Archive of films Landscape of My Heart / Krajina mého srdce

Czech Republic
2004, 64 min

Section: Czech Films 2004-2005
Year: 2005

In this auto-documentary, drawing on the poetics of both experimental reality shows and film essays, director Jan Němec investigates the reality of his life, of fate and time. Undergoing demanding heart surgery became the starting point for a meditation on life and death. President Bush’s visit to Prague forms a parallel storyline.

Synopsis

Like Late Night Talks with Mother (2002), Landscape of My Heart is another auto-documentary drawing on the poetics of both experimental reality shows and film essays. Here, director Jan Němec investigates the reality of his life, of fate and time. Demanding heart surgery, which he underwent at a Prague hospital, became the starting point for a meditation on life and death. A visit to Prague by American president George W. Bush and his wife Laura creates a parallel storyline of a similar documentary nature. ‘Small’ intimate history thus flows into ‘big’ history, which Němec integrates into the personal current of his own life course. The tools the director uses are not only reality and imagination, but also a standard camera and the 35 mm film stock that he and his fellow filmmakers use to arrive at the distinctive character of this motion picture.

About the director

Jan Němec (b. 1936, Prague) is a living legend whose works are philosophical essays or original playful creations with wider overtones. He debuted with the drama Diamonds of the Night (1964 — Grand Prix at the Mannheim IFF) which, just like his segment for Pearls of the Deep (1965) and the parables Martyrs of Love (1966) and The Party and the Guests (1966 — Gran Premio at the Bergamo IFF), is one of the most interesting titles to come out of the Czech new wave. He made short films domestically (Mother and Son, 1967; Oratorio for Prague, 1968) and in forced emigration (Metamorphosis, 1975; True Stories: Peace in Our Time?, 1988; The Poet Remembers, 1989). After the regime change of 1989, he returned home to work in features: The Flames of Royal Love (1990), Code Name: Ruby (1996) and his latest Toyen (2005). Late Night Talks with Mother (2002) and Landscape of My Heart (2004) are original experiments drawing on elements of both documentary and feature.

Contacts

Jan Němec - Film
Národní 34, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 222 715 099
Fax: +420 296 330 959
E-mail: [email protected]

Asociace českých filmových klubů
Stonky 860, 686 01, Uherské Hradiště
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 572 501 989
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.acfk.cz

Kino Aero
Biskupcova 31, 13000, Praha 3
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 271 771 349
E-mail: [email protected]

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Czech Films 2004-2005

Director:	Jan Němec
Screenplay:	Jan Němec
Dir. of Photography:	Jiří Maxa
Music:	Jan Němec
Editor:	Alois Fišárek
Producer:	Iva Ruszeláková, Jan Němec
Production:	Jan Němec Film
Cast:	Jan Němec, Zuzana Stivínová, G.W.Bush
Contact:	Jan Němec - Film, Asociace českých filmových klubů, Kino Aero

Guests

Ivo Andrle

Distributor

Jan Němec

Film Director / Producer

Jiří Maxa

Director of Photography