27/08/2018 - Recognising the talent and potential of emerging filmmakers, the fund is throwing its weight behind a number of first and second features

Director Tereza Nvotová, whose new film Světlonoc is receiving support

The Czech Film Fund has once again supported the development of a raft of promising fiction projects, many of which are feature debuts or sophomore films by new talents.

Slovakian filmmaker Michal Blaško, whose previous short films Fear and Atlantis, 2003 reaped a number of awards, belongs to the first group. Inspired by a real-life story that took place in the Czech Republic, his first feature-length effort, Victim, is intended to be a Slovak-Czech co-production. A young boy’s seemingly innocent lie will expose his community’s hidden racism and xenophobia. The director notes that he is fascinated by the position of the boy’s mother, a foreigner who is exposed to media pressure and must put up with a slow-moving investigation. 

Czech production outfit endorfilm, which has been behind Olmo Omerzu’s projects, is readying an adventure film for youngsters and children with international ambitions, My Grandad the Pirate, a story of a group of kids on a boat who are whisked away from a Czech lake onto a pirate ship in the 17^th century. 

Beata Parkanová recently unveiled her debut, Moments [+see also:
trailer
interview: Beata Parkanová
interview: Beata Parkanová
film profile], in the East of the West competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and is already developing her sophomore feature, His Word, Her Word, under the auspices of love.Frame, a Czech company that produced the acclaimed drama I, Olga Hepnarová [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile]. Parkanová aims to investigate the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia through the point of view of an ordinary family. 

Another rising and promising domestic director, Martin Ryšavý, is also preparing his first feature-length film, Stasis, which blends fiction and documentary. Described as a highly experimental project in terms of its production, Ryšavý will investigate apocalyptic phobias in the contemporary world.

Slovak filmmaker Tereza Nvotová, who has recently had two debut outings released – the fiction film Filthy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tereza Nvotová
film profile] and the documentary The Lust for Power [+see also:
trailer
film profile], nominated for the European Film Awards – is joining forces with scriptwriter Barbora Námerová for the second time. Světlonoc will revolve around a woman, her strength and her magical abilities in a story teetering between nature, man and magical realism.

Among the other supported projects are City Without God, set to be directed by Ivo Trajkov; the period thriller-horror Fichtelberg by Šimon Koudela; emerging genre filmmaker Andy Fehu’s attempt at tackling the phenomenon of YouTubers and their pranks, the horror-comedy Bloody Bride; Black Sun, which rekindles the 1970s Czech sci-fi tradition; the comic-book adaptation Binderiana, combining absurd humour and adventure; and a drama about coming to terms with the death of a loved one, Year of the Widow by Veronika Lišková. Support was also allocated to the new project by seasoned filmmaker Zdeněk Jirásky, a low-budget road movie called I Do Not Love You Anymore, which observes two young-adult characters, “prisoners of video culture”, steeling themselves for the harsh reality of the adult world.