Herzlich willkommen zu einem Tribut-Talk mit Ivan Ostroowski with you. So, you know, this year's tribute is dedicated to the work of Ivan Ostrogowski. He's a Slovak filmmaker and his work is, like it is often said, blurring the boundaries, so to say, between documentary and fictional filmmaking and film aesthetics. His work has been screened internationally at various film festivals such as Berlinale,ora Award from the Carlo Vivari Film Festival to the Tagesspiel Award from the Berlinale. And Ivan is a filmmaker of course mainly but also a script writer. He's a photographer, he does camera work, he's a producer and he is the co-founder of the film production companies Sentimental Film and Punk Chart. So, as I said in the beginning, he works a lot with hybrid formats between, so to say, documentary filmmaking, never classical documentary filmmaking, but still documentary filmmaking and fictional filmmaking. We see in his documentary films a lot of fictionalized realities, fictionalized strategies of storytelling. And we see sometimes reenactments of biographical parts, biographical material of his protagonists. And of course, he works very closely with the protagonists. Sometimes these are relationships that even lead to friendship, because as he told me, the filmmaking process can be sometimes very long, even two to three years. And this, of course, is a situation where the filmmaker and the protagonist get very close. And the protagonists also grow with the filmmaking processes. They learn a lot out of it. They take a lot out of it. And so it's a very special relationship, maybe one could say that, of a filmmaker with his protagonists. Yeah, so genre conventions are important to you, but more as a formal, more in deconstruct sometimes genre, you take conventions and transform them in something else. But it's really, I think, but maybe you can comment on this just before we go into the clips that you brought. Genre is really a way for you to find the best way of telling a history. And maybe it's this really that interests you and less the question of do I make documentary films or fictional films? Maybe you could just comment on this. Where would you situate yourself within this documentary and fictional style? I hope so. It's always in different places. It's film theoretic making these documentary and fictional films and now we're talking about, for me, it's fiction, how we're talking about the films. But I understand when somebody sees in cinema, for his importance, he goes to documentary film or fiction film, because he is waiting for something different from this kind. And when you start shooting film, you must think what these people in cinema are waiting for. You are waiting for something totally different from fiction film and from this reason maybe when these people saw something what looks more like documentary this question burning and thinking it's like reality is not reality and it's also it's how it is interesting it's sometimes is tricky because when these are a little missed from this, it's not a good way. It's like a move into border, you are this and this and this, it's very hard how we'll be working. It's not like recipes for good films, it's a it's way but for some topics is not good way for some topics is very good way for some topics is documentary clear documentary film is perfect I understand but people is like artistic film it's it's nice space. But I also very like making clear documentary when people speaking about his life. Yeah, that's maybe more your early films like where you have Ilja as well where the Slovak composer talks about his life. Exactly. Sometimes it's not very important to put your artistic vision, because some people are interested without your creation. Yeah, I see, I see. But often you start also a project with this idea, intention of making a documentary film, for instance with Koza, it's this, and then you see somehow, okay, it doesn't really work with the protagonist, Peter Balazs, and then you see somehow okay it doesn't really work with with with the protagonist peter ballas and then you decide otherwise then you go to this fictionalized strategy yeah it's like it always a lot of uh it's it's not possible to say it's like one reason why we do it. So it was not possible reshooting. Because this story from Petr, it's always when I teach in school, always this problem in documentary film when this topic already happened. Yes. And when these people sit and speaking when I was there and when I was sad, every emotion goes from this. And for me it's a big problem when you want to put emotion to films. It's better for documentary film, when you're shooting and this emotion is life, this crisis or this story is happening in this time when you're shooting, not 10 years back. And I realized this, it will be better making fiction film because this emotion will be stronger. this emotion will be like stronger and also maybe i don't know everybody i i hope you know one time making fiction film but i was a little scared it's good script and so and i think this cosa story is so strong and clear it's not very much places for mistakes, like, because it's very easy, rigor, yeah, every normal human being understand the situation, and I say it's maybe good story starting with fiction films. Yeah, exactly. So maybe, yeah, I think you can say that when going to an Ivan Ostrohovsky movie, your expectations may not be met because it's maybe not so clear to say, okay, this is fictional or this is documentary, but this is something that is interesting in your work and that is a very specific dynamic. So for our talk today, Ivan brought four clips of four different movies. And we are going to talk about these four films and show you also some of the footage and talk about the scenes he chose. And we will go in a chronological order. We will start with a film that has been produced in 2013, together with two other directors. The film's name is Zamatovi Terroristi, Velvet Terrorists in English. And this film has been realized, produced with Peter Kerekes, who I'm sure you know because he is absolutely famous in Austria as well with his film from 2009, Cooking History. And the other director is Pavel Bekarchik. And these three directors put themselves together and made, realized this film, Zermattowi Terroristi, Velvet Terrorists, for which they received the Fedora Award from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. So the film, as well as your last feature film, about which we will talk in a moment, is a way of coming to terms with the Czechoslovak history, especially with the communist regime. And you tell in this film, Velvet Terrorists, the story of three different Czech and Slovak men who actually during the communist era took solo action or collective action against the regime with terrorist attacks and mainly with self-fabricated bombs. But in these attacks, actually, people were not harmed. No people were harmed during these attacks, which was very important for you when you chose your protagonists. Maybe just quickly the questions, why was this aspect so important? What did you want to show with these chosen persons before we show the clip? Because we've been thinking about this for a long time, because the encyclopédies are also people who made it and killed somebody. But for us it was important to find, looking for this contrast, like terrorists, how people think about when you say this word, how all characters look in films, because because he's a very nice guy, very human and we want to bring big contrast from terrorist and this person. Because it was, this people was in jail because of terroristic law and so everything but not kill somebody ale nebo někdo a tak to změnit a také to udělat jako my, jak to dnes vidím, jako my, jako tyto antiherové our cinematography because it's like not like the US we don't have a lot of success stories in like yeah and I think there is also it's fiction like and how normal people understand people which made it this and why and so. Exactly so the Sametovie is not only a reference to the Sametov revolution, to the Velvet revolution, but also to the character, personality maybe of these guys who are somehow soft terrorists. We have like in Czech about our national character, I don't know. Yeah, mentality. national character I don't know yeah mentality and mentally to say like in check is like whole beachy power I did the attitude of pigeons yeah and in slug area like not also very like we have in when you're teaching literature this mental predisposition. Yeah, predisposition. Predisposition is always that we are very calm and I love you. We're using it in terrorists. This one is Dracula book. When you're reading Dracula book and this guy traveling to Transylvania když si čekáš na Drakulové knihy, když si čekáš na Drakulové knihy, a ten člověk je přesný do Transylvánie, a je na trenu a podílejte na nějakých lidí, a ten člověk byl velký, a takový, a vypadal velmi nebezpečný, ale ten člověk z trenu, nevím, ten trenůž, říká že to vypadá velmi nebezpečný, ale je velmi šílený, protože je Slovák. V Drakuláři je to největší Slovácký. Je to velmi populární knih a všichni to člí o Slováku. It's a popular book and everybody reads about it. It looks very dangerous but very... It's very shy. I think this is the perfect description for the three persons also. Of course they look somehow dangerous and are shy at the same time. Yeah, maybe let's watch a clip from Velvet Terrorists and then talk about it. Konec Líbím se ve? Já myslím, že jo člověče. Když vyhávám mladší, bych si dal jich říct. No já svýho času jsem měl, když si dlouhý vlasy, když jsem měl nějakých těch, který to trochu nevidím, 16, 17 roků, tak jsem mě, a špatně jsem dopadl, protože jsem asi zhruba tak dlouhýma vlasama přišel náhodou do jedné tady společenské místnosti, sálu, kde komunisti slavili 50. výročí založení KSČ. Když jsem do restaurace vlezl, až jsem měl tričko s nápisem Led Zeppelin, tak se na mě vrhli, střískali mě, vyrvali mě ty vlasy. Úplně mě to servali z hlavy, já jsem neměl tím žádný vlasy, akorát krvavý takový šrámy. Rozbili mě obličej, vyrazili zuby, pokoušeli se mě nadspat hlavu do záchodu. Od té doby jsem poznal, co to je tedy komunistická strana a jejich metody a od té doby jsem se začal aktivizovat proti ním. To funguje furt. No tak já si myslím, že dneska v žádném případě to nefunguje už takovýmto způsobem. Ne, možná tak hodně, ale... Ne, tohle se nedá srovnat, protože já když chodím po školách na přednášky a vidím tam ty mladé lidi, co si můžou dovolit, se nedá vůbec srovnat. Já když jdu po městě a někdo na mě čumí, jak na člověka z jiné planety a brblá si podnesem, co to je pro boha za mládež? No dobře, to je názor člověka, ale nemůže se nic ní stát, nemůžou tě dostat k soudu, nebudou tě zavírat. Chtěli mě zmlátit za to, jak vypadám. Dobře, ale to není státní moc. Vyvoj. Já jsem bojím. Neboj si. Opři si to a pevně to drž. Pozdvihni si to rukou. Ať nesedí ta puška na to. Musíš to rukou. Do ramene, ne tak. Do ramene. Zapřít pořádně do ramene. Jak moc to kope? Nekope. Ne? Ne, nekope to. Zaměř, klidu dýchej, v klidu dýchej a při výdechu, při výdechu, až na konci té fáze výdechu, zkus zkoordinovat ten kříž s tím cílem. Já se bojím. Neboj se. A proč střelíme do těch vyst? To jsou představitelé té komunistické ideologie. Má to určitý symbolický význam, ale samozřejmě dneska jsou to visty a zítra to bude něco jiného. To uvidíš sama. Jdeme, jdeme, jdeme. Nestrácej ritmus. Musíš myslet na ten sval, který cvičíš, na to hřicho. Jdeme, až to tam začne pálit. Nesmíkat sebou, tahem, tahem, žádnej smyk, jenom tahem, břichem. Uvědom si, že máš nějaké břicho a že to táhne. Nemůžu. So here we saw one of the protagonists, Vladimir, with Eva, who is actually a girl he chose in a casting to train her in becoming a terrorist. Of course, this is not a real situation. It's rather an ironic reenactment, or maybe also, maybe somehow he tries to get her acquainted with his history, with his experience. And what is so very touching for me about this relationship is that it's really two completely different persons who meet here, who have completely different experiences, completely different lives. And something is there which really connects them. has to do of course with this experience during the communist regime for Vladimir and also Eva's experience with feeling like an outcast like somebody who does not really belong to society uh with her uh with the the problems she has she has had with neo-nazis so maybe let's just talk about these two uh yeah so different persons and also maybe how this relationship grew during the process of the filmmaking. It was when we were thinking about this film, when we started, first we realized it's a big problem. Young people don't care about this time. These young people born after the communist time have different problems. And the story, this last story, it's this which we see but first story is about character who have two sons and speaking history and his son is not interesting not like different you go to school and kids is boring because you fighting with communistic time and and watch to but when you your own child is not interesting, who will be interesting? It looks like how this generation is changing and have different problems. But it's normal. It's not like I don't cry. It's young people not interesting. For all times they have self problems and after this people will be new people with different problems and so. But we want to play with this, with this contrast and also we have crazy idea because these three terrorists, how you said, don't kill nobody. And also don't kill nobody because don't have success. Because he was big amateurs. And it's always problem that we have nice time and we are not dictatorship in country. But maybe in 15 years or 20 this dictatorship starting and nobody don't will be fight with. Because nobody is interesting now and we things like this maybe is very good for country train some people which will be fighting when this stay because when when these states nobody knows nobody don't know how making this it's like it's like crazy idea but but it's Je to hrozná věc, ale je to pravda. Tyhle lidé také chtějí něco vytvořit, ale nevěděli to. Ano, nevěděli jak to dělat. Takže je to také o vzpomínání mladých lidí v politickém pohledu a možná o vzpomínání křížníkům. engaging young people in political attitude and maybe to take a critical attitude towards regimes. Also, this scene was like how these young people think what is bad in this time and don't understand what was bad. She compared this town which we live in. Somebody says it's bad, everything is bad, but in Europe we don't have a better time. Never. Because I don't know the newspaper and everybody must say it's a dangerous time. So because you don't buy newspaper when every day says everything is okay and you don't buy newspaper when every day says everything okay and you don't have reason like buying this newspaper and watch to TV and because this scare is very important for making from politics and for media. Yeah, to get active also. It's not active, it's like evolution studies say, for you is important like negative messages. This will go and this forest is dangerous. Because this is when somebody says, this is not dangerous, it's like nothing. Because you want to make sure your life will be safe. And these people from newspapers, they know it. It's, you never read the newspaper or television where speaking only nice. Because this medium will be bankrupt for one week. And people don't think this way. I don't understand why this. When you know this principle working, you you really make this in-papier with a different eye. Yes, with a different attitude also. Absolutely. Maybe just one more thing about the scene we just saw, when Vladimir really teaches Eva how to shoot and how to also become strong enough to be a terrorist and as I said he chose her in a casting so this casting scene of course reminds us as viewers of television castings you know like for instance television program like I'm the biggest loser maybe you know this. And so I wanted to ask about this, because it's also interesting how you use this television casting element in this fictionalized documentary film. It's all, how you say, it's like a lot of layers, like for all generation, we have like, when we was interested in movies from the 60s, like Milos Forman's Concours is a very famous film, making this musician, this, and all. But for young people it's more like this single competition, how these people are chosen. Exactly. Everybody in seeing this conchorus sees something different. Exactly. It's very good that you say this, because really I haven't thought about it, but of course it's also Milos Forman's conchorus and also maybe a little bit of the atmosphere of the love of a blonde, Lasky and Neblavov Lasky. So the reference functions in two ways, to the younger audience and the elder audience. Super interesting. Maybe with a little look to the clock we continue and we move on to the next film, Kosa, made in 2015. And this is the first feature film Ivan has directed. Koza has won many awards and has been screened also at the Berlinale. And it also was, as I read, the Slovak contribution for the Oscar in 2016. So the title Koza is Slovak, standing for for goat and goat is the nickname of the main protagonist whose name is peter ballas and he's a slovak roma boxer and he plays in this fictional in this fictional movie a character that is very close to his own real character to his own life and yeah maybe we will start with this clip immediately uh this i call it the lollipop scene let's watch the clip and talk about it Shima is very interested in this toy. I'm going to show you the video of the I'm going to make a Takk for at du så med. Nettro! Fremdsparty! Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi, Gjordi Takk for at du så med. Thank you. So this clip has two parts, actually. The first part is what I first called the lollipop scene, where we also have this very interesting couple, very different, of course, from the couple we just saw in the film Velvet Terrorists. But it's always a little bit like this in your films, that these relationships are so multi-layered, multi-faceted and not really, not easily to define. So Ivan told me that sometimes the producing time, the filmmaking time can be very long because you have to repeat a lot scenes with non-actors. But in this scene with the lollipop it was totally different as you told me. Maybe you could tell our audience the story. We're talking about this is like very hard the way with non-actors like sometimes it's very hard with actors too but with non-actors you must very good know this person but not because you are friend we are friend but for this you must realize what is possible to make with him, like with an actor. And this scene we should... when I know what he is possibly making, it is not possible directing him. I say this lollipop, you're making this. But it's also like in the Milos Forman movies. When this non-actor is very good, he's making something what we didn't expect. And this happened totally because this is how he moves, how he's waiting and so this is not possible that thinking forward and you must say this and this because like his life history, everything like his moves is like so special and then making this for first cut you know it's it's pretty we have and also zonko don't want to put this lollipop second time so one time was perfect it's joking because i was like i think so like yeah Because I was like, I think, a Slovak actor. Yeah, but it's interesting. So usually you have to repeat scenes and you have to do it again and everything. And this scene was really shot in one time. The problem with the actors is he never do it the same again. Yeah, yeah. Because we have also problem with long with long shots, don't cutting. And this problem if sometimes this Koza or Zvonko was very good when this shot starts, but very bad in end. It's crazy because you are making something perfect in the start, but you say, okay, we go new shot and you make the same, it's never do it. Yeah, exactly. You cannot predict it, how it turns out in the end. And with the fights we see in this clip, it's the same actually, because the fights we saw, some of them are staged, some of them were real fights actually maybe you could also talk about how you you decided to go from the staged fight to the real fight scene and how you worked with this footage yeah we think this like stage fights and which we are preparing, will be more chance for us, like working with camera, because you can stop and say this, this, this. And it's like always when I speak with my students, but don't walk in, it's a lot of reasons these people in this people which watch the box was not very like involved yeah like looking like it's not because it's very smart gypsy boxer he knows this is not real and he don't real don't boxing real and I say no because it's like really not but in some in deep inside he knows is no deal yeah and it looks like not real and for it was very happy because we spend every money for this because it's a lot of people exactly and plays and this and it was lucky because we started shooting real box and because it's very cheap you don't pay these people with it's there so and we use 80% I think so this is from this real boxing machine so the audience we see is the real audience which came to watch the fight and in these real authentic fights Koza put himself much more into it but he wasn't hurt too much I hope he did did not have this concussion. Did he get that concussions also really? I don't see it. Real blood is real blood. But he's doing his life, whole his life. And also it's like the second, we don't see this like second old boxer, Jan Franek, we don't see this like second old boxer Jan Franek who have medal from Olympic Games also book old boxer yeah he said his trainer he says a good boxer must be also good to actors yeah because you must little play you are like little you are out and your fight fighting with you think is he's gone and now he's like and he like he teaching in moving like koza will be not better boxer but there will be better actors ah yeah that's interesting yeah so you need really to measure you need to put the drama inside as a boxer but you also need of course to stay alive and not to hurt yourself too much that's funny it is funny funny story because we must shooting we have term in for a real boxing match and cause because he is not based in Bratislava he go with with train and he have broken legs and have this yeah a cast yeah because I'd feel crazy how do we should with this there's no problem bring to life and making this out it's like this is the different people is like crazy and he has all crazy stories in film life. He's a super interesting person. I don't know about the shooting but it's like why not. Very interesting. Yeah the of course we should also talk about the briefly about the photography of this movie, which was beautifully done actually by another director with whom you are working a lot with, Martin Kolar, Slovak director. And he did the camera work of Koza. And it's, of course, very beautifully, rigorously shot in this black and white scenes. rigorously shot in this black and white scenes I mean it's not black and white but you have a lot of black and white due to the landscapes and maybe this is a good way to go to the next movie Martin Kollar did this next movie it's called 5th October and this movie Ivan produced so here you worked as a producer and we will see also a clip from this movie from 2016 and it's a mid-length documentary film where actually Martin Kollar tells a story about his brother of course also a real story, so it's something that happened to his brother. And he accompanies him through this, so to say, journey until the operation that he has to be undertaken. And your cooperation with Martin goes way back. You have been studying together already. Martin started studying because I was very lazy and go to school very... In 28 I studied directing. And Martin is not like... He never says he's a director. He's more DOP, a photographer. He directs films, but he is like DOP who directs his films. But he is maybe more famous like photographer, he has exhibition in MoMA and so. moma and yeah yeah so and i really like his photos and when we prepare this film we we long time watch his photo and choosing like scene and after this i feel the photo and after this wrote scenes for this location okay and then this is a good principle for me and I also in Cervantes using it like because this Nordaktion don't bring you emotion how actor and you must working building this buildings with the Mise en Scene. This Mise en Scene is like sometimes is like more important Diese Musik ist für mich immer noch wichtig. Dieser Aspekt der Fotografie ist sehr wichtig. Wenn wir den nächsten Clip des 5. Oktober sehen, können wir die Verbindung zwischen der Filmografie und der Fotografie sehen. Es ist sehr visuell. and photography because it's really, it's very visual. So let's watch this clip from Martin Koller's film 5th October now. The Kjellstrand1908年 10月1日 東京都交通局8000形電車 I'm going to make aこのように、私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私はあなたを愛しています。私は�らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。私は彼らを愛しています。 Nå er det en av de fleste avslutninger som vi har hatt i dag. Kansai International Airport Norske Norske so yeah in this clip you can really see, I think, this very visual kind of storytelling. It's a very formalized and aestheticized film also. We have only the handwritten commentary in the calendar. And I think we have one dialogue in the beginning when he talks to the doctor. It's not really a lot of spoken word. But still, and this is really fascinating, it's a really a lot of spoken word but still and this is really fascinating it's a very touching film it's a very emotional film at least for me i i felt this way and of course it makes me think of what you just said that with non-actors with amateur actors you have to put the emotion elsewhere so maybe you could tell us how you developed this language, this specific filmic language, also the handwritten commentaries. Was this maybe an idea you brought in? We started this story when we were meeting with Martin, the director of the EOP. And he said his brother is sick and he had a very complicated relationship with him. And he said, okay, you go and shoot him and talk to him. We don't think we will make a film about this. It was an opportunity, a better connection with these people. And also this is very often principle how we work. You like, sometimes you feeling it's, this is interesting, something is there interesting but you don't know exactly what and you must have time for watching, thinking and after this you choose to wait and this is very similar here you shoot with someone, you watch the material and say okay, the material is strong but and we want to like find some like small line who will be connected this like picture it's like maybe it's maybe this film is also we've got to go to gallery like video art because yeah it's like very clear and this picture is strong and you have some feelings and but we know we need like story or something what will be like you will be understand how this main character have inside and we using this diary how you have the building time because the main story is he waiting for cancer operation and surgery is logically scary and how this time going and he is more and more scary it's this a jak se to děje a je to více a více škodlivé. Je to taková napětí. Ano, taková způsobka. Takže to je taková výroba. Je to velmi jednoduchý princip. Nepotřebuješ mluvit moc. Mám velmi šťastnou historii, když máme peníze z Slovak Film Fund and after you must go and bring film there. I bring this film and I have after two days I have phone call. Please maybe something is wrong and you go make bad copies because in this film nobody talking. It's you you don't give me movie with sound no no no it's okay in these movies nobody talking you forgot the sound file lady was a little here here it's okay you wrote me mail because it's like yeah it's not like usual but for Martin like for photography it was like natural way how talking stories it's like not constructing and exactly and telling through the imagery and the commentary that is very reduced also exactly yeah so this is a very personal project and from this personal project maybe we move back to your last project. I mean, not the last one you're working on right now, but to one of your last films, Servants, Lusobnizzi, which was screened first in 2020. 2020 and which is not I mean it's also of course it's always personal stories films are telling and counting but this one is of course about Czech history about a chapter in Czech history Czechoslovak history that is not so well known let's say and that is maybe also rarely screened rarely seen on screen and this is a is a feature film also that premiered at the Berlinale in 2020 within the competition section encounters. And, yeah, as I said, it's about Czechoslovak history and mainly about the relationship of the Catholic Church with the communist regime and with this association Pazem in Teres, which was a Catholic association that somehow arranged herself with the regime. But in return, they had to give up, so to say say the contact to the worldwide Roman Catholic Church and also freedom of faith and their independence and so this is the setting the historical moment in which the story is set and in the center of the story are two young students at the priest seminar that have to decide whether they want to be part of this rather communist friendly part of the catholic church or to fight against it so one might say say it's a very specific topic but there is also something that is completely universal to it so maybe you could talk about this the the the the story you are telling with this film which is beyond the historic aspect of it it is like I say several times now it's a teaching in school and my student is not interested about this time, because it's 30 years and we with Marek Leszczak-Skrimat and Rebecca Lenkevich, we want to make a film about this time, but we are always waiting for a good topic because a lot of time was already in good films was already made it in Czech cinematography or Slovak and we find this real story, this hunger strike, this young priest who want to like fighting with not fighting, he don't want to say we don't we are not clear with this how this official Catholicolic church working with government yeah and it was like start for this project we meet these people and for me it was like how is a very local topic yeah like but it's not uh for but on other way every countries in history have to do with Austrians like how Catholic Church was during Second World War like how this power and this Catholic Church cooperated or not and in the also this is a story for all the East Europe and during the communistic time this maybe Polish church is a little different situation but also there was priest collaboration but in Czechoslovakia what I speak with some historic guy and he says probably 10% priest working for secret police. And it was a big problem because I understood the secret police was very interested in what happened because this Catholic was like natural enemy for this regime. It is a problem because nobody makes a film about these topics. It's very hard when you start with a topic because it's very sensitive for people and everybody will be waiting for this movie. A lot of facts, a lot of... This is important for somebody, this is important for somebody. It would never happen for everybody but when we think about human and also in cutting we realized when we lose every facts and so when we will be focusing for emotion it will be 100 percent universal yeah well when you start these dates and these are who is this, who is this, you missed this emotion and these people. We try go this way and if you give some information inside everybody was more. It was like way which never stopped yeah yeah and okay and one moment we say okay nothing yeah nothing and you show these young boys how is scary or fear how don't understand what happened and what and focusing and this emotional universal also in Austria people have feelings and exactly and have to decide maybe at one point in their life. I think also like the university for young guy you have 18 years you got little life little idolatry and the reality go and say okay oh, okay, you will be paying hypothecs, you will be making this, and you shut up in your job, and you must little changing your view, how it looks in reality, and this is also universal. Of course, exactly. So, absolutely, it makes sense. Actually, it's not so much with all the historical details or context that you're telling this story, but it's rather really with the focus on the young people on the one hand, so the two young guys who are the servants of God or of a religious ideology, let's say, and the other servants in the movie, and this is also the clip we're going to watch now, are or is the other servant in the movie is the communist officer, communist functionary, who serves an ideology, the communist ideology, and who is somehow the opponent of those two young priests. So we will watch this clip now, the last clip in our talk where you see the this communist officer first and then another very interesting protagonist in the movie Milan Mikulczyk Slovak actor who plays another priest and teacher and who is somehow very tragic figure, not really decided in how he can really be an opponent also of the regime. So we watch this clip lastly and then talk about it. ТРЕВОЖНАЯ МУЗЫКА 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, Thank you. SILENT PRACTICE Čo je to? za sofára našli na polnej ceste. Ruky a novy mal dolámané. Cez jeho telo pravdepodobne prešlo nákladné auto. Tvár mal znetvorenú na nepoznanie. Pri pitve sa zistilo, že mal natrhnutú slezinu a pečeň. Smrť pravdepodobne nastala v dôsledku vážneho poškodenia vnútorných orgánov a vnútorného krvátania. Štátna moc opäť ukázala, kam až bude zájsť v boji proti oddaným členom Kristovej církvy, ktorí odmietli kolaborovať s komunistickým režimom. C'è doma mùi, c'è doma mùi, Mola vuci, voluci, Moris umima, oscalina, paniescvice jara vie, zem si raito na pohle, Adieu. Spermier et jesam, domo murs. Succes! Sintra So yeah, maybe let's talk about this last clip and mainly the two actors we just saw. So Vlad Ivanov, he's not a Slovak actor. Maybe some of you recognized him from the films of Kristi Mundju. He played the doctor, for instance, in three months, four weeks, and two days. And here he played this Slovak communist officer and did the whole film shooting in Slovak, which is not his language. Slovak is a very good actor and I was very, I was not happy because I need him because it's needed. I want to work with him because he's for me, it's one from best European actors. Chtěl bych mít Vorgmiede, protože pro mě je to jeden z nejlepších evropských aktorů. Je to jako vlastnost, že je z Evropy a nevím, jaké by byly francouzské aktory. Ale je velkým aktorem, ale vždy hraje špatný charaktery. Nevím, proč, protože je normálně velmi dobrý člověk. always play bad characters. I don't know why because he's a very nice person. And I also give him like very like dark character. And he teach, he have lines think he will be speaking only for dubbing for lipstick and but he come and speak I see it's crazy he speak perfect and also it's like if you are director of sometimes you must lucky moments and we have two lucky moments with him and he speak in Slovakian little Russian accent it was like this Russian this communistic time it was like people connect immediately and for this reason I I don't doubt him and second one is when we making this costume costume rehearsal yeah I nebo to nejsem jistý. A druhým je, když se vytvoříme kostiumový rehersál, vidím, že má tady psořia, také jako v filmu, a myslím, že můžeme ji použít, aby se mohl vytvořit charakter jako nejvíc zajímavý plastik. A nejvíc se mi to nebá, more interesting plastic or you know and I don't like when it's people in this everything in movie going through the text I like it's like it's making from situation you understand what these people yeah doing and not talking and and I think this is like will be because I have a little problem too and it's like everywhere in you are in stress or something wrong, you have like better. And how this story is darker and darkness, darkness, this illness is like bigger and bigger. Exactly, yeah. And this people in cinema see it like, audience sees like something wrong. Yeah. It adds a lot of complexity to the character because he is of course this communist officer and is somehow the bad guy, the antagonist, but he also has this vulnerability that shows through the rush and he has something tragic as well. And also it's a very important moment. I realized this Catholic church, this Catholic school is connected with like for me it's irrationality. It's not because I'm not a normal Catholic guy. But I don't want to use this irrationality like a conversion way like this young boy will be making these and speaking with God can I must fighting with communists or something like or bells and this connection way how we when you're thinking about the spaces of these people we we have in head yeah and for this reason we don't have but i know we need making some feelings for for irrationality in but in some different way for this reason i we use this like dreams some different way. For this reason I will use this like dreams, like these guys dancing together, jumping from trampoline. It's like what you don't... Yeah, what is not rational. Maybe it's not good word, surrealistic connection. And also this illness is like you heard something happened but you don't really understand what this moment you don't really understand is very often in this film because you don't really understand what happened you don't understand what this guy really have in head and also with these dreams and this secret agent and because now it's very clear speaking about this time because we know all the who was and the background but in this time this guy don't know what happened next week and nobody knows in 1980 this communistic time will be 20 years or 30s these guys after this hunger strike have like destroyed life. Yeah. And this for me it was important how these people feelings when you don't know who is your enemy, what happened. Exactly and I think the irrationality that you mentioned also shows in the character of Milan Mikulcic, of course, who is this priest that is somehow broken also from from the from the fact that he has to obey to the regime and that he somehow is closer to the students, to the two boys who actually are also non-actors, maybe to say this because... He's an actor. One of them, the young ones. Young ones, okay. Yeah. No, Mikulcic, of course, he's an actor. These are two youngs, they are not actors. We try also looking in this middle school for actors, I don't know, conservatory, looking in this. Because I'm looking in the 17th, because normally during this time you go to university when he was 18 now it's like it's a little later and it was a real young I don't want to say child but very yeah and we want to find very young faces because you it's for you it's more interesting and you understand this guy is not oriented inward. Because you have 30 years, you understand this, this, this. And this is some part of naivety I need for this character. And we go to the conservatory, but it's very bad because it's worse when these young actors from conservators thinking how he must play and it was for me harder changing these bad habits, how to put to non-actors and teach him from start. Exactly, yeah, that's interesting. And for me it's not important actor, non-actor. For me it's very important like this feeling from face in first seconds. Yeah. And because in all my films I don't talk too much and so, and you must feeling this like Milan Mik Mikulcic is like he has a hard life and you see something in his eyes is broken yeah and he don't must speaking nothing zvonko like also like the way it's play also with koza yes it's like you don't need nothing it's very telling faces immediately that you choose that's very clear and it's very important discussing and I know I was waiting for this I don't shoot when I am not for waiting six months or one year if I don't find these people which it's then you don't shoot you wait until you find them. Yeah. Okay. Well, this is actually a great ending also for our discussion. Unfortunately, we're running out of time, but maybe I can ask you one more question that is always part of this tribute talk. And this is, of course, you teach young filmmakers. Maybe your advice to young filmmakers Učíte mladých filmovatelů. Možná je třeba tvůj představník pro mladých filmovatelů z dnešního času. Co byste chtěli říct jim, co je dnes důležité, když začnete život jako filmovatelé? hard to say because for young directors this reality now is total worse than I have. Because now when I started my career I compared with my friends because I don't see too much how world and working and how many films and this my students go open telephone and see he runs calm he was there in the this film is there I don't I don't heal I am not sure I know so calm and he's shooting film because we like it and I'm happy my film is okay, go to festival but it's not important. Important for young people is not scary, make mistakes. Because everyone says you are director, you have precision, what you want, I know know for 100% how I shooting and do you see this no no no and I make million mistakes but the arm almost say okay this mistake we go to trash and we find the other way reshooting I always be shooting maybe 50% from it's like it's way and it's normal it's like I think so it's like fantasy if somebody thinks is the best directors in the world making like say this and making this and it's work and always mistake then but don't it's like normal making mistakes okay so don't be scared to make mistakes this is the message that you will hopefully take away from this talk thank you very much to ivan ostrakhovsky it was a great pleasure to talk to you and to meet you during the crossing film festival thank you to all of you for listening and for watching.