02/05/2008

The Czech Film Center held its seventh annual panel of upcoming feature projects April 25 at the Finale Plzen festival of Czech films.

A total of 70 Czech feature or animated films are in the works this year, 10 more than in 2007. Of these, 38 have completed screenplays, 17 are in production, and 15 in post-production. Twenty are international co-productions.

Among the most talked-about projects presented at the panel was Alois Nebel, a comic-book adaptation to be shot using the rotoscope technique to combine live action with animation. Produced by Negativ and to be released in autumn 2010, the film is directed by Tomas Lunak and stars Miroslav Krobot (The Man From London [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Slovak-born veteran director Juraj Herz (The Cremator) has two projects connected to WWII in development: Habermann's Mill, a drama tied to the legacy of Sudeten Germans; and Darkness, a horror title that will likely feature Once [+see also:
trailer
film profile] actress Marketa Irglova.

Tomas Masin is likewise examining the legacy of war. The director is attached to direct a script based on Radka Denemarkova's prize-winning novel Money From Hitler. Masin is also directing post-war drama Three Seasons In Hell, which will star Polish actress Karolina Gruszka (INLAND EMPIRE [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Julius Sevcik, the young director who made a splash with his 2005 film Restart, has begun filming Normal, a thriller set in pre-war Germany. The film features former Czech first lady Dagmar Havlova; the DOP is Mexican cinematographer Antonio Riestra (Frida, Amores Perros).

The representatives of major European film festivals attending the panel included Marcel Maiga from Cottbus, Robert Richter from San Sebastian, and Freddy Olsson from Göteborg.