Film Archive

Polski film

Official Selection - Competition 2012 / Polski film / Czech Republic, Poland 2012

"The fact that I’m playing myself doesn’t mean that this is actually me.” Four old school friends, today well-known Czech actors, decided to fulfil a distant dream and make a movie together. In his film about friendship and the absurdities of acting, director Marek Najbrt (Champions, Protector) gives us a witty reflection on the border between reality and fiction, and a unique take on the reality film genre.

Synopsis

"The fact that I’m playing myself doesn’t mean that it’s me.” Four old schoolmates, today well-known Czech actors (Pavel Liška, Tomáš Matonoha, Josef Polášek and Marek Daniel), decide to make a movie together. Their ambitious colleague Jan Budař takes up directing duties and financing has arrived from Poland. What started out pleasantly enough, however, soon goes awry. Liška’s pronunciation difficulties, Daniel’s alter ego Havlát, and Matonoha’s financial machinations turn the shoot into a fight for survival. More than just a film about friendship and the absurdity of actors’ lives, director Marek Najbrt gives us a witty meditation on reality and illusion, and a unique take on the reality film genre. One of Pavel Liška’s on-set comments ("I didn’t know if I should act as if I were acting, or act as if I weren’t acting, or just not act at all”) illustrates the provocative nature of Najbrt’s subversive, quasi-documentary game. Although seemingly improvised, the movie relies on a well-worked script, camerawork strengthened by the impression of authenticity, and a mischievous banjo highlighting the soundtrack by electronic visionaries MIDI LIDI.

About the film

113 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Marek Najbrt / Screenplay Robert Geisler, Benjamin Tuček, Marek Najbrt / Dir. of Photography Miloslav Holman / Music MIDI LIDI / Editor Pavel Hrdlička / Producer Milan Kuchynka, Grzegorz Madej / Production Negativ s.r.o. / Cast Pavel Liška, Tomáš Matonoha, Josef Polášek, Marek Daniel, Jan Budař, Jana Plodková, Katarzyna Zawadzka, Krzysztof Czeczot / Contact Negativ, Aerofilms / Distributor Aerofilms
www: www.polskifilm.cz

About the director

Marek Najbrt (b. 1969, Prague) graduated from Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences (1993) and in documentary filmmaking from Prague’s Film Academy (1998). In 1991-98 he wrote and directed a number of non-professional and professional audiovisual projects. His feature debut, the black comedy Champions (2004), was presented in the Karlovy Vary IFF’s main competition, and was awarded three Czech Lions, including Best Film. Najbrt and his co-filmmakers collected seven Czech Film and Television Academy awards for their stylistically precise evocation of the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in Protector (2009), a bitter probe of the dark side of the Czech mentality. Like his older brother Aleš, a graphic and production designer, director Marek occasionally acts as well.