Czech film Erhart makes Asian Premiere

By A Draft Correspondent | Panjim

‘A romantic film in the background of the country’s political situation,’ is how Director Jan Brezina describes his debut fiction feature film ‘Erhart’. The Czech Republic’s film made its Asian Premiere at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The film narrates the story of a 23- year-old young man who returns to his hometown to care for his mother and discovers dangerous truth about his family’s past and the dark legacy of the local community.

A still from the film Erhart

Speaking about his country’s history in the press conference, Jan Brezina  stated, “Czech Republic transformed 30 years ago from a socialist regime to a capitalist regime. It was kind of a mess. All the property which was owned by state, was privatised. There were crimes connected to that. All that happened thirty years ago. But it still has some impact as on date. So, my idea was to see how it is perceived by the younger generation of Czech Republic today”.

The film will be released in Czech Republic in spring or winter next year, stated Producer Marek Novak. Speaking about his country’s film market, he explained, “It is not meaningful to compare India and Czech Republic in terms of film market size; we are a country of just 10 million and we make around 30-35 fiction feature films in a year." 

Team Erhart at a Press Conference during IFFI53

Marek also informed that in post-pandemic period, there has been a huge backlog of films which were waiting to be released in his country as there are five to six premieres every week. That’s a lot for a country our size.” Hence, Erhart team wants to wait till this rush ebbs, he added. Erhart has also been screened at the 32nd edition of Film Festival Cottbus.

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