24th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Two Roads
director: Radovan Síbrt
original title: Postiženi muzikou
country: Czech Republic
year: 2019
running time: 80 min.
synopsis
The Jedlička Institute music class currently known as The Tap Tap band was founded 21 years ago by Šimon Ornest to give people with handicaps an opportunity to succeed outside of their daily institutional care. An observing and attentive camera captured the evolution of the personalities of several of the musicians over the course of several years. The attractive energy of the film which is exceptional in its approach to its theme as it avoids the usual compassionate sentiment stems from the relationships among the musicians and between them and their band leader, the motor of the action, whose work improves the public image of people with handicaps in an unorthodox way.
“Even if it was hard for me at first, I was trying to make a film in a similar way that the band members are putting up with their destinies: with no sentiment, pointless pity or political correctness involved, yet with a touch of pitch black humour.” R. Síbrt
biography
Radovan Síbrt (1975) graduated as a documentary director at FAMU. He co-founded the Pink company which produces films, commercials and charity campaigns. As a director, he is known as the author of Domestic Violence (Domácí násilí, 2007) or The Marriage of Robert and Gábina (Manželství Roberta a Gábiny, 2005). He has been cooperating with The Tap Tap on the making of their music videos.more about film
| director: | Radovan Síbrt |
| cast: | Šimon Ornest, Ladislav Angelovič, Jana Augustinová, Petr Tomek, Jiří Holzmann |
| producer: | Karel Poupě, Alžběta Karásková, Tereza Polachová, Hana Kastelicová |
| script: | Radovan Síbrt |
| photography: | Šimon Dvořáček, Radovan Síbrt, Lukáš Milota |
| editing: | Tomáš Elšík, Jorge Sánchez Calderón |
| music: | The Tap Tap |
| sound: | Dominik Dolejší |
other films in the section
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“What I like about it the most is how the story of a teenage transgender boy can disrupt the conservative structures of a television film, go beyond the media, and challenge the inhumane sterilization of transgender people in the Czech Republic.” K. Turečková
Why Do I Feel Like A Boy?
Kateřina Turečková
Czech Republic / 2019 / 26 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
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“When I met Sai, I was captivated above all by the fact that he dances and cleans. I was interested in finding Kalado. When we finished filming, he said ‘Life is misunderstanding. Misunderstanding is understanding. This is Kalado.’” T. Tara
Kalado
Tereza Tara
Czech Republic / 2017 / 30 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
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‘Baťa’s motivational motto “Today a Dream, Tomorrow Reality”, painted in large letters on the wall that divided the factory from the town, has always seemed incredibly sad to me. It would be much better to live according to a motto “Today Reality, But Tomorrow a Dream”.’ K. Zalabáková
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Czech Republic / 2017 / 75 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
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Dagmar Smržová
Czech Republic / 2016 / 63 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
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“Instant soup can warm you up, but it won’t give you strength. We can look at Instagram in a similar way, or we can use it as a medium that can present the ‘old school documentary film’ to the younger audience.” F. Remunda
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Czech Republic / 2019 / 70 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
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Attention Economy: 39 Minutes After the Presidential Election
Petr Salaba
Czech Republic / 2018 / 8 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
Documentary filmmaker Petra Nesvačilová’s study of the famous “Berdych Gang” focuses on police officer Helena Kahnová, but she also interviews other actors in the case, including the accused and the convicted. The resulting film is a mosaic that says less about the case or its background than it does about the people who exist on the edge of the law, and about their thoughts and motivations. Nesvačilová herself comes into contact with the criminal underworld and becomes an actor in her own film. She must decide whether it is safe to meet certain people, which leads her to consider questions related to the essence of crime and of good and evil in general.“I thought I was shooting a portrait of a brave police woman, but in the end I found myself in places that I had always been afraid of and that I only knew from the movies. The underworld. And now I see that this underworld is all around us – sometimes very, very close.”
Helena's Law
Petra Nesvačilová
Czech Republic / 2016 / 80 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
The film’s title can be seen as an anti-captcha, a text that is easily machine-read but difficult for people to understand. Working in the style of a documentary essay, the film considers the problem of the autocracy of machines. Apocalyptic visions inspired by the film The Terminator are projected onto the reality of destructive protests against the G20 Summit, whose catalyst, means and outcome are statistical analyses of behavioural models realized using the computers and telephones in our pockets. A collage of original images, commented graphs and internet garbage. For the full viewing experience, please have your smartphone ready.
“This text can’t be longer than 200 characters. That’s 60 more than a tweet by Donald Trump.” P. Salaba
llllllIIIIl
Petr Salaba
Czech Republic / 2017 / 27 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
Photographer Don, a resident of Kibera, a giant slum in Nairobi, says that in his photographs he tries to capture the positive side of his home – not suffering, misery, and resignation, but hope, determination, and creativity. And Martin Páv’s documentary has taken a similar approach. Working with the unique photogenic qualities of the slum, the film is structured as a series of interviews with local residents. Besides Don, we also meet local artists, a teacher, and a boxing coach. Nevertheless, in the film’s final part about the presidential elections in Kenya, the frustrations, hopelessness, and violence in Kibera bubble to the surface.“People can co-operate if they have a reason to.“ M. Páv
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section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
The documentary reflects on thirty years of renewed democracy by way of a court hearing, whose subject matter. The film brings together actors in the roles of the plaintiff, defense counsel and judge with real people who represent Czech society as spectators, witnesses and members of the jury. The film is clearly inspired by a court hearing regarding a two-generation dispute filmed by Czechoslovak Television in 1966.
“The story of an idealism and naivety of one and rationality of others. Review of thirty years of a divided society, who did not know about it. ” R. Sedláček
The Judge over the Czech Way
Robert Sedláček
Czech Republic / 2019 / 84 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
Czech Joy - Out of competitionThe German philosopher Martin Heidegger, one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, goes on a tour of Auschwitz forty years after his death. He takes 2,500 photographs during his visit. On his way back, he visits Prague and his attention is caught by the tail end of a marathon, which conspicuously reminds him of a funeral. The following winter, his Jewish lover and another of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, Hannah Arendt, rises from the grave as well. With a 16mm camera in hand, she aimlessly wanders the area surrounding Heidegger’s chalet in Todtnauberg. She has visions of various motifs from the great philosopher’s central work, Being and Time. All is arranged in a strictly structural shape. Static in movement, kinetic in stillness.
“Oh, Germany! People laugh when they hear the talk that comes from your house. But anyone who sees you reaches for a knife.” M. Ježek
Heidegger in Auschwitz
Martin Ježek
Czech Republic / 2016 / 50 min.
section: Czech Joy
Czech Premiere
In his new work of docufiction, Vietnamese-born Czech director Dužan Duong continues to explore the life of the Czech Republic’s Vietnamese community. Bo Hai takes an intimate look at a young man who helps out at his father’s mini-market. By showing everyday situations, the films introduces us to the life of young Vietnamese who have lived most of their life in the Czech Republic and are losing touch with the culture of their parents but at the same time are prevented from becoming fully-fledged members of Czech society. Filmed primarily using longer static shots in real-life settings, Bo Hai recalls the approach of contemporary cinematic realists. At the same time, it is also a personal statement about the director’s generation.
“#FilmfromMini-market” D. Duong
Bo Hai
Dužan Duong
Czech Republic / 2017 / 26 min.
section: Czech Joy
World Premiere
