Czech Films 2015–2016 2016 / Já, Olga Hepnarová / Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic, France 2016
“This is my verdict. I, Olga Hepnarová, a victim of your brutality, sentence you to death by vehicle.” Thus wrote the 22-year-old woman in 1973 before using a truck to kill eight people in Prague. This restrained and chilling period drama investigates a lonely murderer whose actions are just as inexplicable as Hepnarová herself.
Normalization-era Prague, July 10, 1973. A 22-year-old woman by the name of Olga Hepnarová borrows a Praga truck and heads for the tram stop at Strossmayer Square. Once there, she steps on the gas and slams into a group of 30 people, killing eight. She later admits to the mass murder, explaining that she was punishing a heartless society for tormenting her. Two years later she was hanged, the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia. Just as she had wanted. In their debut picture, without glossing over the guilt for a brutal crime, directors Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda focus in on several key years and moments in the life of a lonely person. The dark and dispassionate drama, composed in part from long, carefully constructed shots, features a powerful performance by Polish actress Michalina Olszańska, whose Hepnarová is just as inscrutable as her act. Premiered at Berlin, this black-and-white film is one of the strongest Czech entries of the year.
Jan Škoda
105 min / Black & white, DCP
Director Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
/ Screenplay Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, story by Roman Cílek
/ Dir. of Photography Adam Sikora
/ Music Marian Varga
/ Editor Vojtěch Frič
/ Art Director Alexander Kozák
/ Producer Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Vojtěch Frič
/ Production Black Balance
/ Coproduction Mediabrigade, Frame100R, Alef Film, Arizona Productions
/ Cast Michalina Olszańska, Martin Pechlát, Klára Melíšková, Marika Šoposká, Juraj Nvota, Ondřej Malý, Martin Finger, Marta Mazurek, Zuzana Stavná
/ Sales Arizona Films
/ Contact Frame100R
/ Distributor Bontonfilm, a.s.
Tomáš Weinreb (b. 1982, Stod, Czechoslovakia) graduated from film school in Písek before taking a degree in documentary filmmaking at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). He has shot several short movies, including Everything Is Crap (2009) about Miroslav David, Olga Hepnarova’s boyfriend. I, Olga Hepnarova is his feature film debut. Petr Kazda (b. 1978, Prague) graduated from film school in Písek before taking a degree in screenwriting and script editing at Prague’s FAMU. He has written scripts for several shorts, cooperating as co-screenwriter and assistant director on the feature Beware of Dog (Tady hlídám já, 2012, dir. Juraj Šajmovič). I, Olga Hepnarova is his feature-film debut.
Frame100R
Vlkova 17, 13000, Praha 3
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 230 234 313
E-mail: [email protected]
Arizona Films
t7t, av d'Argenteuil, 92600, Asnidres/S
France
Phone: +33 954 525 572
E-mail: [email protected]
Bontonfilm, a.s.
Na Poříčí 1047/26, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 257 415 111
E-mail: [email protected]
Vojtěch Frič
Producer
Renda Kořenář
Producer
Klára Melíšková
Actress
Martin Finger
Actor
Petr Kazda
Film Director, Producer
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
