Publication details

Czechoslovak Filmmaker Jiří Ployhar in Tibet 1956 : Two Color Documentary Movies

Authors

BĚLKA Luboš

Year of publication 2022
Type Appeared in Conference without Proceedings
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Description Czechoslovak film director Jiří Ployhar made two short colour documentaries in Tibet in 1956, in which he captured not only the first automobile expedition from Golmud to Lhasa, but also the three highest religious hierarchs of the then Tibet: the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and the Phagpa Lama. In 1956, the Motokov Czechoslovak foreign trade enterprise organised an expedition, which was also attended by three journalists: Karel Beba, Alois Svoboda and Jiří Ployhar. In total, there were twelve participants, and besides the journalists, they were drivers and technicians. The diplomat Augustin Palát, who also acted as an interpreter from Chinese, also played an important role. The main objective of this daring venture was a load test of Czechoslovak trucks, three Tatra 111, two Praga V3S and one Jawa 250 motorcycle. The leader of the expedition was Stanislav Černý. The expedition was a great success, setting several records. It was really a great test of people and technology. Two short colour films were made by Jiří Ployhar as an original documentary. He called them Velká zkouška (The Great Test) and Zápisník z Tibetu (Notebook from Tibet). He also wrote several articles, which he accompanied with his own photographs. The lecture is dedicated to these films.
Related projects:

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.

More info