Archive of films In Silence / V tichu

Slovak Republic / Czech Republic
2014, 84 min

Section: Special Events
Year: 2014

After his acclaimed feature film debut Flower Buds, director Zdeněk Jiráský teamed up with Slovak producer Lívia Filusová to record an event from the most tragic chapter in 20th century history. Instead of a planned documentary tracing the fate of several Jewish musicians, he ultimately turned out a feature film of exceptional visual and emotional impact, in which he examines an ostensibly exhausted cinematic theme with invention and extraordinary intensity.

Synopsis

Slovak musicologist Agata Schindlerová, now settled in Dresden, has spent years mapping out the forgotten destinies of Jewish musicians whose lives were irrevocably marked by the advance of nazism. Scenes from the lives of several of them are portrayed in the film In Silence (ballet dancer Alice Flachová, pianist and conductor Karol Ebert, composer, conductor and director of the Dresden Theatre Arthur Chitz, pianist Edith Kraus, and the vocal ensemble Comedian Harmonists), which draws a sharp contrast between the protagonists’ carefree existence working and making music during the pre-war era and the subsequent severe upheaval in their lives brought on by the proliferation of nazism. After his acclaimed feature film debut Flower Buds, director Zdeněk Jiráský teamed up with Slovak producer Lívia Filusová to capture on film the most tragic chapter in 20th century history. Instead of a planned documentary tracing the fate of several Jewish musicians, he ultimately turned out a feature film of exceptional visual and emotional impact, in which he examines an ostensibly exhausted cinematic theme with invention and extraordinary intensity.

About the director

Zdeněk Jiráský (b. 1969, Jičín, Czechoslovakia) graduated in screenwriting and script editing from FAMU in 2004, then started making documentaries. His films for Czech TV include Vanishing Prague (2008) on the transformation of the Czech metropolis, Asák (2010) about photographer Petr Helbich, and Goulash for 750 Million (2010) on election campaigns. As a screenwriter he worked on the TV series "Airport.” His feature film debut Flower Buds (2011), shown in its international premiere in the East of the West competition at KVIFF 2012, won four Czech Lion awards, including Best Film and Best Director. He was also nominated by Czech film critics for direction, screenplay and discovery of the year. He then shot the docudrama The Jagiellon Dynasty (2012) and the short comedy Bridesmaid (2013) for Czech TV. In Silence is his second feature.

Contacts

FURIA FILM
GROSSLINGOVA 32, 81109, Bratislava
Slovakia
Tel: +421 905 568 099
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.furiafilm.sk

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About the film

Color, DCP
World premiere

Section:	Special Events

Director:	Zdeněk Jiráský
Screenplay:	Zdeněk Jiráský
Dir. of Photography:	Michal Černý
Music:	Martin Hasák
Editor:	Hedvika Hansalová
Producer:	Lívia Filusová
Production:	FURIA FILM
Coproduction:	i/o post, Česká televize, RTVS, SFÚ
Cast:	Jan Gallovič, Judit Bárdos, Kristína Svarinská, Ján Čtvrtník, Laco Hrušovský
Contact:	FURIA FILM

Guests

Jordi Niubó

Producer, Service Company Rep.

Lívia Filusová

Producer

Zdeněk Jiráský

Film Director