Foreign Ministry launches video to showcase the “marvellous people of Czechia”

Earlier this month the Czech Foreign Ministry launched a five-minute video promoting the Czech Republic or should we say – Czechia. Apart from showcasing the country’s achievements the video is also meant to reinforce awareness of the recently approved short version of its official name.

Photo: archive of Czech Foreign Ministry

Accompanied throughout by “Night Journey” from Antonín Dvořák’s “Poetic Moods” piano cycle, selected and performed by the renowned Czech pianist Ivo Kahánek, the video shows everything the country prides itself in, with a special emphasis on local talent.

Commissioned by the Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Industry, the video cost around 1 million crowns or almost 39 thousand US dollars. According to Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek the country finally has a promotional tool “that presents Czechia in a comprehensive way, as a country with diverse nature, first-rate education and innovations, a highly-developed economy and infrastructure, world class culture and last, but not least, a place that is pleasant to live in”.

Views of lush countryside, natural and historical monuments, the capital Prague with art galleries and shopping malls invite tourists to come and spend time and money while savouring the local cuisine as well as the products of the Czech beer brewing and winemaking traditions.

Petra Kvitová, photo: archive of Czech Foreign Ministry

But according to the video the country, a NATO and EU member, has a lot more to offer: industrial production ranging from automobiles to precision instruments, traditional crafts such as glassmaking, a developed film industry including the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and a rich tradition of music and art.

Among the personalities appearing in the video are photographer Jan Saudek, conductor Jiří Bělohlávek and heart surgeon Jan Pirk. International viewers will instantly recognize athletes Petr Čech, Jaromír Jágr and Petra Kvitová – the only renowned female personality in the video, as critics have remarked.

The video is available on the Foreign Ministry’s website subtitled in nine languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, and will be used by Czech delegations travelling abroad as well as the country’s embassies around the world. Its very title “Czechia Has Marvellous People” aims to promote the short and snappy name which was listed in the UN database of geographical names in April of this year.