Up Again

synopsis

A triple jump on ice skates lasts just a few seconds, but requires years of physical training and mental isolation. This time-lapse portrait of Barbora Vránková, three-time Czech figure skating champion, captures a pivotal period in her life between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. Her days are filled with online lessons, physiotherapy sessions and, above all, a strict training regimen. The camera, which is synced with the protagonist’s movements, takes us straight onto the ice, where the scraping of blades and the rumble of pop-music hits blend with the shouts of the coaches. Without any artificial pathos, the film follows how, fall after fall, the young athlete works her way towards precision on the ice and her own autonomy off it.

“For me, sound has never been merely an accompaniment to the image. Gradually, it has also become a path to the themes the film explores: performance, expectations, and the search for one’s own place in a world that constantly judges people by their results.” — Eliška Cílková Andršová, dok.revue

biography

Eliška Cílková Andršová (1987) is a Czech film director and composer. She studied composition at HAMU and film directing at FAMU. As a Fulbright scholar, she spent a year at Columbia University in New York. Her films, such as Pripyat Piano (2020), are characterised by their distinctive sound design.

film details

director:	Eliška Cílková Andršová
producer:	Lukáš Kokeš, Hanka Kastelicová, Tereza Bóna Keilová
photography:	Kryštof Hlůže, Tomáš Frkal
editing:	Eliška Cílková Andršová
music:	Eliška Cílková Andršová
sound:	Jan Mesany