Film Archive

Maria Stock

Czech Films 2013–2014 2014 / Maria Stock / Czech Republic 2013

A luxury car brings young Milan to a God-forsaken village eternally swathed in mist. It’s not just the weather that brings out the melancholy in its inhabitants; what happens during the following three weeks might very well change the young man’s life. This mood-enhancing film is one of the most compelling graduate titles to come out of FAMU in recent years.

Synopsis

When Milan – clearly from a different world – turns up in a godforsaken village overlooked by the ruins of a church, he is probably as yet unaware what significance the immediate future holds for him. It’s not only his encounter with redhead Hilda that quickens the young man’s senses. He might also help the girl, who lives with her sombre father, to find someone really close. This artistically studied, ethereally suggestive and almost mystical film unfolds in a singular place that seems part of another realm. It represents a source of untold knowledge and, with it, infinite attractions, but the threat of danger is never far away.

About the film

50 min / Color, DCP

Director Jan Březina / Screenplay Jan Březina, Markéta Jindřichová / Dir. of Photography Jan Skriečka / Editor Michal Böhm / Producer Marek Novák / Production FAMU – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts / Cast Kamila Trnková, Jan Strejcovský, David Novotný / Contact FAMU - Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts

About the director

Jan Březina (b. 1980) became involved in film while studying film science at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts. He then took a course in film direction at FAMU, where he turned out the short film Thirteenth Week (Třináctý týden, 2010), which was shown at several festivals. Relating a dark family history connected to a place of pilgrimage, his writer-director graduate film Maria Stock garnered Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing at Famufest.