Archive of films Presence of Arnošt Lustig! / Tvoje slza, můj déšť: Přítomnost Arnošta Lustiga

Czech Republic
2012, 53 min

Section: Documentary Films - Out of Competition
Year: 2012

Collecting footage over the course of four years, Eva Lustigová’s documentary records her meetings and interviews with her father, in which he recalls a carefree childhood cut short by the Nazi occupation, the horror of life in a concentration camp, the beginnings of his writing career, living in Israel and the USA, and his lifelong friendship with Ota Pavel.

Synopsis

"A man is immortal as long as he lives in the memory of others,” said well-known Czech writer Arnošt Lustig with a wry smile. In December 2006 when her father turned 80, filmmaker Eva Lustigová began to see just how closely his words applied to himself personally. Her method involved recording their meetings and personal interviews together, until Lustig’s death in February 2011. Employing his notorious sense of humor, the film presents the world-renowned author as he recalls a carefree childhood cut short by the Nazi occupation, the horror of life in a concentration camp, the beginnings of his writing career, living in Israel and the USA, and his lifelong friendship with Ota Pavel. Geneva-based Eva Lustigová’s documentary is not a traditional portrait compilation of a famous writer that chronologically investigates his life, but rather a loosely assembled, lively movie about a person with an eternal love for life as it is.

About the director

Eva Lustigová (b. 1956, Prague) lived in Czechoslovakia with her parents Arnošt and Věra Lustig and her older brother Josef until Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country in August 1968. For more than 20 years she has worked in Switzerland in the field of international health and management. She has a master’s degree in international business from George Washington University in Washington DC and a bachelor’s in cultural anthropology from American University, also in Washington. The Presence of Arnošt Lustig! (2012) is her cinematic debut. A book of the same name is being published this year by Mladá fronta to coincide with the movie; Lustigová also brought out a collection simply entitled Stories from a Father and Daughter (Povídky, soubor textů otce a dcery, Mladá fronta, 2011), co-authored with her father.

Contacts

Eva Lustigová
Všehrdova 444/3, , Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +41 794 773 206
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Color, HD CAM
World premiere

Section:	Documentary Films - Out of Competition

Director:	Eva Lustigová
Screenplay:	Eva Lustigová
Dir. of Photography:	Marek Jícha
Editor:	Jiří Brožek
Producer:	Eva Lustigová
Cast:	Arnošt Lustig
Contact:	Eva Lustigová

Guests

Eva Lustigová

Filmmaker

Magdalena Potměšilová

Public Relations