Documentaries about an iconic US cinematographer and a former U.N. chief of weapons inspector amongst the films by Czech filmmakers nearing completion

A moment during the pitch of Blix by Greta Stocklassa

Five Czech upcoming feature-length documentaries nearing completion were introduced by producer-director teams during the Czech Docs… Coming Soon industry event within the East Doc Platform sidebar dedicated to solely domestic projects. This year's selection includes a film about a former U.N. chief weapons inspector, a Czech artist making a career in New York City, a Czech social anthropologist mapping the impact of globalisation in Svalbard, the first Czech investigator who worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and a portrait of three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson. The event was organised in cooperation with the Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association for an audience of film-festival representatives, sales agents and distributors. Here, we take a closer look at the aforementioned projects.

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Blix Not Bombs [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Greta Stocklassa (Czech Republic/Sweden/Germany)

Emerging docu-maker Greta Stocklassa, who debuted with Kiruna – A Brand New World [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], shot a documentary about former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix. Blix, who is 93 years old, is in the process of “döstädning” - death cleaning. At that time, he is approached by Stocklassa who wants to inquire about the fateful events that led to the Iraqi invasion. And Blix answers. The director said that the interview turned into “a dialogue between two generations – one leaving the world, another living with all the messed-up things.” The film is produced by Czech outfit Pink Productions, Corso Film, Sisyfos Film Production and has been supported by the Czech Film Fund, RBB/Arte, Film un Media Stiftung, and Film Stockholm. Blix Not Bombs is currently in postproduction which is expected to wrap in Autumn 2022 with the film ready in early 2023 for the 20^th anniversary of the invasion. Syndicado Films handles the rights as a sales agent and producers are still looking for broadcasting partners.

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So Far From Mikulov – Marie Dvořáková (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Producer Pavel Berčík from Evolution Films presented the documentary by Marie Dvořáková (Who's Who in Mycology) titled So Far From Mikulov, about a photographer who left behind a Czech small town for an artistic career in New York. The film follows three years in the life of Marie and her partner Thomas, an art theorist, and asks what is the price of leaving everything behind. So Far From Mikulov is produced by Evolution Films (Czech Republic) and PubRes (Slovakia) and Berčík announced that HBO also boarded the project. The Czech producer revealed that they are in postproduction expecting to have the first edit ready by Summer 2022. The film's premiere is planned for the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023. The producers are looking for a sales agent.

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The Visitors [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Veronika Lišková (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Norway)

Czech director Veronika Lišková, behind a documentary about a pedophile and a Czech pedophile community, Daniel's World [+see also:
trailer
interview: Veronika Lišková
film profile], and producer Kristýna Michálek Květová of Cinémotif Films presented Lišková's latest work, The Visitors [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The director followed a Czech social anthropologist on her two-year research mapping the impact of globalisation on a community living in the world's northernmost town, Longyearbyen in Svalbard. The protagonist starts to question how much she may allow herself to get involved in the local community that she was only supposed to observe. In addition to the Czech Republic, the film is co-produced by Ten Thousand Images (Norway) and Peter Kerekes Film (Slovakia). They are currently in the final days of editing and postproduction is expected to unfold over the Summer with a festival premiere planned for late 2022 or early 2023. The producer is looking for a sales agent, festival representatives, and TV commissioning editors.

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The Investigator [+see also:
trailer
interview: Viktor Portel
film profile] – Viktor Portel (Czech Republic/Croatia)

Filmmaker Viktor Portel followed Vladimír Dzuro, the first Czech investigator who worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Portel's first feature-length film is inspired by Dzuro's bestselling book The Investigator – Demons of the Balkan War. The docu-road-movie tracks Dzuro as he visits the places of investigation related to his two biggest cases, the Ovčara massacre and the ethnic cleansing by Željko Ražnatović, and meets the survivors. The Investigator further deals with questions of justice and the landscape of the Balkans, among others. The film is nearly finished and will be available in a version for cinemas and television. Frame Films produces the film for the Czech Republic with Restart (Croatia) and Czech Television co-producing. The Czech Film Fund, the City of Zagreb, and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre supported the film. The producer is looking for broadcasters, sales agents and festivals.

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CAMERRAMAN – Jana Hojdová (Czech Republic)

The Czech cinematographer Jana Hojdová, who most recently lensed Mirrors in the Dark [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Šimon Holý
film profile], is working on a feature-length documentary about the three-time Academy Award winner for cinematography Robert Richardson (JFK, The Aviator, Hugo). Hojdová shot 450 hours of footage with Richardson which is bound to be edited into “an intimate homage to an iconic cameraman, an inspirational story of the healing power of art, the story of a man who followed his dream against the odds and created so much beauty trying to free himself from the demons of his past”. The director revealed that she is currently in the middle of editing and expecting to have a rough cut in May 2022, and the finished film by the end of 2022 with a festival release planned for January 2023. Czech Lonely Production serves as the producer while an Indian co-producer is finishing contracts to join the project. They are still looking for a sales agent, distributors, and film festivals.