Rekonstrukce

Czech Republic

Synopsis

Olda (17) is an accused waiting for his trial in a detention centre for juveniles. The monotone prison life is gradually intertwined with memories of a police reconstruction. It took one summer night for the holiday boredom to turn into a cruel fun that resulted in death.

Director's Statement

Memory is just as imperfect as the effort to understand the violence.

Director's Biography

Jiří Havlíček is a Czech artist and curator. Since 2011, he has been creating content for the internet platform Artycok TV and worked as a professor at the studio Text Form Function at the Faculty of Arts in Ostrava. He also directed two short experimental films, CAPTIVES (2012) and WEEK (2012).

Czech director Ondřej Novák has made several short documentaries and video clips. He is also a member of Motiv Collective, which focuses on writing comics scripts, interactive games and animation. RECONSTRUCTION is his fiction short debut.

Interview

How long did it take to make your short?
J.H: It took two years and few weeks from the first idea to the final cut.

Was it difficult to get financing?
O.N: Fortunately, I had my own money to invest in the project.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”?
J.H: At first, probably France because of amazing work made by guys like Reynaud, the Lumiere brothers, Mélies, Cocteau, Melville, etc. But personally i prefer to think about community on a bigger scale than Europe, and even than cinema itself.
O.N: That film festivals I was lucky to visit with the film seemed like a beautiful European cinema community.

If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen?
J.H: I would prefer not to screen any films, just theatre for all night long.
O.N: Tarkovsky, Buňuel, Ceylan, Nemes, Weerasethakul, Kiarostami.

What is your next project?
J.H: My next film project is about a forgotten TV show from the late 70s. It will be about memory and reconciliation.
O.N: I just finished my next short movie. Currently I am working on a script for my debut feature film, which will be a free adaptation of one strange encounter with my father, which happened several years ago in Italy.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Jiří Havlíček, Ondřej Novák

Written by: Jiří Havlíček, Ondřej Novák

Produced by: Dagmar Sedláčková

Cinematography: Šimon Dvořáček

Editing: Šimon Hájek

Production Design: Agáta Hrnčířová, Anneta Furdecká

Sound: Jan Richtr

Cast: Jaroslav Kvĕtoň (Olda)

Nominations and Awards

  • European Short Film 2019
  • Short Film Candidates 2019