Documentary Films - Out of Competition

Director Eva Tomanová’s film, presented in the Competition for First Appearance at the top documentary festival – IDFA in Amsterdam, faithfully captures the life of the 11-member Mlčoch family, who live in primitive conditions in the Bohemian Forest, guided by their father’s extremely rigid view of paternal authority.

The creator of a gripping documentary on legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna has returned five years later with a portrait of Amy Winehouse. In her short, tumultuous life, the singer made an indelible mark on the history of popular music before the demons of dependence put an end to her career at age 27.

So far 25-year-old literary academy student Daniel is the sole member of the Czech pedophile community to choose to come out publicly. Screened in the Panorama at this year’s Berlinale, Daniel’s World sensitively portrays the young man’s road to overcoming his fear of those around him and above all of himself.

“Sailors are like terrorists. They arrive in ports with a bomb called love and throw it,” says former prostitute Sandy, protagonist of this harrowing and poetic documentary debut from Greek visual artist Evangelia Kranioti, adding: “How strange... To love somebody who pays you....”

Renowned Czech documentarist Miroslav Janek’s latest offering draws on informal interviews that journalist Renata Kalenská conducted with poet, gardener, and current leading figure of the legendary rock band The Plastic People of the Universe, Vratislav Brabenec.

“Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul” – the motto used by the filmmakers to describe the particular passion shared by a group of experienced bike mechanics in a movie shot on super 16mm and executive produced by Orlando Bloom. The picture’s pleasant mood is accompanied by perfectly fitting music from one of the director’s own workshop.

A wild game hunter might be an expert on game, or someone who loves natural beauty, a poet, a collector of exotic trophies, a traveller, or an adventurer. Or he might be none of these things. The debuting director selects three unconventional protagonists to assist him in capturing the contradictory nature of the hunting phenomenon, Central European style.

This unconventional movie, clearly no standard portrait, focuses on the director’s friendship with a spontaneous Greek musician nicknamed Larry Gus, who was recently signed by the independent DFA Records label. The film is conceived as a playful probe into the soul of an eternal child who, even as he approaches 30, is happiest goofing off with friends, uncovering his background, and thinking of new ways to experiment with music.

A focused documentary monitoring the slow, inevitable advance of time upon Antonio and his wife Felisa, who have spent more than sixty years together. Having to negotiate steep staircases in their simple abode and carry out their various daily tasks is taking an increasing toll on their health. Will their love for one another help them face the hazards of old age, or will the thing they both fear the most – the time of parting – finally come?

Slovak photographer Zuzana Mináčová is a recognised professional in her field who has influenced the shape of Slovak and Czech photography. She has earned admiration and respect for her artistic experimentation, and her photos of domestic and international film stars immortalised during her many years working with the Karlovy Vary IFF are simply legendary. Matej Mináč’s partly staged documentary about his mum.

“Technique? Not interested. Whatsoever. No problem if it’s out of focus, but it should have feeling and atmosphere,” says one of the originators of the 1980s Slovak New Wave in describing their approach. This likable and lively documentary investigates a generation of photographers for whom playfulness, freedom of gesture, and irony became essential elements of artistic expression.