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EIGHTY LETTERS

OSMDESÁT DOPISŮ

By Václav KADRNKA

SIRIUS FILMS S.R.O. - as PROD

Drama - Completed 2011

Czechoslovakia in 1987. The father has defected to England and the mother and her son are planning to leave the country to reunite with him. The film is told through the eyes of the fourteen year old boy, his rankled look without the veneer of experience and initiation in one day.

Festivals
& Awards

Berlinale 2012

Forum, Nomination for the Best First Feature Film

Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2012

International Competition, Winner Silver Alexander - The Grand Jury Award

European Film Festival-Cinedays 2012

International Competition, Winner SILVER STAR for the best director, Winner for the best male performance for Martin Pavluš

Festival de cine de Gijón 2012

Competitive Section Rellumnes

Crossing Europe Filmfestival 2012

International Competition of Feature Films

Copenhagen Film Festivals 2012

It Came From the East

International Film Festival Karlovy Vary 2012

Selection of Best Czech Films

Era New Horizons IFF 2012

Panorama

See all

- Year of production
- 2011
- Genres
- Drama
- Countries
- CZECH REPUBLIC
- Languages
- CZECH
- Budget
- 0 - 0.3 M$
- Duration
- 75 mn
- Director(s)
- Václav KADRNKA
- Writer(s)
- Jiří SOUKUP, Václav KADRNKA
- Cast
- Martin PAVLUŠ, Zuzana LAPČÍKOVÁ
- Producer(s)
- Václav KADRNKA (Václav Kadrnka)
- Synopsis
- Eighty Letters is autobiographically based. The source of the film are the memories of the director and the surviving correspondence between his parents. The story takes place in Czechoslovakia in 1987. The father has defected to England and the mother and her son are planning to leave the country to be reunited with him. Husband, wife, child – even at a distance they are still together, but the forced break-up of any family is an abnormal situation. The events of the film are viewed from the boy’s perspective, the exasperated gaze of one lacking experience, his initiation in the course of this single day - the film. It is the day when the youth gets a glimpse of adulthood and overcomes fear. His mother’s movements are part of an intensified daily routine, as she maps it out hour by hour. It is a battlefield situation for her. She is on her way, her son catches up with her on that path, but she must act alone if they are to achieve completeness together.
  
  Statement:
  “Eighty Letters is about my memories of my mother at the time when my father defected to the West from the totalitarian regime. The story takes place in one day. I still well remember that day. My mother moving about in it like a pre-programmed machine, concentratedly determined to do battle with the communist bureaucracy, driven by one single motive – to get us to Dad. It is an intimate ﬁ lm that was made with modest means. My wish was to tell my own story in a daring way. I think that Eighty Letters will be an original ﬁ lm. I wanted to capture a bit of silence within the contemporary cult of ugliness, noise and tawdry effects. I am not trying to shock in order to attract attention. My intention was to ﬁ lm someone who is loved, and try to portray his sadness, which is white, silent and still, like my ﬁ lm. And with no end.”

EIGHTY LETTERS

OSMDESÁT DOPISŮ

Festivals& Awards

Festivals
& Awards