The Farm Keeper

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2004, 78 min
Section: Czech Films

Synopsis

Mr. Kuba and his family spend the summer on a country estate where he rears horses and runs an inn. No idyll is without its problems, it seems at first sight. The business dealings of the head of the family are not too successful. The estate is falling apart and more and more difficulties surface. Fortunately, young František appears, and with his coming things take a turn for the better. Is it really impossible for at least a small miracle to take place every day? The successful Czech cameraman Martin Duba took his wife, children, friends and animals to spend the summers of 2001 and 2002 in the community of Solec not far from Prague. In its unsophisticated surroundings he filmed a lovingly low-budget family portrait in which reality imperceptibly merges with fiction.

About the director

Martin Duba (b. 1956, Prague) studied in the department of camera at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU, 1981-86). He established himself at the beginning of the 1990s as one of the most interesting cameramen of the rising generation. He worked with Tomáš Vorel on Smoke (Kouř, 1991) and with the Caban brothers on Don Gio (1992). As cameramen he worked with Vladimír Michálek on the script and visual concept for a film based on Kafka’s novel of the same name America (Amerika, 1994), and for Forgotten Light (Zapomenuté světlo, 1996), nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in the category of best foreign-language film, he won the Award of the Association of Czech Cameramen. He worked with Petr Nikolaev on The Wonderful Years that Sucked (Báječná léta pro psa, 1997) and with Václav Křístek on The Emperor and the Drummer (Císař a tambor, 1998). With Michálek he won, as cameraman and co-author of the script, the prize for the Best Clip of 1992 (Lucie: Černí andělé). His latest project as cameraman is A Piece of Heaven (Kousek nebe) by Petr Nikolaev.