Film Archive

DONT STOP

Czech Films 2011–2012 2012 / DONT STOP / Czech Republic, Slovak Republic 2012

It’s 1983 and punk has finally clawed its way to Normalization Czechoslovakia. Inspired by punk’s natural power, a group of friends discovers that music can help them stand up to the grueling reality of everyday life. This tragicomic picture succeeds in capturing both the weight of the times and the legitimacy of playing in a band.

Synopsis

Forget parents or teachers – it’s The Clash’s album London Calling which gives young adults Miki and David some kind of motivation to carry on in the Communist wasteland of the early 1980s. Not everyone is indifferent to the situation, as the slogan "No Future” might suggest, and a group of young lads decide to start up a band; for a while at least, they let everything else go out the window. But playing punk in normalization Czechoslovakia isn’t the best idea they could’ve come up with, an opinion shared not only by their horrified parents. And let’s not forget that many decisions made under the influence of cheap alcohol and compulsive music could be more fatal than they initially seemed. While DONT STOP joins the wave of films which look back to the 1980s with a sense of light nostalgia, it also clearly demonstrates what appalling times they were. Moreover, it shows great understanding for the aspirations of its heroes, who are portrayed as a group of distinct personalities that are nevertheless united by common ambitions. And rebelliousness is one of them.

About the film

98 min / Color, DCP

Director Richard Řeřicha / Screenplay Richard Řeřicha / Dir. of Photography Martin Žiaran / Music Michal Pajdiak, Roman Helcl, Richard Řeřicha / Editor Petr Mrkous / Producer Ondřej Zima / Production Evolution Films s.r.o. / Cast Patrik Děrgel, Lukáš Reichl, Jiří Kocman, Jakub Zedníček, Oliver Cox, Viola Černodrinská, Kristina Svarinská, Klára Trojanová, Stanislava Jachnická, Jiří Štrébl, Daniel Zulčák / Contact Evolution Films, Bontonfilm, a.s. / Distributor Bontonfilm, a.s.
www: www.dontstop.cz

About the director

Richard Řeřicha (b. 1964, Prague) graduated from FAMU’s cinematography department in 1997. He was involved as a cameraman in a number of major films, including Tom Tykwer’s Perfume (2006). He works most frequently with David Ondříček, with whom he shot both Loners (Samotáři, 2000) and Grandhotel (2006), which was screened at the Berlin IFF; he was nominated for Czech Lion awards for both these projects. He also filmed the videos for the bands Buty, November 2nd and Clou, and he has shot more than 200 commercials since 1997. DONT STOP, for which he also wrote the screenplay, is his feature film debut.