /1949/), an innocent victim (Call Northside 777) or a hard-working underdog (Thieves’ Highway). After the production of film noir declined in the 1950s (one of Conte’s last triumphs was The Brothers Rico in 1957), the actor moved into supporting roles and television, but he managed to make a stylish return in 1972 as Don Barzini in The Godfather. Unfortunately, his comeback was short-lived: three years later, at the age of 65, he died of a heart attack.

This year’s programme section on local noir will focus largely on the 1960s and introduce a range of colorful characters from various walks of life. From this decade, the screens of Křivoklát will host for example the timeless narrative of pharmaceutic/medical crime in Where an Alibi Is Not Everything (Kde alibi nestačí, 1961) by Vladimír Čech, or one of the most influential film of Czechoslovak cinema, Juraj Herz’s The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, 1968). The unsettling figure of Mr. Kopfrkingl, employee of the crematorium, and the investigator team of Tůma and Líbal are vehicles for various ways of utilizing recognizable noir elements in often hybrid examples from Czechoslovak cinema. The section will however not remain in the 60s exclusively; it will also introduce a cosmopolitan element into this genre puzzle, in the form of The Doll (Panenka, 1980), a TV film adaptation of the novel by American writer Ed McBain, maintaining both the anglophone proper names and environment of the original story. The link to English-speaking environments will continue with the TV film The Brothers Rico (Bratři Ricové, 1969), an adaptation of Georges Simeon‘ novel. The American adaptation from 1957 was screened at last year’s edition of NFF as part of the Phil Karlson Retrospective.

We saved the retrospective of Robert Siodmak, a director who, along with other Hollywood luminaries such as Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, and Anthony Mann, most powerfully and consistently shaped the poetics of film noir, for the thirteenth edition of the festival. Siodmak was born in Dresden at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He got into film at the age of twenty-five, and before he turned thirty, he collaborated with his younger brother Kurt (later Curt), Fred Zinnemann, Billy Wilder, and Edgar G. Ulmer on the groundbreaking silent film People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag, 1929). After Hitler came to power, like many others, he left for France, where he devoted himself to various genres and managed to complete four films in 1936 alone. However, political developments in Europe and his Jewish roots prompted him to continue his journey across the Atlantic at the end of the decade.

In Hollywood, Siodmak began as a director of B movies, which proved to be a valuable training ground for the rich series of films noirs he devoted himself to between 1944 and 1950. Siodmak’s noirs are characterized by a brilliant use of the city landscape, an innovative approach to plotting through the use of extensive flashbacks and more complex narrative patterns, and visual inventiveness that supports the overall atmosphere of hopelessness and fatalism. Many of Siodmak’s films have already been screened at the festival, but this time we offer the opportunity to appreciate his work as a comprehensive collection of recurring motifs and formal techniques. Films that return to our program will include the psychological thriller The Dark Mirror (1946, Noir Film Festival 2016) with the wonderful Olivia de Havilland and the essential film noir Criss Cross (1949, NFF 2015) starring Burt Lancaster. We will also premiere the unconventional Victorian story The Suspect (1944) and The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945), which provides a welcome link to the section Spoiler Alert! We will reveal more of this section’s program later, so stay tuned!

Films noirs are most often set in bars and nightclubs, dark back alleys, around horse racing tracks and boxing rings, or in seedy hideaways – in short, in environments where seasoned criminals feel at home and where, on the contrary, ordinary citizens go only reluctantly or under coercion. Sometimes, however, the wheels of justice are set in motion, and the film’s stories take us to the offices of private detectives, police stations or stately courtrooms. It is the courts, where the guilt and innocence of noir protagonists are decided, that will be the focus of another section of the 13th Noir Film Festival.

In addition to the court setting, all four selected films share an exceptionally strong cast that is bound to please any noir fan. In Knock on Any Door (1949), Humphrey Bogart plays a defense attorney who, as a family acquaintance, takes on the case of a juvenile delinquent accused of murdering a police officer. In The People Against O’Hara (1951), Spencer Tracy excels as an aging and fallible attorney who discovers he’s simply not up to the high court game anymore. One of the many films that made Edward G. Robinson’s acting mastery stand out is the noir drama Illegal (1955), in which an articulate prosecutor makes a fatal mistake and faces a precipitous career fall. And finally, Witness for the Prosecution (1957) by the legendary Billy Wilder – with a stellar cast led by Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich – offers a tangled tale of murder based on Agatha Christie’s play, culminating in a series of startling revelations that create a link to this year’s main section Spoiler alert!

From 18. 4. 2025 on it is possible to support the 13th Edition of Noir Film Festival also by purchasing „an accommodation package“ in one of the five varieties – with one Noir or ttwo All-festival passes.

*The owners of individual Sponsor and Noir passes  are eligible for arrangement of festival accommodation through the e-mail mention below, the owners of Partner passes have  accommodation included in the price of their accreditation.

For detailed information please visit: https://www.noirfilmfestival.cz/en/for-visitors/accommodation/.

Most major film projects today are shrouded in secrecy during their preparation, and production companies carefully consider what type of information to release to the world. The threat of the uncontrolled spread of information via social media has also transformed viewing habits. Much of the film-going public is gripped by spoiler panic, fearing that they will stumble upon unwanted information about the story, characters, cast, or other key areas of an eagerly anticipated project online. For this reason, it may come as a surprise to discover that there was a time when information about films was disseminated much more freely, without fear that revealing a significant portion of the plot (even including a surprise twist) could significantly spoil the viewing experience. Those were the days when film critics gleefully revealed the identity of the killers in reviews and trailers assured audiences that the lovers would end up together despite numerous obstacles.

In the main program section of the 13th Noir Film Festival, we will look at five films from the 1940s to the 1960s that helped lay the foundations for the spoiler panic phenomenon, however much their contemporary promotion differed from today’s conventions, which include varying degrees of secrecy and non-disclosure clauses for crew members. All five films rely heavily on shocking narrative twists or revelations, the prior knowledge of which can greatly alter (some argue outright ruin) the viewing experience. You have been warned! You can look forward to, among others, The Woman in the Window (1944) by noir stalwart Fritz Lang, the legendary Les Diaboliques (1955) by French director Henri-Georges Clouzot, and the lesser-known British film Taste of Fear (1961), made after the enormous box-office success of Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

Starting February 1st, you can support the upcoming NFF edition by purchasing one of the remaining generous passes that haven’t yet been allocated as benefits for festival donations. Forty of these passes have already found their owners.

As of today, there are still 10 Noir passes available (10 out of 30 total). Both Partner and Sponsor passes are already SOLD OUT (0 out of 5 and 0 out of 15, respectively).

Basic passes for this year’s edition will be released on May 1, 2025, while individual screening ticket sales will start on June 26, 2025.

Thank you for supporting the festival! We look forward to seeing you in August at the courtyard of Křivoklát Castle.