email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

PRODUCTION Czech Republic

Petr Václav’s next feature already in the editing room

by 

- The award-festooned Czech director is also busy working on his next projects

Petr Václav’s next feature already in the editing room
Director Petr Václav

The big win at the Czech Lion Awards (see the news), which added seven new statuettes to the four bestowed upon it by the film critics (see the news), reignited the public’s interest in the social drama The Way Out [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petr Václav
film profile
]
, which was seen by just 3,936 viewers last year, thus triggering an unusual theatrical re-run. But its award-festooned director, Petr Václav, had little time to celebrate, as he is already finishing his next feature, Never Alone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petr Vaclav
film profile
]
. The project won a contribution from the Film Foundation in 2009, and as soon as the editing on The Way Out had been concluded, Václav started working on his new title.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The director confessed that his next offering will not be a social drama and will also be different in form from its award-wining predecessor. Never Alone focuses on several characters’ fates during their process of “becoming someone”, set against the backdrop of a little boy’s escape from his dark childhood. “Our heroes are the children of this day and age: they are struggling with personal dissatisfaction and a feeling that they are living in an unfriendly world,” Václav commented. The story shines a spotlight on a Europe that “is going through a significant crisis – not only a financial one, but also a social and political one”, which should also be reflected in the film. The director hinted that it would be more of a bizarre endeavour compared to the docu-fiction The Way Out.

Jan Macola, of Mimesis Film, is producing Never Alone after having made his production debut with The Way Out; he revealed to Cineuropa that the finishing touches are currently being put to the movie in the editing room. “For me, personally, Never Alone is a continuation of my long-term collaboration with the most talented Czech director of our time,” said Macola. Václav has retained the award-winning team behind The Way Out, as well as non-professional actors Klaudia Dudová and Zdeněk Godla. The leads from the director’s sophomore feature, Parallel Worlds, Czech actors Lenka Vlasáková and Karel Roden, are also starring in his upcoming feature. After the final cut has been completed, which is expected in April, Macola envisages a festival run ahead of the domestic premiere in November.

However, this is not the only project that the director has been working on. The documentary Confession of the Vanished [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
opens on 4 April in the Czech Republic and follows the staging of the L’Olimpiade opera while exploring the dramatic life of its composer, Josef Mysliveček, a friend and teacher of Mozart’s. The historical drama Il Boemo is also in development, and the shooting of the new feature is set to start in May or June.

Never Alone is produced by Mimesis Film, and co-produced by Cinéma Defacto, Czech Television and i/o post. The movie received support from the Czech State Cinematography Fund.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy