Father director Tereza Nvotová has completed filming on Our People, a six-part crime-drama revisiting the murder of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, which triggered a national political crisis in 2018 and made headlines worldwide. The 6x52-minute miniseries is now in post-production, with Czech Television planning a spring 2027 broadcast.

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The pair were killed at their home in February 2018. Journalist Kuciak was investigating financial crime, and the connections between business and public officials. The killings triggered mass demonstrations and a political crisis, leading to the resignation of prime minister Robert Fico.

Written by Miro Šifra, who scripted the miniseries Rats and We Have Never Been Modern, the series examines the crime through intersecting perspectives, from the journalist and those investigating his death to the killers and the business interests surrounding them. Drawing on thousands of pages of police files and interviews, it places the assassination within a wider account of corruption, political influence and the struggle to achieve justice. The miniseries is being completed while proceedings concerning the alleged commissioning of the murders remain ongoing in Slovakia.

Its title refers to the networks of personal loyalty and patronage encapsulated by the Slovak expression “our people”. The investigation provides the narrative’s central thread, while the creators’ approach combines tragedy with dark humour, drawing on the absurdities documented in the case.

The approach to the script shifted as Slovakia’s political situation changed. An initial emphasis on hope gave way to a more troubling assessment of the direction the country was headed in, Šifra told Cineuropa (see the interview). “This story is stronger than national borders,” Nvotová stated, crediting international broadcasters with enabling the production. “Our People shows that the truth will outlive the people who try to bury it, however powerful and well-connected they are. It’s about the power of empathy that unites people, but also about the creeping apathy and greed that live in each of us,” the director said of the miniseries. She also emphasised that the victims’ families had been involved from the outset. Czech Television confirmed that the project was developed with their consent, with preparations conducted largely away from public attention because of the sensitivity of the material.

Our People won the €50,000 Best Project Award at Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions in 2024 (see the news) before being selected for Berlinale Co-Pro Series in 2025. The ensemble cast includes Matej Babej, Dana Droppová (The Chambermaid), Eva Bándor (The Teacher), Marek Geišberg (Nightsiren), Maroš Kramár (Kidnapping), Juraj Loj (Broken Voices) and Alexandra Borbély (On Body and Soul). DoP Dušan Husár (A Sensitive Person) lensed the miniseries.

Our People is being produced by Jakub Viktorín, of nutprodukcia (Slovakia), and Tomáš Hrubý, of nutprodukce (Czech Republic), together with Czech Television, Network Movie, ZDF and ARTE (Germany). The development of the miniseries was supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, while Creative Europe – MEDIA supported its development and production. The production was backed through production incentive schemes administered by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Czech Audiovisual Fund.