This remarkable eight-part series tells the stories of ordinary Czech citizens caught in the wheels of history. Composed entirely of home movies, still photographs, letters, and diaries dating from the 1920s to 1960s, Private Century explores the impact of sweeping historical events--war, economic depression, and government interference--on the private lives of regular people. In the midst of political turbulence and social change, they grow up, fall in love, get married, go on vacation, and so on. Major turning points in 20th-century Czechoslovakia provide the historical backdrop, but the problems, pleasures, and pain of the people in each episode are universal in nature. In Czech with English subtitles.

Jan Sikl---Czech Republic---2006---416 mins.

• Facets Video
  Release Date: 09/22/2009