Czech Films 2016–2017 2017 / Červená / Czech Republic, Slovak Republic 2017
She had to face the cruel blows of 20th century history, yet she wouldn’t allow herself to be broken, and she went on to conquer the world with her talent. Olga Sommerová’s documentary profile focuses on another major Czech figure – the legendary opera singer Soňa Červená, who created a hundred roles on stages scattered across five continents.
One hundred roles in 5,000 performances on stages scattered across five continents. Such is the professional career of opera singer Soňa Červená, whose life is mapped out in this feature-length documentary by director Olga Sommerová. Soňa Červená was born in 1925, the daughter of Jiří Červený, founder of the Red Seven cabaret. Tragedy struck the family after the Nazi occupation, when her parents ended up in a concentration camp. After the communist takeover Soňa’s mother died in Pankrác prison under mysterious circumstances, and Soňa herself, now a celebrated artist, began to fear for her life. She thus took advantage of an invitation to join the Berlin State Opera and fled to the West. There she found a new career for herself, with engagements at dozens of world-class venues. During this time, however, Soňa Červená was, in fact, not well known in her country of origin, where she returned after thirty years in exile. Cervena is a portrait of a fascinating, unfaltering individual who was reluctant to lay down roots, and it was for her public that she always strove to maintain her integrity.
Jan Škoda
83 min / Color, DCP
Director Olga Sommerová
/ Screenplay Olga Sommerová
/ Dir. of Photography Olga Špátová
/ Editor Jakub Hejna
/ Producer Pavel Berčík
/ Production Evolution Films
/ Coproduction Česká televize, Muzeum Montanelli, PubRes
/ Contact Evolution Films
/ Distributor Aerofilms
www: www.sonacervenafilm.cz
Olga Sommerová (b. 1949, Prague) studied documentary film at FAMU, graduating in 1977. Her films focus on social themes and human relationships, the lives of ordinary people and important figures, feminism, and the political history of the Czech and Czechoslovak Republics. She taught at FAMU in 1991–2002, heading the documentary film department for eight of those years. In 2005-10 she was associate professor at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. On the strength of the successful film What Women Dream About (1999) she published three volumes of interviews bearing the same title, and also the book What Men Dream About. She has made around one hundred films, which brought her 35 awards at Czech and foreign film festivals. KVIFF has screened her documentaries Věra 68 (2012) and The Magic Voice of a Rebel (2014), which won KVIFF’s Audience Award.
Evolution Films
Senovážné náměstí 10, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 222 240 770
Fax: +420 222 240 770
E-mail: [email protected]
Aerofilms
Milady Horákové 383/79, 170 00, Praha 7
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 947 566
E-mail: [email protected]
Olga Sommerová
Film Director
Soňa Červená
Actress
Barbora Dlabajová
Pavel Berčík
Producer, Service Company Rep.
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