Slovakian director Juraj Jakubisko died at the age of 84 (pictured on July 5, 2019).
Prague – The last farewell to the Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko, who died on Friday, February 24 in Prague, began today at an hour after noon in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral. He was 84 years old. The ceremony is for invitees only, the public cannot enter the temple. Among the invitees is family friend and former president Václav Klaus, who arrived with his wife Livia and who should give a eulogy. Cardinal Dominik Duka is to celebrate the mass.
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Representatives of Czech and Slovak culture are on site. Among the first came the director and cinematographer F. A. Brabec, who collaborated with Jakubisko on his film Bathory. According to Brabec, Jakubisko's visionaryness and insight and his ability to look at the world through different eyes will now be missed. “I think we are all very 'down to earth' here. Few people have managed to do what he has. He was able to poeticize the real world in such a way that it was much more interesting and creative,” Brabec told ČTK when he arrived for mass.
Inside the cathedral, according to the findings of the ČTK reporter, Jakubiska's photo and a wreath are placed at the altar, among them, for example, from Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, the Czech Ministry of Culture, and Slovak and Czech filmmakers. The wreath from the family is shaped like a movie camera. On five small screens before the start of the funeral service, excerpts from Jakubisk's films played, and the song Mój Bože performed by Katarína Knechtová from his film Bathory played through the church.
Due to the funeral service, the entrance to the cathedral was closed to the public approximately two hours before his at the beginning, at 11:40. Foreigners who wanted to see the temple at that time were surprised that they could not get inside. Not even a group of Jakubiska fans who came from Slovakia got inside. They were very disappointed, said ČTK.
Jakubisko was one of the most famous Slovak artists and was nicknamed the “Slovak Fellini” or the “Fellini of the East”. During his career, he made several dozen feature films and documentaries. His best-known works include The Thousand-Year-Old Bee, Perinbaba, Vague News about the End of the World and Bathory. The release date of his latest film Perinbaba and two worlds has not yet been announced.
