Original Videojournal
Originální Videojournal [Original Videojournal] was a dissident video magazine initiated by František Janouch and Václav and Olga Havel in 1987. It was edited and copied secretly on school equipment. Seven regular and two thematic programmes were produced between Autumn 1987 and November 1989, followed by nine special volumes made during and shortly after the 1989 revolution.
In the late 1987, an idea was born to not only send the video shots documenting the Czechoslovak dissident activities abroad, but also to produce a programme for the domestic audience. With the financial aid from the Czech exile centers abroad (Foundation of Charter 77, ČSDS – Czechoslovak Documentary Centre), the “Original Videojournal” editorial group acquired a video tape recorder Sony Video-8. This led to the production of video news from the dissident and alternative culture, covering political and ecological issues from the “unofficial” perspective.
Core editorial group included Olga Havlová (editor, photographer), Michal Hýbek (cameraman, video editor, editor, distribution), Pavel Kačírek (editor-in-chief, cameraman, video editor), Jan Kašpar (cameraman, editor), Andrej Krob (cameraman, editor), Jan Ruml (editor responsible for the political section), Joska Skalník (editor responsible for the cultural section), and Andrej Stankovič (editor). Collaborators included Jarmila Bělíková, Přemysl Fialka, Aleš Havlíček, Jiří Kantůrek, Jaroslav Kořán, Jaroslav Kukal, Milan Maryška, Petr Oslzlý, Jiří Reichl, Jiří Mergl, David Schmoranz, as well as Karel Freund, František Janouch, Vilém Prečan, Jiřina Šiklová, and Pavel Tigrid. (Růžičková:2000, pp 10-11)
Editions
- Originální videojournal 3 (příloha), Dec 1988, video, 54 min.
Documentary film
- Czech TV programme series about Original Videojournal, 20 episodes, 26 min. each, 2011–2012.
Literature
- Chris Hill, "Where Independent Media Made a Difference: Citizen producers in Eastern Europe, 1989-1991", Community Media Review, Mar-Apr 1994.
- "Pavel Kačírek v rozhovoru s Chris Hill", in Chris Hill, Walking Trips in Czech Lands, Prague: FCCA, 1996. (Czech)
- "Pavel Kacirek Interviewed by Chris Hill", trans. Dana Recmanová, in Chris Hill, Walking Trips in Czech Lands, Prague: FCCA, 1996. (English)
- Alice Růžičková, Český dokumentární film v 80. letech: "Originální Videjournal", Prague: FAMU, 2000. Master's thesis. (Czech) [1]
- Alice Růžičková, "Originální videojournal: pokus o 'samizdatovou televizi'", in Alternativní kultura. Příběh české společnosti 1945–1989, ed. Josef Alan, Prague: Lidové noviny, 2001, pp 474-491. [2] (Czech)
- Pavlína Binková, "Aktivní videotechnologie: mediální studia, demokracie a video", Revue pro media 12-13, Brno, 2005, pp 6-11. (Czech)
- Alice Lovejoy, "'Video Knows No Borders': Samizdat Television and the Unofficial Public Sphere in 'Normalized' Czechoslovakia", in Samizdat, Tamizdat & Beyond: Transnational Media During and After Socialism, eds. Friederike Kind-Kovács and Jessie Labov, New York: Berghahn Books, 2013, pp 206-220. (English)
- Ivan Ruml, "Originální videojournal – co mi uvízlo v paměti", Paměť a dějiny 1, 2015, pp 92-94. (Czech)
