Private Project

Magion

This Czech Academy of Sciences documentary film narrates the story of the Magion satellite that reached the Earth’s orbit in 1978, after years of efforts of the Academy staff. The idea was born after the trip to Russia by geophysicists of the CAS Pavel Tříska and Jaroslav Vojta. When assembling the satellite, they noticed that the weight balancing the centre of the gravity of the satellite could be replaced with a machine of the same weight but with the enhanced capability to collect data when moving in space. The idea had to be officially approved, however, and therefore long and challenging work on the project followed, leaving a significant Czech scientific footprint.

  • Marek Janáč
    Director
  • Marek Janáč
    Writer
  • The Czech Academy of Sciences
    Producer
  • Radim Dittrich
    Camera
  • Jakub Helis
    Editing
  • Jarda Zajíček
    Animation
  • Tomáš Gaisler
    Color Grading
  • Michal Kloss
    Sound Postproduction
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Magion
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    Czech Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Czech Republic
  • Language:
    Czech
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Academia Film Olomouc 2019
    Olomouc
    Czech Republic
    April 24, 2019
    International
    Winner
Distribution Information
  • The Czech Academy of Sciences
    Country: Czech Republic
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Marek Janáč

Marek Janáč (* 1971)

Czech publicist, radio and film documentary filmmaker. He mainly focuses on scientific popularization.

Employment
1990-1991: Barrandov Film Studio
1991-2013: Czech Radio
2014-now: Vesmír popular-science magazine

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Valuation
1996 Mum, I take drugs… (National Prix, Prix Bohemia Radio
Festival)
2005 Communism (main prize, "Documentary of the year"
competition)
2005 War Decameron (Main Award, "Report" Festival)
2006 Cancels us filming (main prize, "Report" festival)
2007 The World of Miroslav Z. (main prize, "Report" festival)
2009 Mokrsko 2008 (International Prix, Prix Bohemia Radio
Festival)
2014 Honorable Mention for Outstanding Popularization of
Science in the Radio Program "Meteor" (The Learned
Society of the Czech Republic)
2014 Vojtěch Náprstek Honorary Medal for long-term
popularization of scientific knowledge (Czech Academy
of Sciences)
2019 Magion - story of satellite (best Czech-Slovak film,
festival Academia film Olomouc)

Filmography Selection
1998 It started raining a year ago (Czech Television,
screenplay and director)
2007 Hour Years Long (Czech Television, Screenplay)
2007 Insurgency (Czech Television, Screenplay)
2009 Divnopis 1-52 (Czech Television, Screenplay)
2011 Dinosaur Hitchhikers (Czech Television, Screenplay and
Director)
2011 Do not issue bodies (Czech Television, co-author of the
script)
2015 The Primordial Sea of the Barrandien (National
Museum, script, dramaturgy)
2015 Diamond (Universe, Screenplay and Director)
2016 German Meteorite (Universe, Screenplay and Director)
2017 Gates (Czech Television, Screenplay and Director)
2017 Poisons in Every Bill (Universe, Screenplay and Director)
2018 Magion - story of satellite (Czech Academy of Sciences)
Czech Republic, Screenplay and Director)
2018 Beaver in Prague (Prague City Hall, Screenplay and
Director)