02/02/2022 - The feature debut by Adam Koloman Rybanský addresses the topics of fear and confusion fuelled by (mis)information overload, with a nod to the comedies of the Czechoslovak New Wave

Michal Isteník (left) and Miroslav Krobot in Somewhere Over the Chemtrails (© Bratři)

Czech newcomer Adam Koloman Rybanský will shortly be introducing his first directorial feature, Somewhere Over the Chemtrails [+see also:
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interview: Adam Koloman Rybanský
film profile], initially made as a graduation film in FAMU’s Department of Directing, to much fanfare as it world-premieres in the Berlinale’s Panorama section. The last Czech film that bowed in Panorama was the biopic drama I, Olga Hepnarova [+see also:
film review
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making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile], the feature debut by Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda, back in 2016. Rybanský co-wrote the script, about a group of village volunteer firefighters who witness a truck crashing into a fountain during an Eastern fair, with Lukáš Csicsely. The bizarre accident and the fact that the driver runs away prompt a minor bout of hysteria about a terrorist attack, while the locals believe that the protection of the small village is fully dependent on the local fire brigade.

“Part of my approach is absurdity, humour and civilian acting, combined with non-professional actors. I would like to modernise the genre of comedy revolving around the common man and bring it into the present day, restoring the seriousness that comedy from the 1960s often had. We emphasise the contrasts between the serious and the comic, which constitute the ubiquitous absurdity of life,” notes the director. The style of Somewhere Over the Chemtrails harks back to the poetics of Ivan Passer and Jaroslav Papoušek. “People would often tell us that during the development of the film. This was not my intention, but both filmmakers, alongside Miloš Forman, are a great inspiration for my work,” reveals Rybanský.

The racist chief of the volunteer firefighters, Broňa (portrayed by veteran actor Miroslav Krobot, who recently starred as the leading character in Martin Šulík’s dramedy The Man with Hare Ears [+see also:
trailer
interview: Martin Šulík
film profile]), starts defending the village against a terrorist threat, while his mentee, soon-to-be father Standa (Michal Isteník), fears for his family since he places too much trust in things that he reads on the internet. Somewhere Over the Chemtrails depicts how the fear, doubt and confusion rife in today’s society are fuelled by information overload.

The script was in the making for several years, and principal photography unfolded in accordance with strict pandemic-related restrictions. The circumstances of the pandemic made the film’s story even more timely. The earliest inspiration for the script was a desperate act by a Czech senior citizen who, driven by anti-immigration fears and manipulation, chopped down trees on a railway, causing accidents in order to stoke people’s fear of Muslims in 2017. He became the first man to be sentenced for a terrorist attack in the Czech Republic. “It is absolutely crucial for me not to judge or ridicule people with different opinions, but rather to understand them. The basis of the movie is an attempt to understand the thinking of people who shape their opinions under the influence of fear, xenophobia, populism or various forms of misinformation,” concludes the director.

Somewhere Over the Chemtrails is being produced by Bratři, and co-produced by Czech Television and Studio FAMU. The Czech Film Fund and the Zlín region supported the film. Bontonfilm will release the picture theatrically in the Czech Republic on 16 June 2022, as well as in Slovakia (on an as-yet unconfirmed date). Other territories remain available.