Left, Right, Forward

Colour, BETA SP
Czech Republic, 2006, 72 min
Section: Czech Films 2006-2007

Synopsis

By 2006 the Czechs had already had 17 years of “freedom”. During this time, a whole generation grew up who were able to choose their own political preferences. Director Linda Jablonská represents her younger peers – distinctive individuals from the opposite sides of the political spectrum: on the one hand members of the now banned Communist Youth Union, on the other, the Young Conservatives. With a woman’s curiosity and almost Formanesque insight, she examines the opposing methods they use to demonstrate their political convictions. The differences between right-wing and left-wing young people begin with their choice of cigarette brand or preferred type of music. But the life of all the protagonists centres on meetings, demonstrations and dreams of entering “real” politics. The documentary Left, Right, Forward (2006) is the director’s graduate film from Prague’s FAMU, tracing events from the “symbolic” 17th November 2005 (16 years since the “Velvet Revolution”) to June 2006 (documenting the post-election stalemate). The film was sent out into Czech distribution and won the AFO award 2006 in Olomouc and the Audience Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava in 2006.

About the director

Linda Jablonská (b. 1979, Prague) studied documentary filmmaking at Prague’s FAMU and worked as a director for the company Febio, primarily on the cycles Travel Mania, Confession and The Courageous 12. She made two hour-long documentaries for Czech Television. As a student of FAMU, she also directed a documentary about her contemporaries involved in politics as young Communists, entitled Left, Forward (Kupředu levá, 2005). She then expanded this idea to create her graduate feature-length film Left, Right, Forward (2006), which went into Czech distribution.