French international sales agent Alpha Violet has yet another young talent in its line-up. After such names as Lila Avilés, Laura Samani, Chiang Wei Liang, the duos Astrid Rondero-Fernanda Valadez and Raha Amirfazli-Alireza Ghasemi and, more recently, Liryc Dela Cruz (acclaimed in this year’s Berlinale Perspectives section via Where the Night Stands Still [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]), it’s now the turn of Czech director Zuzana Kirchnerová to be singled out by Alpha Violet. Her first feature film, Caravan, will world premiere within the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival (running 13 to 24 May), spearheading the line-up brandished by Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato’s team at the Marché du Film.

"Zuzana Kirchnerová offers up a tender and poignant road trip, a mother’s transformative journey through Italy with her son who has a learning disability. The film explores the themes of motherhood and guilt with depth and humour. It’s a powerful invitation to let go, to live in the moment and to consider life’s challenges as unexpected gifts", Virginie Devesa enthuses.

The winner of the Cinéfondation competition in Cannes in 2009 thanks to her short film Bába (made while a student at La Famu), Zuzana Kirchnerová wrote the screenplay for Caravan with Tomáš Bojar and Kristina Májová. The cast is led by Aňa Geislerová (awarded the Silver Shell for Best Actress in San Sebastián thanks to Something Like Happiness [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bohdan Slama
intervista: Pavel Strnad
scheda film], five times the winner of the Czech Lion, and recently seen in The Chambermaid [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mariana Čengel Solčanská e…
scheda film]), David Vodstrcil and Juliana Brutovska Ol’hová. The film was produced by Dagmar Sedláčková on behalf of Czech firm MasterFilm and by Jakub Victorín for Slovakia’s Nutprodukcia, in co-production with Italy’s Tempesta (Carlo Cresto Dina).