Illustration photo – President of the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival Iris Knoblochová, April 13, 2023.
Prague – Two short films from the Prague Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Musicians will compete at the Cannes Film Festival of Arts (FAMU). They will be part of the La Cinef (formerly Cinéfondation) section, whose program the organizers have published today. The Czech Republic will be represented in the competition by the film Electra by director Darja Kaščejevová and the drama Osmý den by director Petr Pylypčuk. FAMU spokeswoman Klaudie Osičková informed ČTK about this today.
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For her short film Daughter, an intimate story about the relationship between a daughter and a father, Darja Kaščejevová, a student of the master's program at the department of animation at FAMU, collected dozens of awards abroad, including a student Oscar statuette and a narrow nomination in the main competition of the American film academy. For her thesis, the director was inspired by the figure of Greek mythology Electra, which she translated into today's world in her author's vision.
The film's protagonist tries to define herself towards her mother and tries to understand her mixed feelings towards her father. However, he gradually isolates himself in his world and builds a relationship with his body and sexuality. “For the structure of the narrative, I was inspired by the course of psychotherapy treatment. During the session, the client revolves around his memories of a traumatic experience. He jumps from the past to the present, images and memories change. By combining the animation technique of pixilation together with acted scenes, I was able to complete this narrative mosaic.” the author explained the film.
Thanks to the success of the previous film Daughter, the filming of the student film Electra turned into a Czech-Slovak-French co-production. The main producer is the Czech company MAUR film.
The theme of the live graduation film Osmý den is growing up in the environment of a strict religious sect. The film is inspired by the director's personal experience and follows the story of teenage Anna, who, together with her peer Josef, decides to run away from the religious community and face the challenges of life beyond its borders.
“It is a statement about the clash of free will and ideological indoctrination to which children growing up in this toxic and patriarchal environment are exposed,” said Petr Pylypčuk. “The eighth day works with the themes of domestic violence, distorted interpersonal relationships, sexuality and individuality,” he added. After eight years, this is the first film from the FAMU directing department to be shown in Cannes.
This year in Cannes, FAMU will also present one non-competitive film in the Cannes Focus Script program for projects in development. It will be the film Gone by Polish director Piotr Jasiński from the foreign department of FAMU International.
Between the years 2011 and 2021, five films from FAMU were selected for the Cinéfondation section. In 2009, the Cinéfondation section was won by Zuzana Kirchnerová's feature bachelor film Báb. The winner of the La Cinef section has the opportunity to present their film at L'Atelier Cannes, which alerts professionals to promising projects and gives filmmakers the opportunity to achieve international distribution. In 2008, Naus by Lukáš Glaser competed in Cinéfondation. And the last time FAMU had two films in this prestigious competition was in 2005, namely Slávek the Shit by Icelandic director Grímur Hakonarson, and Conscience by Jan Bohuslav.
