09/01/2014 - The beginning of 2014 is going to be ripe with domestic releases and prolific in terms of sequels

At the beginning of the New Year, distributors have already unveiled plans for near future releases. The Tender Waves [+see also:
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film profile] by popular filmmaker Jiří Vejdělek opens 2014 in Czech cinemas. The film appears to combine a hit-making formula of romantic comedy and nostalgia. The shy protagonist Vojta is torn between a choleric father who wants him to become a professional swimmer and a mother who sees him as a talented pianist. Vojta seems to care about only one thing, his classmate Ela, a charming synchronized swimmer. The protagonist must do something or Ela will soon disappear behind an iron curtain. The Tender Waves falls into the stream of Czech films contemplating and reflecting on a not so distant past, “times when life appeared to be hopeless yet still full of dreams and human joys.” The film is produced by Infinity Prague and distributed in Czech Republic by Falcon. Release date January 7.

In the middle of January, the documentary on Polish director Agnieszka Holland under the title The Return of Agnieszka H. (directed by Krystyna Krauze and Jacek Petrycki) is scheduled for release. In 2013, Holland directed Burning Bush [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (which is likely to become the best film of 2013) about infamous self-martyrdom as an act of protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1969. The work on Burning Bush forms one part of the documentary whilst the other consists of fragments from the director’s life and important moments which influenced her career. The documentary is also “a reflection on important decisions in a time of oppression, about simple human honesty and the relation of Agnieszka Holland towards Czech culture and not only in the 60s.” To be released on January 16, the film is produced by MAUR film and distributed by Film Distribution Artcam.

On January 23, a sequel called Uni will be hitting cinemas directed and produced by Tomáš Vorel. The story of two friends and their graffiti excesses continues while one desperately struggles to get accepted to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design whereas the other cuts classes and gets by thanks to cheating or his influential father. Uni will continue in the aesthetics prompted by the first film, The Can. The film is produced by Bio Illusion and co-produced by Vorelfilm.

2014 will be prolific in terms of sequels as not only Bony a klid [+see also:
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film profile] will be returning after 27 years, but the sequel to cult film The Inheritance or Fuckoffguysgoodday (1992) by Vera Chytilova will also be released at the beginning of February. The successful director Robert Sedlacek took over to deliver Dedictví aneb Kurvaseneríká, which is an equally comic offering about a village alcoholic-cum-millionaire. The protagonist Bohumil Stejskal (Bolek Polivka who also penned the script) did not touch a bottle for 7 years now, but after burying Irenka, he chooses to drown his sorrow. The alcoholic delirium triggers a series of adventures and escapades which will eventually lead the protagonist into rehab. The director himself called the awaited sequel a bitter comedy. The film is produced by Space Films and set for release on February 6.