When it comes to film and Nymburk, the first name that comes to mind for many is Bohumil Hrabal. This brilliant storyteller, whose style blends grotesque humor with melancholy, drew much of his inspiration from his hometown. While the beloved film Cutting It Short (Postřižiny, 1980), which tells the story of a brewery family, was primarily filmed at the Dalešice Brewery, Hrabal’s Nymburk played a key role in shaping the film’s atmosphere. A few years later came The Snowdrop Festival (Slavnosti sněženek, 1983), which transported viewers to nearby Kersko—a region of cozy weekend cottages and deep forests, where a dispute over a wild boar between two hunting clubs unfolds. To this day, Kersko draws film enthusiasts, who can still enjoy wild boar with cabbage at the legendary Hájenka pub, just like the characters in the film.
Hrabal’s stories are not the only ones filmed in Nymburk to make their mark on the silver screen. In the 1980s, the popular TV series Cirkus Humberto (1988) set up its circus under the town’s medieval walls. The same location was used decades later in the comedy Man for an Hour (Manžel na hodinu, 2016), the sequel to the successful Czech film Handyman (Hodinový manžel, 2014), in which a group of quirky repairmen tackle not only broken fixtures but also their own tangled relationships. Nymburk also featured in the modern series Dwarf (Trpaslík, 2016) by Jan Prušinovský, which was shot on the town’s stone bridge over the Elbe River. The town’s iconic fortifications appeared in the beloved fairy tale classic Three Veterans (Tři veteráni, 1983).
The Nymburk region has also inspired other stories that have become part of Czech film history. The village of Kostomlaty nad Labem, for example, inspired Bohumil Hrabal’s Closely Watched Trains (Ostře sledované vlaky, 1966). The train station building, where the tale of young dispatcher Miloš Hrma unfolds, still evokes the poetic spirit of Hrabal’s storytelling. But it’s not the only historical film tied to the area. The epic battle scenes of Medieval (Jan Žižka, 2022) were filmed at several locations around Nymburk and helped to create an authentic medieval battlefield atmosphere.
The town of Lysá nad Labem served as the backdrop for the popular romantic comedy What Kind of Soldier Is That? (Copak je to za vojáka, 1987), in which Jiří Langmajer, as a young soldier, searches for the love of his life. More recent romantic comedies filmed in the region include 10 Rules for Winning Her Heart (10 pravidel jak sbalit holku, 2014), with scenes shot at Chateau Mcely. In a similar spirit is the film Tiger Theory (Teorie tygra, 2016), where Jiří Bartoška plays a veterinarian questioning freedom and the meaning of life; part of the film was shot in Milovice. In fact, Milovice has become a favored filming location for action-packed TV series such as 1st Mission (1. mise, 2021) and Specialists (Specialisté, 2017), the latter of which was also filmed in Sadská.
A different tone is struck in the film Over the Fence (Přes prsty, 2019), which was shot in Čelákovice and immerses viewers in the world of beach volleyball. With sandy courts and a summery vibe by the water, the romantic story offers a fresh take on modern relationships.
Nymburk and its surrounding region have also made their way into globally acclaimed cinema. The Oscar-winning film Kolya (Kolja, 1996) by Jan Svěrák is primarily set in Prague, but some of its scenes were filmed at the crematorium in Nymburk.
