Film Archive

Wingless

Czech Films 2008-2009 2009 / Ocas ještěrky / Czech Republic, North Macedonia 2009

Josef Bárta came into the world with the prophecy that he’d be dead at age 29. Just as his 29th birthday is approaching, his wife leaves him with their son in tow. Thus begins a series of shocks in the young man’s life. Veteran director Ivo Trajkov has shot a parable, freely inspired by a Božena Němcová story and moral dilemmas à la Krzysztof Kieślowski.

Synopsis

Josef Bárta came into the world with the prophecy that he’d be dead at age 29. Just as his 29th birthday is approaching, his wife leaves him with their son in tow. To make matters worse, Josef loses his job. Despite having repaired precision scales his whole life, his own existence is suddenly thrown completely out of balance. A curious friendship with free-spirited Gabriel introduces new impulses – and troubles – into Josef’s life. But it looks as if love, in the form of the beautiful Oliva, may offer liberation.... "What interested me most about the project was the conflict between individual free will and predestination,” states director Ivo Trajkov about his movie parable, freely inspired by a Božena Němcová story and moral dilemmas à la Krzysztof Kieślowski. The director treats the tale’s protagonist as an ordinary person who has yet to excel at anything in life, yet although he finds it difficult to reflect on his own situation, he still manages to see it with earnestness and humility. But is this enough to change his fate?

About the film

90 min / Color, 35 mm

Director Ivo Trajkov / Screenplay Vladislav Kliment, Alan Smisík / Dir. of Photography Klaus Fuxjäger / Music Zoran Madžirov / Editor Petra Berkovičová Raušová / Producer Jiří Konečný / Production endorfilm / Cast David Švehlík, Karel Zima, Verica Nedeska, Magdaléna Sidonová, Marie Durnová, Václav Helšus, Karel Dobrý / Contact endorfilm, Falcon a.s. / Distributor Falcon a.s.
www: www.ocas-jesterky.cz

About the director

Ivo Trajkov (b. 1965, Skopje, Macedonia) studied at Prague’s FAMU in 1986-92, where he later returned to lecture in editing. He also works as a director, producer, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker for TV. His first feature was Jan (1992), a TV movie about student Jan Zajíc who immolated himself, and his documentaries include Such a Normal Marriage and The Testimony of a Concealed Witness (both 1996). He is a cofounder of The World Circle Foundation. In 1993 he debuted in features with the holiday comedy The Canary Connection, and five years later he made a name for himself as a writer-director with The Past (1998). In 2004 he came out with the psychological drama The Great Water, in which he dealt with his country’s past, a history burdened by totalitarian practices and fanaticism (Best Director and Best Film at the 2005 Valencia Festival of Mediterranean Cinema). In 2007 he shot the experimental film The Movie, taking on the main role as a movie director.