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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Czech Republic / Slovakia / France / Switzerland

I, Olga Hepnarova team shooting follow-up project Nobody Likes Me

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- The writing-directing-producing duo consisting of Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda is shooting a melodrama that ponders existential topics and intersexuality

I, Olga Hepnarova team shooting follow-up project Nobody Likes Me
Rebeka Poláková in Nobody Likes Me (© Bontonfilm)

Czech filmmakers Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda, who debuted with the biopic drama I, Olga Hepnarova [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile
]
, are currently shooting a follow-up project under the title Nobody Likes Me. Similarly to their previous effort, Weinreb and Kazda have penned the script, are serving as producers and are sharing directing duties. “A significant source of inspiration for the script of Nobody Likes Me was the classic Greek drama Antigone. However, from the very beginning, we wanted the story to take place in the present,” says Kazda. “We have written a tale in which we want to show that life cannot be understood or perceived only rationally or pragmatically, because everything that is happening around us can hide a discovery or an appalling truth.”

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Following a similar thematic thread to I, Olga Hepnarova, Nobody Likes Me revolves around characters that do not fit into society. The main character is loner Sára, portrayed by Slovak actress Rebeka Poláková (The Cleaner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Žiaran
interview: Peter Bebjak
film profile
]
, Gypsy [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
), who works as a secretary at the army headquarters in Prague. Sára unexpectedly falls in love with a mysterious man called Martin (Lithuanian actor Mantas Zemleckas, of the forthcoming Songs for a Fox – see the news). When Sára wants to move their relationship to a physical level, Martin’s deep secret emerges.

“Both of the main characters, Sára and Martin, are different. Despite this, and notwithstanding their doubts, they are strong personalities and do not give up easily. Their pursuit of happiness goes beyond ordinary everydayness,” says Weinreb about the story, which will touch upon the topic of intersexuality and tolerance.

The first clapperboard slammed in March in the Slovak capital, and shooting will continue in Pilsen and Prague before returning to Bratislava. Principal photography will span this spring, summer and autumn. Slovak DoP Juraj Chlpík, who lensed Peter Ostrochovský's drama Servants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile
]
, is behind the camera, shooting on Super 16 mm format, and the material will be processed in London’s Kodak Film Lab. “The Berlinale [where Weinreb and Kazda made their debut with I, Olga Hepnarova] supported our new project in the development phase within the industry section, by selecting it for the 2018 Co-Production Market. They are still interested in how the work is continuing and how the film is developing,” noted the film’s producer, Vojtěch Frič, of love.FRAME.

Nobody Likes Me is being produced by Czech outfits Black Balance and love.FRAME and Slovak company ARYTMIA, and co-produced by Arizona Productions (France), Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland) and Czech Television. The Czech Film Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund and Creative Europe – MEDIA have supported the film. The theatrical release is planned for summer 2023, with Bontonfilm serving as the local distributor for the Czech and Slovak territories. Negotiations with a sales agent are ongoing.

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