E26 • Leveraging Life’s Limitations • VOJTĚCH STRAKATÝ, dir. of ‘After Party’ at the Venice Int. Film Festival

Vojtĕch Strakatý, director of ‘After Party’, which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival, speaks on how real-life experiences can inspire unique storytelling. His past cinema inspirations include the Brazilian films ‘Neighboring Sounds’ and ‘Aquarius’, by Kleber Mendonça Filho. 

He discusses the emotional core of his film, inspired by real-life events, shares his excitement for blending genre and art house films, and how balancing technology and creativity is key to effective filmmaking. 

Vojtĕch shares insights on refinement during his editing process, and how film festival dynamics play a vital role in a filmmaker's career. He touches on the physical and mental demands of the craft and looks ahead to future projects.

Like, subscribe and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

Chapters

• 0:01 Past Present Feature, Hosted by Marcus Mizelle
• 0:20 Introducing Filmmaker Vojtĕch Strakatý, dir. of 'After Party'
• 1:02 Unique Storytelling Inspired by Real-Life Experiences
• 4:36 'After Party' - From Concept to Creation + Generational Debt Passed Down
• 8:28 The Refinement Process: Knowing When to Move Forward
• 12:19 The Role of Film Festivals in a Filmmaker's Journey
• 16:44 Each Project is Different
• 19:45 Each Filmmaker's Path is Different + The Physical and Mental Demands of Filmmaking
• 23:36 Next Project: 'The Other Side of Summer' + Post Production
• 27:00 Leaning Into Limitations to Maximize Creativity
• 29:29 Just Make the Best Film Possible, To You
• 31:11 Past Inspo: ‘Neighboring Sounds’ + ‘Aquarius’, dir. by Kleber Mendonça Filho
• 36:27 Final Filmmaking Advice - Just Go Through It, and Be Nice to People

Transcript

Marcus Mizelle (00:20)
Today, Boitek Stricati,

Director of Afterparty, which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival, speaks on how real-life experiences can inspire unique storytelling. His past cinema inspirations include the Brazilian films, Neighboring Sounds Aquarius, by Clever Mendoza Filho. He discusses the emotional core of his film, inspired by real-life events, shares his excitement for blending genre and arthouse films, and how balancing technology and creativity is key to effective filmmaking.

Wojtek shares insights on refinement during his editing process and how film festival dynamics play a vital role in a filmmaker's career. He touches on the physical and mental demands of the craft

And looks ahead to future projects.

Marcus Mizelle (01:01)
biggest emotional takeaway from your film, which was how I responded to the dad character and to the selfish parent character, dumping their stuff onto the kid. Question to you is, do you mind just talking about why that's important for you to tell that story or that character or that situation? The whole film is inspired by real life events we went through with my family, I don't know, 10 years ago or so. And a lot of stuff that happens in the film happens in real life, but I never wanted to make it one-to-one autobiography. Right.

but I wanted to make it inspired by the events because you cannot really adapt real life this way. To write what you know, but also it's still fiction. You're being inspired from real life. Yes, that's I wanted, to create unique characters and story and just use the element that I was dealing with. A lot of the situations and then stuff that is happening in the film really did happen to my family, but of course it's slightly different in reality. yeah.

And with all of that, I was like, this is really terrible and it's happening to us. But on the other hand, it felt cinematic. And I was like, I want to be a filmmaker, so let's get inspired. When I had a guest on Ellie Fumbi, who had a really nice little quote the other day, basically she said, the more personal something is to you as a storyteller, a lot of times the more universal it becomes to the viewer, which is so great and simple.

I don't know why we don't accept that more often or that quickly. Back to the parent is the antagonist in this film, would you say? But sometimes it's hard as a kid to process and I don't know, figure out how to just go about dealing with selfish behavior by your parent. I've experienced that a little bit and I'm not saying I'm perfect or I will be perfect with my kid later on either, but it's a weird thing. I don't know. You had the script at Carla Vivari back six years ago.

Yeah, it's six years ago, yes. You're just premiering it at Venice here in about a month, roughly, and you've been working on this thing for a minute, for several minutes. That's true. And so guess it's very important story for you, obviously. Why this story? I guess, like, the family drama that was happening was, like, the obvious choice. At least in a shortcut, my father did create a lot of debt. We lost our home, and he's borrowed some money. And stuff that happens in a film happen in real life.

And I felt that is the sort of drama that you're looking for in cinema. But I've never really wanted to make it a revenge on my family or on my father. Things happen, but this is the film. And I wanted to use the situations. And obviously, the father in the film does some bad things. But I didn't want to make it like an easy villain. And as you were mentioning with kids, ever since I have my daughter, I I can imagine how sometimes things lead.

to another and things can happen even if you mean them in a good way. Even if you want good things for your family, bad things can happen. And nobody's perfect, so bad stuff can happen in real life. Yeah, and it's so easy. We're hypercritical of our parents. We get on our nerves so easily and all this. And I feel bad for my dad. I feel bad sometimes because we're on the phone and I can tell he just wants to talk. So he just asked me a million questions in a row. You just want to stay connected. So I feel like a total jerk just talking junk about my dad.

But there are moments where it's like there is like him just thinking about himself as we all can be sometimes. And that's what struck my chord. Me and my friends talk a lot about just the baby boomer generation and just how it seems to be a lot of entitlement in a lot of them or me if you're them. Also talk about the title of the film, After Party. Is this because you begin with the ordinary innocent, typical coming of age world and then her innocence is lost with moving into the conflict? Describe the title. Why After Party, the title?

This title came pretty late in the process because we used the working title for years and then we were like searching for the right one. And obviously the film is set within one day and it starts and ends in the mornings after parties. And one part of it, which is connected to

to the coming of age aspects of the film, but also as the film is dealing with this intergenerational conflict or the older generations putting the burden of their problems on their offspring. And also my protagonist, she inherits the problems of her father. In the Czech Republic, it was like in the 90s after the revolution, the business was going well and people were getting richer, or at least some of them. And that was the party that...

sort of came to a stop in the 2000s. But the older generation still thinks that things and business can be still done in same way as it used to be. So there was this ending of the party for the previous generation, for the younger one. Which reminds me of a moment around the midpoint in your movie where just something that the dad says to her, which is, you got to stop this loser mentality.

His way of doing things is clearly the only way to do things. And she's just sitting there giving practical advice. Are you sure? Like, why would we spend even more money to get not even halfway back to paying off debts or whatever? I feel like that was a representation of what you just said, right? Let me just read the synopsis for after party. This is from the movie website, mubi.com. The film is about the carefree life of a young girl, Eliska, which changes radically when the executors come to confiscate the family's house because of her father's debt.

And it's so like for me also was the consecutive nightmares that things just kept getting worse. was truly like just nightmares for this girl as far as her getting pulled more and more into her dad's ghost bullshit. I love the structure. I love how it is in one day. I loved how its book ended mostly with late after parties and also that walk back home. Talk about developing that script. You started writing this before at least 2018, right? Because you were at Carlo Vivare for the script. If you don't mind.

No, I don't. It was a long process and there's some interesting aspect because when I started writing the script, basically the story used to be the same all the time. She was taking care of the aftermath of her father's death and taking care of the belongings that the family used to have. So she was trying to save them. It was basically the same, but a lot of things were changing and at some point it was set, let's say, in 2030. So it started as dystopian fame. Interesting.

It was supposed to take place in Czech Republic of 2030 when we cannot breathe without air masks on. So I took inspiration from Asia and other countries, but then the pandemic came and suddenly the whole world turned upside down. It was like, wow, I have never imagined this happening. So we were okay. What do we do with this thing? But this setting of dystopia, it always was there, but it did not really play a...

major part in the film. So then as the pandemic was postponing or shooting and everything, I was still rewriting the script a lot and I got rid of it and just... So interesting. Returned to the basic stuff, to the present. But it was always set in one day, but it used to be dystopian, then it came back to be like more realistic. I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that. The reason I laughed was because I had a similar script and I feel like a few people I know had a similar kind of dystopian concept, at least as far as the kind of general concept of like unbreathable air.

and all this because it's obviously something that's possible in the near future. I feel like I abandoned mine because of COVID and because it was just like too much. We're already living the real life version of it, so I don't need to make this movie. I think the COVID era ended this thing for me that I was like, you can never keep up with the horrors of real world. So why try to invent the future when it's speeding up? And the real life became so unpredictable and terrifying in a way. was like...

let's dump it, we can just stay in the present, things are happening and no need to invent stuff anymore. It's so interesting. I did a documentary on a restaurant trying to survive COVID and it worked out well as far as storytelling and drama is concerned, but I was like, I don't need to create any conflict that's here in real life. Yes. And it almost begs the question, what does the world need more than anything right now when it comes to fiction filmmaking? Escapism? Or what? That's just a subjective question, but I love that you stripped it down. I mean, all along,

It was this simple story in one day, mostly, but the setting was dramatically different. I think the stripped down version worked actually much better. During the development, we were still struggling with, okay, does the world of the film make sense in regards of the Inducted family? And so it was really in conflict for quite a lot of time.

So thank you, COVID, for clearing this out for me because we were supposed to shoot in 2020, then it got postponed one year, and then the second we shot in 2022. So it took some more time to really finish the script, and it allowed me to really return to the basics and to the simplicity. And I think it was for the best. I love talking about these things because it sounds like what was at first a struggle and probably frustrating, would guess, you. Why me? Now you're premiering at Venice.

The oldest film festival in the world. was like, damn it, I really wanted to make a debut feature before I turned 30. That did not happen. that old Who cares? But at some point I was really struggling with that. was like, damn, like the time's flying. I'm getting older and older. Christopher Nolan did it before he was 30 and all these other people did it before they were 30. Like I know. That's But a lot them made their debut at 38 or so. I was like, hey, shout out to Ridley Scott and Curtis Hansen and so many.

wonderful filmmakers that were like something. There is still time, there is always time and everybody works differently so it was for the best. But when you're suddenly waiting for longer, you're questioning does the film still make sense? Am I ever gonna make it or so? Overall, I was still pushing to make it as quick as possible. Yeah, it led to me just trying newer and newer versions and just stripping it down until it was ready.

Suddenly, after years of waiting, was like, okay, we shoot in, I don't know, four months or so, and suddenly everything started very quickly, and that was the last push. just the refinement, and then all of sudden the universe just takes over, knowing when to step in and do your thing, but also knowing when to step out and let the thing happen on its own. That's such a big deal. In life and movies, of course. Again, borrowing from some of your dialogue there. You you gotta look at the silver lining.

But I love how a struggle turns into a blessing. It's such a great thing. It's Marcus Aurelius, the obstacle in the way is the way. Talking about just the refining process, like the importance of being patient and putting in the work and making something better, making a script better. But also, how do you know when to move on and when to start filming? How do you know when the script is done? That's a tough question. But it's the same thing with finishing, with locking the edit. It's always like, when is it ready? I like the external limits, okay.

this is the date we set out that the film will be finished, so we have to stick with it. So that sort of forces me into, okay, if we want to get the funding for the film, we have to have the script by that time, and if you want to shoot it, okay, this is the time we're going to shoot it, and that's it. It liberates me when I know that I have the deadline and the time limit, and the timeframe is predictable after a lot of waiting and waiting.

Even with a script or an idea having parameters with yours, it's all in one day, all in one roughly 24 hours, right? It's like its own kind of containment because you don't need the whole world to be able to paint something on, you just need a canvas, right? And to identify the canvas is really helpful to start shaping and trying to tell your story. Carlo Vivare, we did a bunch of interviews about a month ago and I just love that festival so much. It seems like it's a wonderful place. And a lot of great films, represents the love for film and the support for the filmmakers.

So as far as the script going there, what was that like? I didn't know they have just script section. It's separated from Karlovy Vary. It's this script writers competition. The announcement of the winners is being held in Karlovy Vary during the festival, but it's the event of a separate entity or company. So it's not the festival. I worked for Karlovy Vary for the industry department, actually. I could not really join that since I'm working for the festival, but this was a separate thing. So I was awarded during

the best thing on. okay. As I'm going along with these in development space as well with the film labs and how it all works. So I've been learning quite a bit as far as doing these interviews and just attaching, looking at certain film festival lineups that come out and then reaching out to filmmakers that I find to be interesting or interesting films or interesting aesthetic or whatever. And

I'm learning so much as far as, okay, that's what that is, or that's how it's connected. You start seeing and learning the patterns and the processes of how filmmakers go from an idea to a big festival. Which is wonderful because if you don't know, you don't know. And it's really important to know the reality versus some sort of idea that you have in your head. I'm just going to make something great and just submit it. You could do that, but also you might want to do a little more than that. I guess it's very specific here in Czech Republic since we have state-funded cinema.

So you have to go through the very official process of applying for getting your film funded. There are films that are being shot for private money, but it's not normal here. So there are not many alternatives to state funding here. This competition for the screenwriters is like separate entities. I was trying to really start developing my projects for years and it did not work out. So I was struggling to really find a producer. So I just wrote the script, won the award and suddenly it all worked out. Suddenly I got the producer.

and suddenly we applied for funding, we got it, and everything started there. Okay, the tip of the iceberg. What about the rest of the iceberg as far as what you had to go through to get to that point of where it finally worked out? Do you have memories of feeling like it was just you for the longest time and you stuck with it and you stuck with it and you stuck with it? Was it like that for you? I guess so, because I finished film school in 2013, but the ending of the school, did not really push me towards the industry at all. The proper start.

did not happen right away. So I just went working for festivals and I was working in production and stuff like that. And even outside cinema for years, I was like, okay, if I want to make films, I have to start making them. So I shot a short film and it was very similar in a way and the setting to my feature debut. So that was like the starting point for me, but it really took me like two scripts to really get it out. And the second one suddenly got awarded and that was the push.

after let's say five years of nothing happening to really start a career. As I was working for the festivals and I kept in touch with a lot of my colleagues, I was trying to develop things still, but it was just waiting and brewing there. Because it seems like all the good stuff does come right when you hit a decision point, whether to stay or go. Right? I cannot remember if I was about to quit. I think I was.

pretty sure I want to make films no matter what, but the time was flying and I was not working in cinema at all. So was like, okay, it will probably happen at some point, but I was not sure at all, but I kept doing it. You said no matter what, you're going to do it. Somehow. I like to also talk about the refinement process and development, the lab process with a lot of these filmmakers too, because there's such value in that.

I know what the other version looks like, which is to rush and to go out and to make it when it's not ready. And then you can't put it back in the box. think the really long and overly long development can really hurt the project. Totally. You can really overcook it in a way. So was like, this is starting to be really long. And sometimes when I go through the versions I have written, I'm like, wow, it could have been like 10 other films.

And you're so right. You're so right. I'm beating myself up a little too much. I don't believe in hesitation. I don't like to hesitate. Hesitation can be very dangerous. But also you got to be patient. You got to know when to refine and all that. I can't control but so much. That's just my own thing. I found a lot of joy and fulfillment in the doc space, at least for now. I think with the long development, I think each project is different. Sometimes we really need the time. Some projects can really be made quicker because the second feature I showed it like...

one year after the first one. So it was like much shorter waiting and the development took, I don't know, three years or so. So let's say it was slightly quicker and I was like, the first one took really long time to develop and made. So let's be quicker the next time because I figured out how to work.

efficiently. So maybe it was the first one that took so long. And of course it's really difficult when you're both writer and the director because if just someone passes me the script and I'm like, okay, let's shoot it in a month or two. That's easy. You're not as married to it either. You're not as like precious about it, which can be a dangerous thing. But the thing is, you know what? Sometimes we are human. We are getting older. Time is a real thing. And you know what? Sometimes you do need to just go do what you feel like you need to go do.

Living in regret is silly, especially if you don't learn from it. I know why I did everything I've done. I like I had to. So there's not really any regret. It's really just all learning. And it's so cheesy and cliche, but all the best learning comes from the hardest things that you have to go through. That's correct. It's just what it is. That's such good news because that means if you're going through some shit right now, you're probably going to be really grateful for it later. Yes.

Before I forget, I got to a point between my fiction and my documentary filmmaking where I said to myself, okay, no matter what, even if this sucks right now, I still love this. And no matter what, as far as money or recognition or all this stupid mess that I shouldn't have worried about in the first place, I love this and I want to do this. Really asking myself tough questions like why am I doing this and what do I need to make and why do I need to make it? And for me, it was a moment of shifting from making stuff for myself, going from that to making something that

can help other people, but also something that I would like to make. No matter what, I'm prepared to be in the ditch and get as dirty as possible. As long as I can make movies and have a camera on my shoulder, I'll be happy looking back at that. But as soon as I've made that decision, everything fell into place and like I won two Emmys. The stuff that I thought I wanted, the superficial kind of surface stuff, I couldn't get that when that was just my goal. But when my goal shifted to...

prioritize the actual effect that the film could have on other people, not just me getting my rocks off and not me trying to get recognition, then all of a sudden you get some reward back. So it's just funny. It's just funny to think you're right. Because of course you really want to make the films that will be seen, that will be appreciated and everything. But if you make it the main goal, you will not achieve anything. You will end up disappointed in a way, I think. At least I always start it by thinking, okay.

Is this the film I want to be watching as a viewer? And if yes, then that's what I'm really trying to pursue. And then if it's successful, that's great. And if it's not, I'll be sad somehow. But still, I will try to make the best film possible. I think I just needed to grow up as a filmmaker, you know? When I bring up the Emmys, it's not even about the trophies or anything. It's about just the validation that I got. I don't have to prove anything to myself anymore. Definitely. Everyone needs different time for things through whatever makes you happy as a...

filmmaker if you want to do this career. I was always an outsider. I did not finish school with like super short film that would be accepted to festivals. I was like nothing for years. was working just outside the radar for years so I really had to start from scratch. But it did really help me to stay focused on things that I wanted to do because I was like, fuck everyone, I will make films someday.

but I will do them the way I want to do them. I will not try to be fashionable in a way or so. I will just keep my thing and hopefully I will get it out there. It might take some time and it might get frustrated and for some people they would probably give up at some point and it's fine. It does not have to work for everybody. But if you're really passionate and fanatic... Did you feel like you were trying to catch up? Definitely I felt the pressure because I started developing this film and I was like, okay.

this is off the ground, so let's start another film. So I started the second one. So I was working on two features at once. One was shot like one year after the first one. And now I'm developing like four films and one series at one time. So was like, let's do more, let's do more because it takes time and I don't want to waste more time. Of course you don't want to work yourself to death, you like.

Okay, let's do it while I'm still young because it's very physically demanding, this career. I think it was Paul Verhoeven who said that you really need to be physically fit if you want to make films. I think it's just one of the best advice there is because of course you can start at 40, you can start whenever you want, but still you have to use the time you have. I think when work comes to my mind, stamina is key.

Stamina is that whole kind of boxing metaphor where you got to be able to take a punch and keep on getting hit you do Yeah, it's not about what happens about how you react to it I think even just staying into the fight is really as simple and as easy as the best advice because the mental is connected to the physical It's all connected even if you're sitting there editing it manifests into physical It is a lot of my colleagues like from camera department or sound department. They're going like from set to set all year long

I'm not, I'm mostly working on my stuff, so I'm on the set either on my films or assisting on the films of my friends, but it's not that often. So this physical struggle of being on set of the film is not that regular for me, but still. The shooting is very demanding, the preparations are very demanding, the writing is demanding, and then the post-production. So in the end, like the whole process, which takes months and years and so very demanding.

mentally and physically and you really have to be there all the time. It's a very interesting contrast. I used to grip for seven years on Big Earth movies. I know exactly what it's like to work 16 hours a day and go get a beer and go back to your hotel room and sleep for three hours and go back to work and whatever. But I bring it up because it's like you didn't have to take the work home with you, even though your body's tired and whatever. But as soon as you close that truck up, you're off and you get that Miller High life or whatever the hell you're dreaming. Yeah, that's true. Boom, we're good. Let's go. And then you just disconnect from the day.

more likely as a filmmaker, producer, director, you have to take it home with you. You're going to sleep thinking about, you're waking up thinking about it. It never stops really. Yeah, it's different. It's different. And when you add production to that, it's wild, but also it's so damn addicting. It feels so good too, right? when it's Yes.

I mean, one year ago I started shooting my second film, which is now finishing post-production. And this year, like now, my friends started shooting like yesterday. And I'm feeling the excitement of the start, even though probably the lack of sleep at this point for him must be terrifying. But I mean, I'm envious. I would love to be back. Before we go on to your past film inspirations, I think it's a good place to maybe talk about what do you have next? Do you have anything else that you're working on right now? Do you have more irons in the fire? I suspect you do.

This fall I'll have my second feature finished, which is called The Other Side of Summer. And I hate coming of age films, mostly. There are great ones, but the genre in general, I was always like, I've never wanted to make coming of age films, but suddenly I made two. Because even my debut feature and the second one are coming of age films, so...

I think whatever you hate the most, should try and perfect it in a way. So it is like mystery slash coming-of-age summer film and it should be out next. So we're just moving on to draining and sound post-production. So the edit, the cuts done? Yes, we logged the edit like three weeks ago or so. And it was just as we were mentioning during the writing process, was like...

Okay, is it finished or is it not? Because you can really trim shots forever. You can really make this two frames longer, two frames shorter for ages. But then we had the deadline and we really had to finish. we were like, okay, we have to stop at some point. And we did. And I think it was for the best. And I'm really happy with it. I love this. Talk about past and present, like both the movie you're about to premiere at Venice and the one that you're just locking up and probably premiering next year this time. Who knows?

What does post-production look like for you across these two films? Any commonalities? Those films were shot in really short amount of time. For After Party, we shot it in 14 days. Well, that is short. Most people were like, we had a really short shoot of 30 days. 14 is crazy. It has 89 minutes. And the second feature was slightly longer. It was like 21 days, but still it's very short. But we were shooting in three countries, so it was really difficult. Yes.

So still, was really fast shooting. But then you have some time in post-production. But with the second feature, the editing took longer because we really had more options. So we really needed more time. With Afterparty, it was more straightforward because as it's set in one day, was like the structure was really easy. So it was like either we omit one scene or not. No non-linear editing or just putting scenes elsewhere because everything's connected. So it was a faster process in a way. For me,

As I'm writing and directing the film, I'm thinking of how I will shoot it and then, retroactively, I can change the script on the go because I'm like, okay, so we have 14 days, can I really make this scene work? Or when we were preparing with my DOP, we were like, okay, so this scene might be like, say, five shots and suddenly you're like, okay, we have two hours, so we do two shots or one shot. We shot a lot of the scenes in...

one shot and we covered it within one shot because we did not really have time to really set up the camera more times. And you get so much more than you always think you're going to get by doing it that way. It's crazy. I mean, even shooting documentaries, I get one take with moments, but like I mix it up on a 24 to 70 lens and all of a sudden I'm cutting. By the time you watch it, it's like, how many cameras did you have? And I'm like, what are you talking about? Yeah. One camera. we get even one take. So sometimes you're rushing so much.

And it's the best. What's worse than beating a dead horse? But it did work. Of course, during the edit, you come to decisions where you can really edit it only this way because you're...

really limited in terms of what you have, but I love the limits. Okay, this is the way we shot it. This is the takes we have. Okay, we have to work around it and with it, and we have to embrace it and not feel sorry for ourselves, not feel frustrated, but really embrace it and make the most of it. And it worked with both films, and both were very short, and a lot of scenes were really like one or two takes, and it was like, damn, do we have it, really? Did we capture what we wanted, what we came for?

You spend four years writing some scenes and suddenly you have 30 minutes and one take for this specific moment, which is crucial to the film and you have to really make it happen.

Fortunately, you have great crew, great actresses and everyone involved, so you can really pull it off. It's a moment of truth too, isn't it? How strong is my material? How strong are the people that I hired to help me get this story told? And we used two lenses and that's it. So we really set up the limits for ourselves. Of course, based on the budget as well, but we were like, okay, let's do it this way. Let's do it simple. yeah. Some of the best films have also been just very simple. And I've been on big sets where they had all these...

trucks, lights, and it never makes anything better. just all it does is defeats the idea. It just slows things down and you lose the magic in a lot of ways. I think so. I like this version because I think way too much technology and gear and everything. It gives you options, of course, and for some projects it's crucial to have them, but sometimes it...

does slow you down and you become lazy in a way because if you're like, okay, we have this one lens and we have this one light, so how do we pull this off? That's the way we can do it because then you get creative and of course there's a balance to be creative but to be really able to have the equipment you need. And to use the right tools like the Sony autofocus. Why wouldn't I use that for my style of shooting at least? It's like wonderful. I just tap an eyeball and it stays locked on. I can move the camera anywhere I want.

and then can use the gyro stabilization. Five years ago, this would have taken three people to pull this off. Now I'm just leaning into that tool, but that doesn't mean that I also need an ingenue zoom lens on my camera, because that's going to take away from that capability. It's like knowing what you need to shoot and trying to figure out what tool to pull out of the toolbox. But it's just good news. The tools have made it so easy to create good work.

But the thing is now it's also saturated the marketplace and we have streaming ecosystem. it's the onus is now on how do you stand out and transcend from all the noise and here in Venice, you've done it. It's going to really help the film as far as even the perception of the film and that it's going to be fantastic. And for you as a filmmaker, this will be in Venice. You have to make the best film possible. I mean, as I also work for Call of Invaders, so I tend to see a lot of films and a lot of them are very important. And I think like the personal stuff or the onus.

authenticity are key, especially in Czech Republic was really underdeveloped. I think the most important thing is to just make it as interesting and attractive for the possible viewer as possible. think you just have to do what you love. Of course, we're talking like cinema of all terrors or something, because of course you have like things that are more commercial and everything is valid. But in terms of this and getting your film out there, I think

The love should be, I think the people should notice that you really care about the film. I think when I try to approach every scene of the film, every shot of the film in a way that when you're watching it, you should get the idea that I really cared for it, that I did not really shoot it just to make a character go from one door to another, whatever. I think that's the most important element when you're watching films. You get the sense if they really cared for it, if they really tried their best. You really do.

It's a beautiful, simple reminder. I love it. You working at Karlovy Vary, though, too, it gives you lot of perspective on, you know, what's out there and what people are making and what the level of quality is and like what Karlovy Vary tends to lean towards and understanding what certain festivals are looking for, right? I think you can still think that certain festivals tend to accept and select certain kind of films, but then they really surprise you. As you can imagine, certain film really to be great fit for some festival, but sometimes they just like this.

film even though it doesn't you cannot predict this. So your past films neighboring sounds and Aquarius both by Kleber Mendonca Ferro Brazilian filmmaker yeah I think it's Kleber Mendonca Filho but I might be pronouncing it very bad I can't even get it right after it tells me how to say it Mendonca Filho that's what we're going with that's his name on this podcast right now I watched the trailers for these two films Aquarius which is a 2016 drama film written and directed

By Cleaver Mendoza, the home starring Sonia Braga as Clara, the last resident of Querius building who refuses to sell her apartment to a construction company that intends to replace it with a new edifice selected to compete for the Pond or the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. And then also neighboring sounds by the same filmmaker, which is the lives of the residents of a Brazilian apartment building and security guards who get the job guarding the surrounding streets. So we can obviously see similarities between his two films and also with your film as well, as far as the

collectors coming in. This entity in a way, or this powers that be, which again relates to what gets me off as a filmmaker. I talk about the inspiration that these films have given you. I saw Nebring Sounds in probably 2012 or so. I instantly loved the film because it was something I always wanted to do that was blending the genres together. It was still like art house film and it was slow. It had these thriller elements, let's say, and they're very mundane.

things happening most of the film, but they can suddenly be very scary and horrifying. And there's like this local security guys that are coming to this tree that they will be guarding it and they are seemingly normal, but very slowly they turn toward menacing and suddenly there are small things happening. You're watching more characters, so it's of course different to my film, which is focused on one, but it's slowly approaching evil and I think this very mundane.

slash genre. The filmmaking is heightened, it's still stylized and you get so many beautiful shots and it's very simple in terms of mise en scene or just camera movement and everything. And the film is similar in the way that there are things happening that seems threatening but you're never sure. And it's really anti-climactic in terms of the action, what you get to see, what you get to witness. It's aware of itself in that way which gives it strength. Yes, yes.

And this is the same with Aquarius, which is very much focused on one woman in one apartment that she's about to lose. And that's maybe more similar to my film, even though there are guys coming to her apartment and they want her to move out and she doesn't want to move out. But you're not just following this drama of her being moved out, but you're also following her on her daily routines. And it's about her life, which is, by the way, complicated by this more dramatic evil.

Yeah, that's that's what I really loved about it. It's a pretty hefty conflict to have in a film too like someone who's gonna lose their house That's a pretty huge threat for a human being to think about it. Yes, the older I get the more horrifying it sounds Yeah, most good films you have to have that threat that big threat the bigger the threat the stronger the film can be true That's true. So I guess like both of these films in terms of what

how they blend this arthouse dramas with the mundane things happening and like thrilling elements. I was really inspired by both. I'm interested in your list. Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino surprised me. It's like, whoa, Tarantino was a fun movie though. I think it's maybe my most favorite of its sort because on first viewing, I just didn't get it or so. But then I just saw it for the second time and I'm just still in love with it. The Simplicity is a film about friendship.

There are two groups of female characters and it was just about them hanging out and there's this evil villain that's trying to kill them and it's very simple and I loved it. I loved the summer vibes, the colors, like everything about it, the celebration of friendship. When is your Venice screening, the way? September the 3rd. How excited are you and how excited were you when you got that email? It was actually my producer calling it. I was not.

expecting it at all because there were some rejections before that and I was like, okay, nobody wants to see this film. And suddenly the phone rang and I was like, okay, that's bad news probably. And he was like, are you sitting down? No. And I was beyond excited. Did you scream and yell and celebrate? I think I was at work and so I couldn't, but internally I was screaming. Good for you,

That's so amazing. man. Then I have to keep it secret for some time. But then there was the second excitement of when it was announced. So I really enjoyed it for the second time with the rest of my crew and cast. And I could share it and it was just beautiful. It's such a fun thing to have a cat in the bag. The moment between when you get the news and when you're able to share the news. So fun.

As I worked for a festival, I know that there are so many reasons for a film not to be accepted. It's not exact science. There are so many factors. So you can never take it personally in the end, but it's hard. But in the end, if some people loved it or liked it and they decided we made this film, you can never predict it. And yes, I did. And at least some people will appreciate the film. And that's the most you can probably accomplish with a film. I love it.

What would you tell your filmmaker self if you could 10 years when you started out, what could you tell your past self to help you along? I'm not sure if he would listen or if he would understand, know, he had to just go through it. So I'm not sure if there's one specific thing, because I would say something like stay strong and it will turn out well, but who would have thought? And even if you knew what would the path towards it be? So I'm not sure.

Just stay healthy and be nice to people. That's it. Yes. Eat your veggies. I think that's the most important thing. Be nice to people. Hell yeah, dude.