Archive of films Sorrow of Mme Schneider / Smutek paní Šnajderové

Czech Republic / Albania
2008, 110 min

Section: Czech Films 2007-2008
Year: 2008

An unusual summer romance. It’s 1961 and three FAMU students – a Czech, Slovak and an Albanian – arrive in Český Šternberk to make their graduate film in a motorcycle factory. Young bohemians, Czech socialist rural life, unexpected passions and the absurdity of the times – all come together in the film by Albanian director Piro Milkani who experienced something very similar when he was a student of FAMU. The film, co-directed by the director’s son Eno Milkani, was made in a Czech-Albanian coproduction.

Synopsis

This first ever feature film made in a Czech-Albanian coproduction was directed by Albanian Piro Milkani together with his son Eno. The lightly autobiographical story looks back to a period spent in Czechoslovakia during Piro Milkani’s studies at Prague’s FAMU forty-five years ago. It’s the summer of the early Sixties and three FAMU students – the Czech Karel, Slovak Artur and the Albanian Leke – arrive in Český Šternberk to shoot their graduate film about a motorcycle factory. One fragment of the story focuses on the young filmmakers’ bohemian way of life and their sensitivity towards their surroundings, set in contrast with Czech rural life, and their encounter with a whole range of characters – from the count who acts as a guide in his own castle, to the understanding hotel manager. Another part of the story unveils the private dramas of the Albanian Leke, divided by his ties to his country and family, and the enchanting lifestyle and erotic abandon of the Czech “golden youth”. The hero’s passion for a mature woman, the wife of the local police chief, provides another angle to the narrative.

About the director

Piro Milkani (b. 1939, Albania) studied at FAMU in the years 1959–65. He then worked in his native Albania for 30 years as a cameraman, director and screenwriter. He made 24 feature films and dozens of documentaries. He was also an actor, appearing in the Italian film Lamerica and the Cypriot film And the Train Goes to the Sky. From 1998 to 2002 he was Albania’s ambassador to Prague. He is currently working as Executive Director of the Forum for Copyright Control.

Eno Milkani (b. 1969, Albania) studied film direction at the Academy of Performing Arts in Tirana (1993). He also studied at the film school in Ebeltoft, Denmark. His debut, the documentary Abandoned Eden (2002), screened in competition at the KVIFF in 2003, won Best Film at the Kiev IFF. He launched the film company Bunker Film with his father Piro Milkani in 1994.

Contacts

Studio Fáma 92 s.r.o.
Jungmanova 5, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]

Moving Culture s.r.o.
Čínská 14, 170 00, Praha 7
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 222 988 369
Fax: +420 222 988 369
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.movingculture.net

CinemArt, a.s.
Národní 60/28, 111 21, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 224 949 110
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.cinemart.cz

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About the film

Color, 35 mm
International premiere

Section:	Czech Films 2007-2008

Director:	Piro Milkani, Eno Milkani
Screenplay:	Radomír Šofr, Piro Milkani
Dir. of Photography:	Afrim Spahiju
Music:	Milan Kymlička
Editor:	Eno Milkani
Producer:	Jana Tomsová, Piro Milkani
Production:	Studio Fáma 92, Bunker Film
Cast:	Aňa Geislerová, Nik Xhelilaj, Bára Štěpánová, Tomáš Tőpfer, Michele Placido, Kamil Kollarik, Paolo Buglioni
Contact:	Studio Fáma 92 s.r.o., Moving Culture s.r.o., CinemArt, a.s.
Distributor:	CinemArt, a.s.

www:	www.smutekpanisnajderove.cz

Guests

Jana Tomsová

Producer

Piro Milkani

Film Director, Film Director

Bára Štěpánová

Actress, Actress

Jan Jíra

Distributor

Aleš Tříska

Distributor, Producer

Tomáš Bělohradský

Producer