Shark in the Head

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2005, 75 min
Section: Czech Films 2004-2005
Oficiální stránky: www.zralok-film.cz

Synopsis

A lonely, neglected man of middle years lives on the ground floor of an old Prague apartment building. He spends the entire day standing at the window or milling about on the sidewalk in front of it. He tries to strike up conversations with hurried passers-by but most of them think he?s just a nut and fearfully refuse to give him the time of day. Some pedestrians do react to his somewhat muddled addresses and perhaps even momentarily contemplate what he has to say. An exception are the man?s neighbours ? an elegant lady and a compassionate girl who are already an indivisible part of his life. But neither can prevent a ?rational? higher power from one day interfering with the harmless madman. This outwardly simple and unostentatious tragicomedy tells a story of meetings and missed encounters, and is as well a contemplation of the border between normality and insanity. Particularized using various artistic techniques (animation and special effects), the narrative suggests that each of us might at some point find a shark in our heads.

About the director

Maria Procházková (b. 1975,Prague) is the granddaughter of screenwriter and author Jan Procházka.In 1998 she graduated in animated filmmaking from Prague ’s Film Academy (FAMU), and while still at school she was successful with the short animated movie Bibliophile (1997). After finishing her studies (with the graduation film Mumps, 1998), she earned recognit ion as a screenwriter and director of short animated  films, music videos and commercials, including In to the Heaven (1999), Burning Stars (1999), Pictographs (2000; Kristián Award for the best Czech animated film of 2001) and Boo (2002). Shark in the Head (2005), whose script she began writing five years
ago,is her feature debut.