Archive of films Noonday Witch / Polednice

Czech Republic
2016, 90 min

Section: East of the West - Competition
Year: 2016

Eliška moves back with her daughter Anetka to her husband’s native village. But something strange is going on and, as the temperature rises, Eliška becomes increasingly jittery. Fear is all-pervading and spectres move freely between dream and reality. The Noonday Witch is both an atmospheric horror film and a psychological drama, deftly toying with the viewer’s senses.

Synopsis

In the middle of an unusually hot summer, Eliška moves back to her husband’s native village with her young daughter Anetka. Their return is associated with a mystery that everyone seems to be aware of except the girl. The heat starts to become unbearable, the tension mounts and Karolínka begins to sense that something isn’t right. But her mother is increasingly cagey about answering her questions and is also getting increasingly wound up. The phantoms launch their attack and it makes no difference if they’re real or not. Fighting them is arduous and it’s not clear how things will turn out. Jiří Sádek’s feature debut is both an atmospheric horror film and psychological drama. He deftly toys with the mere suggestion of the evil that lingers at the very edge of our field of vision. The film’s borderline between nightmare and everyday reality shimmers like the air above a tarmac road. Anna Geislerová excels in one of the lead roles, as does Daniela Kolářová, whose village eccentric Anežka vividly embodies everything we fear when reading Karel Jaromír Erben’s ballad “The Noonday Witch.”

Anna Kořínek

About the director

Jiří Sádek (b. 1989) studied at the secondary school affiliated to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He continued his education at the Miroslav Ondříček Film Academy in Písek, specialising in audiovisual production. His short film Don’t Speak Too Soon (Neříkej hop, 2010) was nominated for a Magnesia Award in the student film category in 2010 and won numerous accolades at domestic festivals, including the Audience Award at the Filmmakers to Watch event organised by Nova TV. His next short film Mr. Late (Pan pozdě, 2011) was also nominated for a Magnesia Award and won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the International Student Festival in Písek, for which Sádek filmed the trailer the following year. His filmography to date includes another two shorts, Cave of Dogs (Psí jeskyně, 2012) and Quantum (2013). The Noonday Witch (2016) is his feature film debut.

Contacts

Barletta s.r.o.
Náměstí Přátelství 1518/3, 102 00, Praha 10
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 776 710 887
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.barletta.cz

Falcon a.s.
Radlická 1c/3185, 150 00, Praha 5
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 224 422 222
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.falcon.cz

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About the film

Color, DCP
International premiere

Section:	East of the West - Competition

Director:	Jiří Sádek
Screenplay:	Michal Samir, inspirováno baladou Polednice / inspired by ballad “The Noonday Witch” by Karel Jaromír Erben
Dir. of Photography:	Alexander Šurkala
Music:	Ben Corrigan
Editor:	Michal Lánský
Art Director:	Jan Pjena Novotný
Producer:	Matěj Chlupáček
Production:	Barletta s.r.o.
Coproduction:	HBO Europe, Room One Films, RWE, Eurodeník
Cast:	Aňa Geislerová, Karolína Lipowská, Daniela Kolářová, Jiří Štrébl, Zdeněk Mucha, Marie Ludvíková
Contact:	Barletta s.r.o.
Distributor:	Falcon a.s.

www:	www.polednicefilm.cz