Development of feature films

The highest support of EUR 50,000 went to the project by screenwriter and director Beata Parkanová Black Blood, produced by OZET Film. A period drama is set at the end of the 18th century, when more than forty Roma were executed on
the basis of a fabricated story of cannibalism. The historical "fake news" motif makes this period story topical today.

Three of the applying projects were based on a book: the production company Mimesis's project Bílá voda is screenwriter and director Lenka Wimmerová's adaptation of Kateřina Tučková's latest novel of the same title. The story dealing with position of women in the Catholic Church in the context of Czechoslovakia during the state socialism period got the second highest support of EUR 48,000. LUMINAR Film's project Swings directed by Bohdan Sláma was supported with EUR 44,000. The story of a friendship of two old unconventional ladies, which is a follow-up to director's successful Ice Mother, is based on a book by Lucie Konečná, who also co–wrote the film's screenplay. Bionaut's 36m2, which is to be the feature debut of Johana Ožvold was supported with EUR 40,000. The project is based on Dana Horáková's diary book, in which she describes her complicated married life with the Czech New Wave filmmaker Pavel Juráček. Together with co-writers Petra Hůlová and Hana Wlodarczyk, the director found a functional key to the treatment of the subject – focusing on current and under-treated themes such as sexism in Czech dissent, life in emigration, or imbalanced gender roles.

Nutprodukce presented its project Vitaly and Yulia, to be directed by a young Russian director in exile, Katemir Balaganov, who made his name with Beanpole. Based on a true story of a young married couple in Russia, the film depicts the events around the biggest doping scandal in sport of our time. The project of high artistic quality and at the same time accessible to a wider audience was supported by EUR 38,000. Kuli Film's absurd comedy Four (Čtyři) by Igor Chmela is an original and daring project disrupting narrative conventions. It consists of four short stories revolving around the theme of human, or more precisely, an actor's, body. In this case, the Council was pleased to note that this is a quality project aimed at a more mainstream audience, supporting it with EUR 38,000.

The main character of the Xova Film's project Princess, Igor, works as a content censor, and the job is taking a toll on him.
The creative duo behind the film – screenwriter Klára Vlasáková and director Cristina Grosan – also collaborated on successful Ordinary Failures. The Council found Princess a coherent project, dealing with a topical social subject, supporting it with EUR 32,000. The same support went to the project FINGO of Negativ, the company with a great experience in the field of films for children and young audience. The story straddles between science fiction and horror and works skillfully with mystery and suspense, which is usually very appreciated by the target audience of 13+, for which this project is declared. Alter Vision comes with an atmospheric and mysterious story NONA, in which reality mingles with dreams. Set from dusk to dawn, the story tells of a rational young man who finds a strange girl on his balcony who supposedly fell from outer space. The project is granted the support of EUR 30,000.

Complete documentary film development

Farský rybník (Parish Pond) is the title of Kuli Film's project by director Jan Hošek, building on previous successful projects Wilder Than Wilderness and Wild Prague. The documentary with a strong environmental aspect targets a family audience again, which the Council sees as very beneficial, supporting the project with EUR 18,000. GPO platform comes with the documentary project National Champion (Národní šampión) by director Martin Kohout, dealing with the history and present of the largest Czech power company ČEZ. The documentary portrait of this giant attempts to shed light not only on its history, but also on its present-day connection with
the political background of Czech society. The project was supported with EUR 14,000.

Expert Reality (Znalecká skutečnost) of D1film by Zuzana Piussi and Vít Janeček is an investigative documentary which,
on the basis of one particular controversial court case, offers a very complex analysis of the Czech Republic's forensic experts system. The Council appreciated the extensive research of the subject-matter, which brought various surprising information
and dramatic twists, and the great potential social value of the film, supporting the project´s development with EUR 16,000.
The same support went to the upcoming MasterFilm's project Nuns (Sestry), the documentary debut of Tereza Bernátková, based
on unique found footage stored in the Regional Museum in Mikulov, interviews of surviving inmates, written chronicles of the institute, photographs, and extensive audiovisual archives.

Cinepoint introduced the project I Cannot Be Driven from That Calling (Z toho stavu nemohu být vyhnán) by the director Martin Ryšavý. A story that takes place in the Drama Studio in Ústí nad Labem, depicts the circumstances of the production of the play 
I, Feurbach. The Council considers this project, which can be described as a hybrid between documentary and fiction, highly original, transcending the concept of a classic film about theatre, and supports it with EUR 10,000. Viktor Portel's upcoming film Between Us (Mezi námi), supported with EUR 14,000 and produced by Post Bellum will build on his previous works exploring the totalitarian past. The documentary tells the dramatic story of a family that was separated when fleeing the country. The author managed to gain access to the testimonies of those involved, and the upcoming film not only provides a powerful historical testimony but also brings various possible interpretations of the same event.

Black Balance, the production company of the director duo Petr Kazda and Tomáš Weinreb, comes with The World
of Tomorrow (Svět zítřka), capturing the forgotten historical theme of 1939, a unique archival testimony of the World Exhibition and Czechoslovak participation at this event. The World Exhibition of that year showed futuristic visions on the threshold of the war catastrophe. The project was supported with EUR 16,000. The creative team (Jiří Šlofar, Hynek Spurný, Jiří Dufek) under the patronage of Altum Frames presented the feature-length documentary titled Master Frank about František "Frank" Daniel, a Czech script editor and teacher who had become one of the most influential personalities in American screenwriting and dramaturgy. In addition to the possibility of introducing František Daniel to a wider public, the project also articulates the role and necessity of film dramaturgy as such. The Fund supports the project with EUR 20,000.

The political documentary by Haruna Honcoop I'm Taiwanese (Jsem Tchajwanec), submitted by Holiday Films, gets of EUR 22,000, the highest development support of this call. Using four specific human stories, it reveals the background of political and cultural identities in the East Asian region. The film depicts the possible geopolitical parallels between our countries and can enrich the spectrum of Czech documentaries. The joint project of director Lucie Kašová and photographer and cinematographer Tereza Červinková World of Walls is presented by CLAW AV as a documentary dystopian sci-fi from the near future. The film dealing
with environmental and social problems of today is to be shot in South Africa. The Council supported its development with EUR 10,000.

The documentary Tonča 24 of Frame Films, supported with EUR 14,000, is based on a idea by Jitka Kotrlová and Tomáš Elšík,
who is also the director of the upcoming film. The sports-themed documentary is about a young hope of Czech skateboarding Antonie Bakošová and her journey from an interesting girl on a skateboard and an avid scout to a professional athlete who is currently trying to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The film will also report on the Czech skateboarding community, where the girl element is rather an exception.

Eurimages support

Altogether six Czech and co-production features won the support of Council of Europe's Eurimages fund, which held its first evaluation meeting of 2023 at the end of March. Ondřej Provazník, who debuted together with Martin Dušek with Old-Timers, received support of EUR 235,000 for his follow-up feature It Would Be My Dream, exploring the topic of sexual abuse of teenagers in a choir. Jiří Konečný of endorfilm is the main producer of this Czech-Slovak co-production.

Ondřej Hudeček, the director of the Sundance winning short film Peacock, preps together with producer Tomáš Hrubý (nutprodukce) his feature film debut Little Thief, about an ex-convict from a small South Moravian town embarks on a series of staged thefts to help local businesses stave off bankruptcy. The Eurimages fund supported the Czech-Slovak project, sheduled to shoot later this year, with EUR 134,000.

Moreover, DJ Ahmet, a coming-of-age story of boy from a Turkish village in North Macedonia directed by Georgi Unkovski, who finds refuge in the electronic music, co-produced by Alter Vision on the Czech side received from Eurimages EUR 160,000 and Hunger Strike Breakfast, inspired as the title hints by the hunger strike of epmloyed of Lithuanian television in 1991, directed by Karolis Kaupinis and co-produced by Background Films on the Czech side, was awarded EUR 180,000.

Also, Agnieszka Holland's latest feature Green Border in the making, a co-production of Poland, France, Czech Republic and Belgium, received the Eurimages support of EUR 380,000. The film set on the border between Poland and Belarus, recently used by immigrants from Africa and Asia to enter to Europe, is co-produced by Marlene Film Production on the Czech side. And last but not least, Wishing on a Star, a documentary feature by Peter Kerekes exploring the theme of astrology, received the support of EUR 75,000. Artcam Films is the Czech co-producer of this five-country co-production.