Hating

synopsis

Ondřej Šálek’s time-lapse documentary captures an escalating street battle between pro- Russian activists at a petition stand in Prague’s Klárov district and a group of liberal-minded citizens who have decided to take justice into their own hands. Footage from live streams and first-hand observations reveal verbal and physical altercations and the growing radicalisation of both camps. This unsettling account of the forms that civil resistance takes in a sharply polarised society does not adopt the perspective of either side. An impartial observation of the actions and counter-actions shows how easily a sense of threat and the desire to belong to a particular community can escalate into aggression.

“Radical empathy leads us to understand people on the other side of the divide. It does not mean agreeing with them, but making an effort to understand them.” — Václav Havel

biography

Ondřej Šálek (1994) is a Czech documentary filmmaker and a graduate of FAMU. His interests include the Czech disinformation scene, the social periphery and manifestations of polarisation. He won an award at FAMUfest for his short film Good News (2019), which is about a small internet television channel.

film details

director:	Ondřej Šálek
producer:	Marek Novák
script:	Ondřej Šálek, Jakub Režný
photography:	Ludvík Otevřel
editing:	Karolína Čejková
music:	Mojmír Měchura
sound:	Miroslav Chaloupka
co-producer:	Martina Šantavá
executive producer:	Klára Žaloudková
Distributor:	Ivo Andrle
script dramaturgy:	Jakub Režný

contact

Marek Novák / Xova Film
marek@xovafilm.cz