ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the first health film produced in the Czech Republic, Jak Vašíček přišel k nohám (How Vašíček got his legs, 1921), which presented the Jedličkův ústav, one of the first institutions aimed at rehabilitating children and adults with physical disabilities and preparing them for independent life. The story of young Vašíček, who lost his legs in an accident, but finally acquired a career and a future, is contrasted with the story of veterans left in the care of the community's charitable aid. We examine the grounding of these discursive practices after 1945 in documentaries and fictional films produced by socialist authorities in the 1960s (e.g., Dluh – Jedličkův ústav [Our debt to Jedličkův ústav, 1968]).
