25/07/2023 - Fostering genre diversity and international collaborations, the fund has supported five fiction features, two documentary films and two animated flicks

Director Bård Breien, who is receiving funding for the crime-drama Havnaa (© Viaplay)

The Czech Film Fund has thrown its weight behind nine international projects – five fiction features, two documentary films and two animated flicks – as part of its minority co-production funding scheme. The total number of submissions amounted to 27 international projects – three animated films, six documentaries and 18 fiction features. This marks a decrease in the number of submissions, which stands at six fewer than the previous call in autumn 2022.

The category of fiction films predominantly consisted of dramas covering various contemporary issues troubling modern society. Several themes emerged, from a drama about forced economic migration and employment abroad to an absurdist dramedy about harassment through sound. Other submissions included social dramas about young people from less developed areas, a drama set in the world of combat sports, classic literature adaptations, a mysterious thriller, and even a historical comedy about blind thieves, amongst others.

The directors ranged from internationally acclaimed individuals with strong reputations to beginners representing an emerging young generation of auteurs. The most-represented co-production countries included Slovakia, followed by requests from various corners of Europe and even the world, including the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania), the Balkans and Southern Europe (Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, Italy and Spain), as well as Poland, Hungary, France, Luxembourg and some Scandinavian countries (Norway, Iceland). Non-European countries included Canada, Israel and Taiwan. The board of the Czech Film Fund particularly appreciated the thematic and genre diversity of the supported projects, and believes they will positively represent the Czech film industry on both the national and international distribution and festival scenes.

Stand-out projects include the Israeli-Italian-Czech collaboration Mama, directed by Or Sinai, an award-winning Cinéfondation laureate, thus ensuring the film's inclusion in the esteemed Cannes Film Festival line-up. The majority of this socially progressive drama, which navigates an array of contemporary themes – from the trials and tribulations of overseas work to ensure a family’s survival and the influences of expatriate life on familial structures, to the clash between patriarchal frameworks and the aspirations of modern women, along with a discerning portrayal of said women's intimate desires – will be filmed in the Czech Republic. The leading role has been entrusted to remarkable actress Evgeniia Dodina. Furthermore, Hypermarket Film, a studio renowned for its incisive and provocative documentaries, has procured support for Beata Bubenec's Shaman. This intriguing piece chronicles a Siberian shaman's journey from Yakutsk to Moscow with a grand mission to liberate the world from “the demon Putin”.

Norwegian director Bård Breien, known for The Art of Negative Thinking [+see also:
trailer
film profile], returns with Havnaa, a compelling crime-drama set amidst the raw milieu of professional boxing. This enthralling endeavour is a co-production involving Czech company Film Kolektiv and has received funding alongside Chinese Sea. The latter, directed by Jurgis Matulevicius, is a multi-layered drama on the struggle with personal emotions and the pursuit of inner equilibrium, brought to life through a Lithuanian-Polish-Taiwanese-Czech collaboration. Further support has been granted to the Estonian-Czech-Lithuanian full-length documentary The Ice That Still Supports Us by Estonian screenwriter and director Arko Okk, staged by Studio Beep. As an observational, subtly experimental and metaphorically rich film, it crafts a meditative narrative centred on an icy path, its caretakers and those who journey upon it, delivering an immersive cinematic experience for arthouse film connoisseurs.