35-year-old Olmo Omerzu is regarded as one of the leading younger talents to have emerged from Prague’s FAMU in recent years. His debut, A Night Too Young (2012), is a coming-of-age story about the unexpected encounter of several characters during one New Year’s Day which had its world premiere at the Berlinale Forum. It was followed by Family Film (2015), a complex tale of family life and the unforeseeable consequences of a holiday in exotic climes, premiered in San Sebastian, won a prize in Tokyo and was also named the best film of the year by the Czech Film Critics Association. And Omerzu’s last film, the road movie Winter Flies, won the directing award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2018. Omerzu and his producer Jiří Konečný also garnered the Czech Lion for the best film of the year and the film appeared also in the official selection of Toronto IFF. So Omerzu’s new feature is eagerly anticipated.

The global, interconnected reality behind a family story

In his new film, Omerzu leaves behind the coming-of-age theme and tells a story of the contemporary world, connected online. The story follows the aging owner of a family electronics firm, who sacrificed his whole life for the sake of the business. He discovers that a huge amount of money has disappeared from his company accounts, and seeks who is at fault. This situation has a severe impact on the protagonist, all his family, and the future of the company. "We wanted to depict contemporary life and some of the changes it is undergoing, the differences between generations and the reality of globalization, when it's often hard to say who is guilty and to be blamed for what happens," says Olmo Omerzu. "It is a drama with elements of subtle irony concealed within its realism." His films typically link a variety of themes, which makes it harder for Omerzu to decide on titles for them.

The director is cautious about revealing too much about the plot, but one thing is clear. Omerzu has continued his collaboration with screenwriter Petr Pýcha, who wrote Winter Flies and gave a distinctive feel to this successful road movie about two likable but inexperienced youngsters driving around the Czech Republic in a stolen car. "Petr's particular strength is writing dialogue. He loves creating characters and authentic language. I, on the other hand, tend to shoot rather poetic films and like situations that grow organically out of the visuals. So we make a great team," says the director about their collaboration.

Working closely with leading Czech actors

In the new film, Omerzu wants to focus on working with actors and on developing the psychological depth of the characters through highly original dramatic situations. The leading roles are played by the well-known and highly popular Czech actors Miroslav Donutil (Ondřej Trojan's Zelary, 2003, Jan Hřebejk's Cosy Dens, 1999, Věra Chytilová's The Inheritance, or Fuckoffguysgoodday, 1992) and Alena Mihulová (Slávek Horák's Home Care, 2015, Bohdan Sláma's Ice Mother, 2017, Karel Kachyňa's The Cow, 1992). "I wrote the script with them already in mind. I molded the characters after them. During the shoot I was energized by their trust and support, which was crucial for me," adds Olmo Omerzu. "Their roles are psychologically complex and I was happy to enjoy their support." Donutil and Mihulová are joined by Omerzu regulars Eliška Křenková and Martin Pechlát, among other Czech actors.

"My new piece is truly a film based on acting. The mise-en-scène is built around characters and camerawork that tracks the movements and emotions of our actors. With my cinematographer Lukáš Milota, we wanted to achieve as unrestricted a form as possible – so we did not set out or articulate any strict conceptual framework beforehand. In this case, the camera should be invisible to the viewer, as should the form of the film itself. We went from one scene to the next, bearing in mind that we wanted to listen to its emotions and meanings carefully and so find the best possible way of shooting each one," comments Olmo Omerzu on his style of working with his longtime collaborator Lukáš Milota. Producer Jiří Konečný, editor Janka Vlčková and DOP Lukáš Milota have been firmly in his team from his debut drama A Night Too Young and his earliest days at FAMU. "I love the fact that we have evolved together. Just like me, they do not want to repeat themselves. I trust them from the bottom of my heart," said Omerzu recently on Czech Radio. "Their criticism is very welcome and has been precious from the outset, helping me greatly during the scriptwriting process."

Overcoming the quarantine: Shooting interrupted by the pandemic

Shooting started this spring, but on March 12 the Czech government declared a state of emergency and implemented quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As of March 26, people were allowed outside of their residences only on their own or in groups of two. This forced the makers to stop work on the set in the middle of the shoot during spring 2020. "20 days into the shoot we had to stop. We had scheduled several days' shooting in a hospital, which was impossible even before the quarantine and other COVID restrictions were put in place in the Czech Republic," says producer Jiří Konečný. "Yes, I was afraid that, for example, our actors would disconnect from their characters. That we would lose touch with the film's reality. The overall situation was very fragile," recalls the head of Endorfilm productions, who previously worked on films by Omerzu, the celebrated Romanian auteur Radu Jude, the Czech documentarist Erika Hníková, and the Slovak director Iveta Grófová. "Now I am cautiously optimistic about the general situation. But the COVID-19 crisis helped me to realize how fragile everything is in our line of work. Festivals, which are so important for productions like ours, all the face-to-face meetings, good international relations press-wise – I now consider all these to be more precious and take them for granted far less than before."

"Coronavirus presented us with a big problem, but luckily we wrapped up the exterior shoot before the quarantine, so we could continue with interior scenes from the beginning of June," Olmo Omerzu continues. The film is set in winter, so the main worry was that the rest of the shoot might be delayed by a year or more. "We were all so pleased to be able to resume after just two months' break. Because we were so invested in the film and the story!"

The film is a Czech-Slovak-Slovenian-French co-production. Jiří Konečný of endorfilm brought in Czech Television, and the Czech Film Fund supported the film in development and production with € 450,000. Punkchart Films (Ivan Ostrochovský) and Slovak Audiovisual Fund are involved, Cvinger Film (Rok Biček) and the Slovenian Film Centre, as well as Melocoton Films of Paris (Hélène Mitjavil). The film has a total budget of € 1.7 million and is planned for release in 2021.