26/07/2005

Dan Svatek’s newly released film Blizko nebe (”Close to heaven”) may have a classic boy-meets-girl storyline but its production is highlighted by a significant marketing difference: it is the first Czech feature with an international cast, shot entirely in English.
Close to Heaven is the name of the hotel where most of the action takes place, with the time and the country not immediately identifiable. The hotel is where a lot of strange characters have found permanent refuge and the film’s main character Samuel (played by Jean Michel Francis Gogo) is attracted to Emily (played by Swedish actress Tuva Novotny).

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All-in-one, director, script-writer and producer Dan Svatek has no illusions on why he believes his film to be immediately appealing to audiences everywhere. “This is not a story set somewhere, it’s a truly universal theme; it’s not about the story but about the pictures, the feelings…” he says on his film.
He and others in the Czech film industry even if they do not openly admit it, believe that the making of such a film might set a new trend in Czech cinema that goes beyond the notion of the international co-production. “It is true that one of the main reasons to go for such a mish-mash of nationalities and [the use of a foreign] language is that it might be easier to attract [international] funding” admits Svatek although denying that this was his first priority when preparing his project.

Although Close to Heaven has received no support from the Czech Film Fund, Svatek is no stranger to the concept of using an international set and co-operation and the subsequent success. His previous low-budget film Zatraceni (“Damned”, 2002), about a Czech tourist arrested in Thailand on suspicion of drug trafficking, was sold to distribution company Alliance Atlantis.
Close to Heaven opened in the Czech theatres on July 7.