Film Archive

Nowhere in Moravia

Official Selection - Competition 2014 / Díra u Hanušovic / Czech Republic 2014

When not serving regulars at a pub in the middle of a sleepy northern Moravian village, thirtysomething Maruna spends time with hesitant Jura and naïve outsider Olin – or fighting with her imperious mother. Lightened with a touch of black humor, this laconic village drama is the directorial debut of the artistic director of Prague’s Dejvice Theater who gave the members of his ensemble a one-of-a-kind acting opportunity in film.

Synopsis

When she’s not serving regulars in a pub in a sleepy northern Moravian village, thirtysomething Maruna spends time with indecisive mayor Jura, soft-hearted outsider Olin and philandering roofer Kódl. Or she fights with her domineering mother, who is more inclined towards sister Jaruna, the one who gets the chance to leave this godforsaken place. Lightened with a touch of black humor, Krobot’s laconic village drama develops from a superb script, whose authors drew on their familiarity with the people and the region that made their protagonists who they are. Particularly today, when the word "waiting” is perceived entirely negatively, Krobot’s heroes, quite happy to continue living a fairly humdrum existence, might appear to have come from another planet. A powerful element of the film, gradually and carefully built into the plot, is the human respect which Krobot, aided by leading Czech actors, is able to convey to his audience. Somewhere in Moravia betrays a certain affinity with the work of the Czech literary classics, the Mrštík brothers, and with the absurd dramas of the 1960s.

About the film

102 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Miroslav Krobot / Screenplay Miroslav Krobot, Lubomír Smékal / Dir. of Photography Jan Baset Střítežský / Editor Jan Daňhel / Producer Ondřej Zima / Production Evolution Films, s.r.o. / Coproduction Česká televize, RWE, Soundsquare / Cast Tatiana Vilhelmová, Lenka Krobotová, Ivan Trojan, Johanna Tesařová, Jaroslav Plesl / Contact Evolution Films, A-Company Czech s.r.o. / Distributor A-Company Czech s.r.o.

About the director

Miroslav Krobot (b. 1951, Šumperk, Czechoslovakia) is a leading Czech stage director, actor, dramatist and the artistic director of Prague’s Dejvice Theatre. He has won a series of major awards for his plays and his acting work. He debuted in film in the role of the father in Petr Zelenka’s Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství, 2005). Krobot enjoyed huge success with his role in Béla Tarr’s film The Man from London (2007), where he played alongside Tilda Swinton. He created the main characters in the Slovak-Czech film The House (Dům, 2011), screened at Berlin, and the animated film Alois Nebel (2011), which featured in the programme for the Venice festival and won the EFA award for Best Animated Film. Somewhere in Moravia is Krobot’s feature debut.