Four minority co-productions to compete in San Sebastian

14 September 2021

Czech Film

Four minority co-productions to compete in San Sebastian

Czech Film

Four minority co-productions to compete in San Sebastian

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At the upcoming 69th San Sebastian International Film Festival, Czech cinema will be represented by 4 minority co-productions in the Official Selection. Romanian-Czech Marocco will celebrate world premiere in the New Directors competition, and three festival favourites, Slovak-Czech-Ukrainian 107 Mothers, Romanian-Luxembourgish-Czech-Croatian Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn and French-German-Czech The Crossing will enrich the Zabaltegi - Tabakalera competition section.

Marocco | New Directors

The New Directors section, focused on young talents and first or second films, will host the world premiere of Romanian-Czech drama Marocco, directed by Romanian filmmaker Emanuel Pârvu, whose debut, Meda or The Not So Bright Side of Things (2017), won the main prize of the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2017. Pârvu, who is also an actor, potrayed one of the main roles in Bogdan George Apetri's Miracle which premiered at the Venice IFF earlier this month.

Pârvu's new film tells a story of teenager Magda who, one day, offers her expensive necklace to a sick child in the hospital she volunteers for. Her father is certain she is lying again, and when Magda proves her innocence, he is ashamed and guilty but also incapable of admitting he was wrong. Their relationship is broken and in chaos, and past decisions have irreversible consequences.

Marocco is produced by Miruna Berescu of FAMART ASSOCIATION (Romania), in co-production with Jordi Niubó of Czech company i/o post. The world sales are handled by WIDE.

107 Mothers | Zabaltegi - Tabakalera

Slovak-Czech-Ukrainian drama 107 Mothers tells a story of Lesya who has committed a crime of passion which brings her a seven-year sentence in one of Odessa’s women’s correctional facilities. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates, nurses and wardens, women of all ages, wives and widows, daughters, sisters, pregnant women, and women with children. If not for the color of the uniform, it would sometimes be hard to tell who is who.

107 Mothers has recently been honored with the Best Screenplay Award of Venice's Orizzonti Competition. The script was written by the director (and also a co-producer) Peter Kerekes and by Ivan Ostrochovský who also acts as the main producer for Punkchart Films (Slovak Republic).

Co-producers include two established Czech production companies endorfilm (producer Jiří Konečný) and Hypermarket Film, Radio and Television of Slovakia (SK), Arthouse Traffic (UA) and Peter Kerekes Film (SK). The Czech Film Fund supported the film with EUR 131 000.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn | Zabaltegi - Tabakalera

Another participant of Zabaltegi - Tabakalera is the winner of this year’s Berlinale, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Romanian-Luxembourgish-Czech-Croatian film delivers an incendiary mix of unconventional form, irreverent humor and scathing commentary on hypocrisy and prejudice in our society.

Romanian director Radu Jude illustrates all of this in a story of Emi, a school teacher who finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.

Czech co-producer of the film, Jiří Konečný and his company endorfilm, has collaborated with director Radu Jude and producer Ada Solomon for the third time already. They have already achieved success with Aferim! (2015) which was awarded Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Director, and "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" won the Crystal Globe award at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2018.

The Crossing | Zabaltegi - Tabakalera

French-German-Czech co-production The Crossing, debut by French director and artist Florence Miailhe, was honored with the Jury Distinction award within Annecy's main competition earlier this year.

The film tells a story of never-ending human effort to find a new home, where one can find a better life. An effort for which we are willing to risk our lives. On this journey of hope, people overcome various perils and experience the most terrible of situations. They are fuelled by the awareness of who they really are, what they are running from and what they are hopeful of. In the end an experience like that becomes a story worth telling again and again.

The Crossing is produced by Dora Benousilio of Les Films de l’Arlequin and co-produced by German Balance Film, established Czech company MAUR film, ARTE (FR, DE), Czech Television (CZ) and XBO films (FR).

Many Czech artists were involved in the production of this drama, such as – animators Lucie Sunková, Polina Kazak, Eva Skurská, Anna Paděrová and Zuzana Studená, or sound engineer Jiří Klenka. The Crossing was also backed by the CFF with EUR 115 000 and it also received support from Eurimages (EUR 400 000), Creative Europe MEDIA, CNC and more. World sales are handled by French company Indie Sales.

Czech Film Center
division of the Czech Film Fund promoting Czech cinema worldwide

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