28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Czech Journal: Children of the State
director: Ivana Pauerová Miloševič
original title: Český žurnál: Děti státu
country: Czech Republic
year: 2017
running time: 57 min.
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 |
