Poděbrady, renowned for its spa tradition and picturesque architecture, has served as a film backdrop for fairy tales, comedies, and historical dramas.
One of the most well-known films shot here is Empties (Vratné lahve, 2007) by director Jan Svěrák. This melancholic story about aging, dreams, and new beginnings includes scenes filmed in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Poděbrady also briefly appeared in another comedy – in How to Tame Crocodiles (Jak se krotí krokodýli, 2006), the D11 highway exit near the town is featured.
The cinematic charm of this spa town also attracts television crews. Several exterior scenes for two popular TV Nova series – The Street (Ulice, 2005–present) and The Rose Garden Clinic 2 (Ordinace v růžové zahradě 2, 2008–present) – were filmed in the town center. The series The Dancers (Taneční, 2024), a miniseries about a married couple who teach dance classes to high school students while struggling to save their own relationship, was filmed mostly along the colonnade. A romantic storyline is offered by A Novel for the Mature (Román pro pokročilé, 2019), where the main character, played by Marek Vašut, strolls through the streets of Poděbrady, including scenes inside the Libenský Hotel.
But Poděbrady isn’t only the setting for romantic tales – the wedding chaos of Wedding Like No Other (Svatba jako řemen, 1967) brought humor and confusion to the spa town in a comedy centered around an unpredictable ceremony.
Poděbrady also appeared in earlier Czech cinema – in The Brave Captain Korkorán (Hrdinný kapitán Korkorán, 1934) starring Vlasta Burian. Filming took place on the Elbe River near the Poděbrady harbor, where scenes with Burian’s captain character unfolded.
You can soak in a fairytale atmosphere in Přerov nad Labem, which filmmakers chose as a location for fairy tales such as Lucky Loser (Z pekla štěstí, 1999), Lucky Loser 2 (Z pekla štěstí 2, 2001), Devilry (Čertoviny, 2018), Heaven and Vincek (Nebe a Vincek, 2008), The Devil’s Bride (Čertova nevěsta, 2011), and The Secret of the Old Blunderbuss (Tajemství staré bambitky, 2011). A detective twist came to the region with the crime series Oh, Those Murders! (Ach, ty vraždy!, 2010) starring Jiřina Bohdalová.
On a more serious note, historical depth was brought to the Poděbrady region through Riders in the Sky (Nebeští jezdci, 1968), one of the most authentic Czech films about World War II, portraying the lives of Czechoslovak pilots in the British RAF.
