Mailbox
In this week's edition of Mailbox we answer questions on: the Czech film Nuda v Brne, plastic explosives imported by two men, the Academy of Arts, and the "tripartita". Listeners quoted: Teresa White and Thomas French.
We start off with an e-mail from Teresa White (from somewhere in cyberspace). She asks:
Only very few Czech feature films are dubbed into English and there are very few video cassettes with English subtitles. We suggest you wait for it to come out on DVD with English subtitles. Nuda v Brne or "Boredom in Brno" did not only receive an award for best Czech film but also received awards for best direction (Vladimir Moravek), best screenplay (Vladimir Moravek and Jan Budar), best editing (Jiri Brozek) and best actor in a leading role (Jan Budar).
Thomas French listens to us in the UK. He has two questions:
"In your news you reported that two men imported plastic explosives and were caught by the police. Should you not say that the men smuggled the explosives into the country? Was it a large amount? Do you know what type of explosives they were? I thought plastic explosives are only made in the Czech Republic!"
The police have released very little information on this case. All they have revealed is that the two men are suspected of having imported 328 tonnes of explosives, which are believed to have come from a foreign army's arsenal. We do not know where the men come from or what kind of explosive it is. The two men imported the explosives but failed to mark them properly in accordance with the rules and regulations under the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives. The Czech Republic is not the only country in which plastic explosives are made. Although the Czech make Semtex is most famous, or infamous, there are others such as the US produced C4.
Mr French also writes:
"I often read or hear that someone important or famous studied at HAMU, or FAMU. Which is the correct spelling and what does it stand for? Is it a respected school?"
Both HAMU and FAMU are actually a part of Prague's Academy of Arts, AMU (Akademie Muzickych Umeni). HAMU is the Academy of Music (Hudebni), FAMU is the Academy of Film and Television, and DAMU is the Academy of Drama. All three are much respected academies.
And finally, several listeners who tune into our local broadcasts here in the Czech Republic have been writing in to ask what the Czech media means when they say that the "tripartita" is meeting for discussion. The tripartita is made up of representatives of the government, firms, and the trade unions. The three sectors (tripartite) meet regularly to discuss issues that affect them all.
MARCH listeners' competition question: "How many anniversaries will the Year of Czech Music be celebrating in the month of March? Nine, eleven, or thirteen?"
Send your answers to the Radio Prague English Section, 120 99 Prague 2, the Czech Republic or by e-mail to [email protected]. They should get to us by March 31.
