Jacob

synopsis

After second world war the people from Ruthenia's Carpathian villages were promised a better life in Bohemia. Once settled down they felt like strangers at the new places, so memories and tales became very important reminding them of their old homes. One of these tales is about Jakub, a man who knew the bible by heart. This film follows his trace portraying the almost forgotten loss of those people who nowadays still feel without a home.

biography

Jana Ševčíková is a renowned Czech documentary film director, screenwriter, and producer. She graduated from FAMU in Prague in 1983. Her documentary Old Believers (2001), portraying a Russian Orthodox community in Romania, received a Special Commendation from the Ecumenical Jury at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival and the FICC Don Quijote Award at the Kraków Film Festival. At the Ji.hlava IDFF, she presented her feature-length films The Rite of Spring (2002) and Gyumri (2008). In 2021, the festival honored her with the Award for Contribution to World Cinema. Ševčíková typically spends several years developing each of her films, striving to get as close as possible to the lives of her protagonists. Her works resemble poetry or meditation, filmed over many years, observing transformation and allowing viewers to perceive the continuity of human life. She demonstrates that film can serve as both an image of time and a form of contemplation.

film details

director:	Jana Ševčíková
photography:	Miroslav Čvorsjuk, Miroslav Halada, Martin Vadas, Jaromír Kačer
editing:	Jan Mattlach
music:	Alan Vitouš
sound:	Jiří Peser, Pavel Dvořák