“Music documentary is one of the most popular genres at the Karlovy Vary festival,” said Karel Och of the Thursday premiere of tata_bojs.doc at the Pupp Cinema (let us remind that last year’s KVIFF saw the screening of Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story and the year before David Bowie’s testament Moonage Dream or the popular documentary PSH Neverending Story). “I have a lot of respect for those behind the documentary. And what’s more, they’re fun,” added KVIFF’s artistic director, welcoming a large delegation led by band members, director Marek Najbrt and director of photography Jan Baset Střítežský.
And fun it was – both during and after the screening. For example, when Milan Cais, the singer and drummer of Tata Bojs, reacted to a question from the audience about the band’s name: “I think it still turned out pretty well. One of the names we considered was Hanspaulský traktůrek (Hanspaulka Tractor).”
The film, a playful collage of rich archival footage, concert recordings and also futuristic live-action inserts with actors from the Vosto5 theatre, tells the story of the band, which despite its alternative nature, ranks among the leading domestic musicians. The filmmakers mentioned they really wanted Vosto5 actors to appear in the documentary. “The fact that the dialogues between them didn’t work and it turned out a bit differently than we thought, it’s all part of the plan,” director Marek Najbrt assured the audience. And the plan worked well, at least according to the audience at last night’s premiere who rewarded the film with a long standing ovation.
