Czech Journal: Children of the State

synopsis

A great wave of criticism was aroused in 2011, when the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, Barnevernet, took away both of the Micháleks’ sons. The documentary director, who has two children of her own, set out to Norway to discover whether the state is indeed dictating how parents should raise their children. This investigative documentary uses individual stories and interviews with experts to reveal that the issues are much more complex than the way they are presented by the Czech media. Although the defined rules may be restrictive, they are also apparently one of the reasons why Norway is ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world.

“Do what degree do we overlook cases in our surroundings, when parents are not able to handle the raising of their children? Are we respecting privacy? Or is it indifference? Are we able to view the state as other than a necessary evil?” I. P. Miloševičová

biography

Sarajevo-born Ivana Pauerová Miloševičová (1976) is a graduate of FAMU. She collaborated in the making of the documentary triptych E-Day (2004, Ji.hlava IDFF 2004). In Ladies in White (2008) she observed the wives of Cuban dissidents. Her Diva (2014, Ji.hlava IDFF 2015) portrays a young girl coming to terms with her parents’ divorce. As a dramaturge for Czech Television, she has been involved in the production of the documentaries DK (2013, Ji.hlava IDFF 2013), and Hotelier (2013, Ji.hlava IDFF 2013).

more about film

director:	Ivana Pauerová Miloševič
producer:	Petr Kubica, Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák
script:	Ivana Pauerová Miloševič, Margareta Hruza
photography:	Yvona Teysslerová
editing:	Hedvika Hansalová
sound:	Jiří Hruban, Ivan Horák

contact

ČESKÁ TELEVIZE / Petr Kubica / Kavčí Hory / 14070 / Prague / Czech Republic / +420 774 101 657 / petr.kubica@ceskatelevize.cz / www.ceskatelevize.cz

výrobce: Filip Remunda (Hypermarket Film s.r.o.), Vít Klusák (Hypermarket Film s.r.o.)