17/12/2021 - The Slovenian-born, Prague-based filmmaker’s latest project intertwines a dark coming-of-age drama and the adult theme of failed parenthood

Award-winning Slovenian-born and Prague-based filmmaker Olmo Omerzu currently has two titles on the festival circuit, the feature film Bird Atlas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile] and the short film The Last Day of Patriarchy, and is already preparing his next feature-length project. The new work, titled Ungrateful Beings [+see also:
film review
interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile], is germinating under the banner of the Czech production outfit Endorfilm headed by Jiří Konečný, who has produced all of Omerzu’s previous feature-length endeavours. The award-winning producer-director team is joined by Nebojša Pop-Tasić, who co-wrote Omerzu’s Family Film [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile], as well as Czech playwright Kasha Jandáčková.

While Bird Atlas marked Omerzu’s shift towards a story centred on adult characters, Ungrateful Beings will be a cross-over between the director’s coming-of-age dramas and an adult-themed story unfolding in the clash of a daughter with her father. Recently divorced David takes his two teenage children on a camping trip near the Adriatic Sea. His daughter Klára, suffering from anorexia, gets entangled with local bad boy Denis, who becomes bad news for David after a shocking incident. The family drama continues after a return back to the Czech Republic where David’s ex-wife confronts him about his failures.

The story mixes a dysfunctional family, a summer romance, parental failings and father-daughter alienation in a combination of drama, thriller, and comedy. The director said he will strive to portray a dialogue between two perspectives, parental and offspring. Ungrateful Beings will develop a thematic thread started in Bird Atlas, about patriarchal missteps. Esteemed Polish editor Jaroslaw Kaminski (The Lure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnieszka Smoczyńska
film profile], The Other Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile]) will be cutting the film.

Czech producer Konečný confirmed to Cineuropa that the project is in the early stage of financing, although the shoot is planned for autumn 2022. Post-production will unfold throughout 2023 and the world premiere is expected for 2024. Ungrateful Beings is planned as a wider European co-production open for additional Central and Eastern European co-production and financing partners.

Ungrateful Beings is being produced by Czech production outfit Endorfilm in co-production with Slovenian company Cvinger Film. The Czech Film Fund supported the development, while the Slovenian Film Centre supported the production. The project does not yet have a sales agent.