Film Archive

Hany

Czech Films 2013–2014 2014 / Hany / Czech Republic 2014

It’s going to be a long night, with hangovers the next morning. A group of friends and strangers order drinks in a bar and wander the streets in its vicinity. Yet it’s not just their lives that are dimmed by dark clouds, but perhaps society as a whole. A film based on the powerful concept of a single uninterrupted shot (with the addition of a separate epilogue), reinforced by an articulate cinematic style.

Synopsis

It’s worth living just for this one night. "We’re at the dawn of a new era. An era of chaos and blind fear, the cause of which is unknown to us,” says Michal Samir, director of the ambitious film Hany. He set himself a stylistic challenge when he decided to compose his work into a minimum of takes involving two long, separate sequences. In these he gives specific directions to dozens of actors and guides the movements of the camera, thereby effecting an overall sense of delirium. Pervading it all are the weighty themes he introduces concerning a contemporary generation that often struggles to find its way. Their world is portrayed as being full of opportunities that the heroes, perhaps too overwhelmed by external stimuli, are paradoxically unable to seize. Free of pathos, the film presents an intriguing anatomy of life in a local bar located in an unnamed but distinctly familiar town; moreover, its inhabitants always seem to leave certain things unsaid, inducing a level of uncertainty and sometimes even fear. Nevertheless, the film offers a much broader emotional and reflective spectrum.

About the film

90 min / Color, DCP

Director Michal Samir / Screenplay Michal Samir / Dir. of Photography Martin Žiaran / Music Boris Carloff / Producer Matěj Chlupáček / Production Barletta s.r.o. / Coproduction CinemArt, a.s. / Cast Jiří Kocman, Hana Vagnerová, Jitka Schneiderová, Michal Sieczkowski, Ondřej Malý, Pavla Tomicová, Tereza Vítů / Contact Barletta s.r.o. / Distributor CinemArt, a.s.

About the director

Michal Samir (b. 1985) graduated from the Drama Centre London, where he studied film direction based on actor preparation under James Kemp, who also coaches Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender. After several short films and the documentary The Last Witness he was involved as cast supervisor on Matěj Chlupáček’s feature debut Touchless (Bez doteku, 2013), which was also seen by Karlovy Vary audiences. The film Hany is his feature debut, for which he also supplied the screenplay.