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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026

Ester Krumbachová

Ester KRUMBACHOVÁ (1923-1996, Czech) was an influential filmmaker during the Czech New Wave. During the 1980s the communist party banned her from working in the industry and she only ever directed one film,  Murdering the Devil (1969), shown at IFFR 2024 as part of the Cinema Regained programme. Krumbachová’s career was characterised by a combination of a number of artistic professions such as directing, writing, set and costume design.

Filmography

Vražda ing. Čerta/Murdering the Devil (1969)

Ester Krumbachová at IFFR

  • Late Night Talks with Mother

    Jan Němec | 69' | Czech Republic | None

    Němec took inspiration from Kafka’s Letter to His Father to create a highly stylized self-portrait in the form of a dialogue with his
  • Murdering the Devil

    Ester Krumbachová | 72' | Czechoslovakia | None

    Convinced he’ll lead her to the altar, she ignores the man he has become.
  • The Party and the Guests

    Jan Němec | 70' | Czechoslovakia | None

    An idyllic picnic with a group of friends is interrupted by an invasion by authoritative strangers, who playfully turn the picnickers into their 
  • Martyrs of Love

    Jan Němec | 71' | Czechoslovakia | None

    A luscious non-political musical comedy, this three-part ballad uses music to stand in for dialogue. Mounting a defense of timid, inhibited, clumsy an