The conference that gives the film its title took place in 1963 at the Castle Liblice in Czechoslovakia. There, speakers from Warsaw Pact countries, but also from Austria and France, debated different interpretations of Kafka's oeuvre from a Marxist point of view. Many of them demanded Kafka's publication in the communist countries where he had been frowned upon. This demand was linked to general criticisms of not only cultural policy but also Stalinism and its remnants. Alienation, as described by Kafka, still existed in socialism and had reached a terrifying scale during Stalinism.
Eduard Goldstücker, one of the conference organizers, had experienced this himself. In the 50s, when he was an ambassador in Israel, he became a victim of the Slánský trials which had anti-semitic undertones. He was one of the few defendants who were not executed and who were later rehabilitated.
For Czechoslovakia, the Kafka conference signified the beginning of liberalization. 1968, five years later, it reached its peak. Alexander Dubček, the new General Secretary of the Communist Party, and other reformers advocated for “Socialism with a human face”. Meanwhile, Eduard Goldstücker became chairman of the Writers' Union.
Writers were an important pillar of the reform process. After censorship was abolished, “Literární listy“, the Writers' Union's newspaper, became one of the most important platforms for new ideas.
The freedom of the press and pluralism in general reached such a dimension that it the Soviet Union and other “brother countries” were alarmed. The Soviets saw their infuence endangered. After several failed intimidation attempts, this ultimately led to the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops, in the night between 20th and 21st August, 1968. Supposedly, its goal was to prevent a “counter– revolution”. In retrospect, the Kafka conference was seen as its precursor.
The film also includes other stories such as a screenplay inspired by Kafka that Miloš Forman and (the later president of the Czech Republic) Václav Havel planned in 1960. And we will segue from history to recent protest movements, which were caused by the murder of the journalist Ján Kuciak in Slovakia and by the corruption charges against prime minister Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic.
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Some examples of our interviews can be found here: https://vimeo.com/377615869/d584e65258
Excerpts from the material can also be seen in the exhibition "Examen 2019" in documenta-Halle in Kassel between 12th and 15th December.