A screening of a feature filmdirected by Onur Tukel and starring Vít Hořejš
About this Event
Join the puppeteer and his puppets on a one-of-a-kind adventure!
It’s going to be wild, existential, and a little bit kinky!
A magical movie about an aging itinerant puppeteer (performed by Vít Hořejš) and his adventures on the road. He performs Czech and Slovak folktales with the help of his ancient, hand-carved marionettes, some of which are hard-headed characters. On the road, he gets distracted by women he meets and by the existential grievances of his son, who was once also a puppet, until his puppeteer father cursed him with human existence.
For ages 13 -113
The screening will be followed by a Q&A and informal reception with director Onur Tukel, producer Bonnie Sue Stein, and the film's main star Vít Hořejš.
*Seats are limited.
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Onur Tukel is an American filmmaker, actor, painter, and children's book author and illustrator and a prolific fixture in the New York City independent film community. Born in North Carolina to Turkish parents, Tukel has spent nearly three decades writing, directing, and starring in dark comedies and genre-bending indies that frequently explore cynicism, modern relationships, and social friction. Tukel has directed 19 feature films and shorts, including notable features such as Summer of Blood (2014), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival; Catfight (2016), featuring Sandra Oh and Anne Heche; Summer of Blood (2014), premiered at Tribeca Film Festival; Catfight (2016), which featured Sandra Oh and Anne Heche; Poundcake (2023); and his newest film, A Company of Thieves (2026). Another film is always in progress. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0876287/
Vít Hořejš, a native of Prague, escaped from communist Czechoslovakia in 1978 and eventually settled in New York City. In 1990, he founded Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (CAMT), featuring centuries-old Czech marionettes he discovered at Jan Hus Church in Manhattan. He translated, wrote, and directed over two dozen plays for his company. In 1992, he co-produced Faust on a String, an award-winning documentary about Czech puppetry. Vít also played characters in a dozen Hollywood movies, including Krojack, the chief of the Secret Police of Vulgaria, in Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water. His collaboration on Onur Tukel’s 2021 film Scenes from an Empty Church prompted the director to write Wooden Hearts. Vít is a longtime board member of SVU NY (the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences).
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This event is organized by the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) New York in collaboration with GOH Productions and with support from the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA).
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Film Credits
WOODEN HEARTS
DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER: Onur Tukel
PRODUCER: GOH Productions/Bonnie Stein
CAST: Brian Berrebbi, Eva Dorrepaal, Leonita Gashi, Max Casella, Vít Hořejš, Bonnie Sue Stein, Onur Tukel, a host of antique marionettes, plus Theresa Linnihan & Deborah Beshaw as the Telephone and Radio Voices
Event venue
Bohemian National Hall, Cinema, 321 E 73 St, New York, United States
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