The proud film industries that once operated behind the Iron Curtain crumbled with the withdrawal of state subsidies. Yet, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that cinema in the Czech Republic is flourishing once more, writes David Parkinson.

Indeed, judging by the quality of the films in the Velvet Revolution season at the Riverside in London, it's tempting to say that things haven't looked this good since the New Wave of the 1960s.

The mainstay of the programme is Sasa Gedeon, whose first two features, plus a selection of his early shorts, will be shown next Thursday. An additional incentive, if one were really necessary, is an invitation to meet the director over some of that excellent Prague brew, Staropramen.

Indian Summer

Based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Indian Summer marked Gedeon's feature debut. Combining the naturalism and the sly comedy of the New Wave style, the film follows the growing rivalry between a couple of adolescent cousins, whose tedious summer with their grandmother ignites when they fall for the same boy. The sequences in which Maria attempts to humiliate Klara with a few malicious fashion tips and the showdown at the village dance are splendidly handled both by Gedeon and his young stars, Keara Issova and Tatiana Vilhelmova.

Return of the Idiot

Return of the Idiot brought Gedeon international acclaim. Based on the Doestoevsky novel, The Idiot, and also clearly influenced by Milos Forman's deliciously droll sixties satires, this is the deceptively intricate tale of a seemingly simple man. Visiting distant relatives after a lengthy spell in an asylum, Pavel Liska is the epitome of innocence abroad, as he artlessly dismantles the web of romantic deceit spun by a couple of small-town brothers and their adversarial sister lovers. The humour is as precise as it's gentle, although there are also some priceless moments of slapstick and some unexpectedly surreal imagery in Liska's recurrent nightmares. _______________________

Buttoners

Petr Zelinka's Buttoners was also well received on its all-too-limited UK release. Zelinka has now scripted Loners for director David Ondricek. Sharing several themes with the earlier film, it exploits coincidence and the pace and impersonality of modern society to link the lives of seven strangers into a satirical study of national identity, social conditioning and urban alienation. A touch too scattershot to be wholly successful (the recurrence of Japanese stereotypes is a bit wearing), this is more an artful piece of structuring than a piercing critique. But there's no malice in the comedy and it's well played.

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In the Rye

Also comprising multiple stories, Roman Vavra's In the Rye adopts a more traditional portmaneau approach. In the first tale (expanded from his award-winning graduation film), a couple of students camp out in the hope of witnessing crop-circling aliens, but succeed only in spooking themselves out in the midst of a field's natural and human detritus.

Four schoolboys learn the facts of life in the second segment, after the den they have made out of hay bales is invaded by a sexy stranger, while in the final episode an ageing couple are forced to improvise their wedding night after they get stuck in mud. _______________________

Eeny Meeny:

Given the farcical conclusion to the American presidential race, there's an element of unexpected topicality to documentarist Alice Nellis's feature debut, Eeny Meeny. Again the sixties influence is strong, with this small-town satire recalling Ivan Passer's much-underrated Intimate Lighting. Deceptively gentle in its comic take on a day in the life of a polling station, the film reveals the key role played by women in the establishment of Democracy, while also alluding to the mix of torpor, conservatism and chauvinism that threatens to undermine it. The gradual descent into alcoholic melancholia adds to the humour, but Nellis refuses to patronise her superbly played characters or their petty concerns.

Finally, there are a couple of films from another director who deserves to make his mark on the international scene, Jan Hrebejk.

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Cosy Denis

Set in the months before the Prague Spring, Cosy Dens is a scathing satire based on a novel by Petr Sabach. Essentially, it's a Romeo and Juliet story, as there seems no way Michael Beran can romance his teenage neighbour Kristyna Novakova because his father is an army aparatchik convinced America is the evil empire, while her dad is an outspoken anti-Communist whose war heroism alone keeps him out of trouble. Slyly nostalgic for the music and movies that crept under the Iron Curtain, but also aware of the growing political apathy of the younger generation, this is as astute as it's amusing. _______________________

Divided We Fall

Inspired by a true story, Divided We Fall is another period piece, this time set during the Second World War. Again scripted by Petr Jarchovsky, it emulates Life Is Beautiful in its darkly comic approach to the hideous events of the Holocaust. Any hope Boleslav Polivka and Anna Siskova may have of keeping a low profile during the Occupation is shattered by their decision to hide a Jewish refugee in their larder, despite the fact a nosy neighbour is a Nazi lackey. The performances, especially Jaroslav Dusek's Hitler lookalike, are first-rate. But, only fact could be this fantastic, while managing to be both comic and appalling.

**For a free brochure and ticket information contact Riverside Studios on 0207 237 1111.