In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.

Otakar Vávra’s Witchhammer, co-written by Ester Krumbachová (Daisies, Fruit of Paradise) from Václav Kaplický’s 1963 novel, chronicles the series of notorious 17th Century Czech witch trials, undertaken using the infamous ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ (the ‘Witchhammer’ of the title), the Catholic treatise on witchcraft which endorses the extermination of witches and developed a detailed legal and theological theory for this purpose. Using genuine court transcripts from the forced confessions of those accused of sorcery and collusion with the Devil, it is a powerful and often shocking allegory of life under totalitarian rule.

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.