Night Owls - awarded at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Deti noci - Night Owls 

Ofka (Martha Issova) has a strange lethargy: while most of her high school classmates continue their studies, she refuses to abandon the delusive comfort of childhood, which is quickly becoming a stifling trap. She is a saleswoman in a 24-hour shop, which is owned by her brother-in-law Eda (David Novotny). She sees wasted fates of regular and casual customers and those of her old friends who, like her, live only at night. Occasionally she visits friends, drinking alcohol in a Vltava port. She wanders through the streets with a strange man, Ubr (Jiri Madl), who digs out things from garbage bins and hopelessly loves her. She avoids Mira (Jan Dolansky), who stopped loving her. But it is becoming clear that one day she has to say goodbye to childhood, cross the border of her home district and start doing something about her life…

Oscar-nominated director Michaela Pavlatova in her second full length project - the intimate story of a girl stranded between childhood and adulthood - bet on authenticity and interesting surroundings of Prague's Karlin. The film also stars Kristyna Novakova, Lenka Termerova, Vaclav Helsus, Igor Chmela, and Simona Babcakova. Martha Issova and Jiri Madl got awards at the last year's Karlovy Vary IFF for their performances. The film about fragile friendship, love and hope was made based on the screenplay by Irena Hejdova, who won the Sazka Award in 2006 under the Czech Lion Award.

Both Issova and Madl are absolutely accurate in their roles. Ofka is perfectly bored by life, and Ubr is a great crazy. The feeling of being lost is typical for generation Y. I could feel it from every shot, and when I saw it for the second time, I realized that only a few important films like this were made in the Czech Republic after the revolution. As a member of the so-called generation Y, I could identify myself in the film. True, automatically guaranteed job position with every school leaving certificate or apprenticeship certificate and as a bonus flat, it sounds like a real hell. I understand that the older generation still lives in the belief that a university equals an adequate job, but unfortunately this time is different.

2020

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