Archive of films New Life of Family Album / Nový život

Czech Republic / Slovak Republic
2012, 77 min

Section: Czech Films 2012–2013
Year: 2013

A father abandons his wife and six children; his son, documentarist Adam Oľha, camera in hand, is the last remaining man in the house. This extremely sensitive chronicle, incorporating both highly intimate shots of family life and a colourful film score, is one of the most remarkable Czech documentaries of recent times.

Synopsis

Director Adam Oľha’s father, at the time rector of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, decided to move in with a new partner after leaving his wife, the popular Slovak actress Jana Oľhová, and their six children. Prior to this he had given his son a camera, along with the responsibility of acting as family chronicler. While the film is essentially a personal testimony, the director succeeds in conveying a more universal message as part of his intriguing revelations about both the problems and strengths of community spirit within the family. Moreover, through his intuitive treatment of the film score, objects and memories otherwise associated with specific individuals and their private experiences acquire more general values; in the same way, the photographs reveal more about their subjects than an initial glance would suggest. Despite its pronounced melancholy, the film is in no way maudlin and is able to find common ground even in the scenes where family members play to the home video camera.

About the director

Adam Oľha (b. 1984, Košice) studied documentary filmmaking at FAMU. His graduate film The Sanctity Growers (Pěstitelé svatosti, 2005), like his previous short films, was screened at Czech and international festivals. The short film Martin – Lisbon (2006), in which Oľha demonstrated his sense for the depiction of everyday events, was entered for the international competition at the documentary film festival in Jihlava. He was also involved in documentaries by directors Lucie Králová, Jan Sacher and Pavel Abrahám, and he has worked for Czech Television. Apart from film direction, he is also a cameraman, film editor and artistic photographer.

Contacts

Evolution Films
Senovážné náměstí 10, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 222 240 770
Fax: +420 222 240 770
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.evolutionfilms.cz

WIDE HOUSE
9 rue Bleue, 75009, Paris
France
Tel: +33 153 950 464
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.widehouse.org

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About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Czech Films 2012–2013

Director:	Adam Oľha
Screenplay:	Adam Oľha
Dir. of Photography:	Adam Oľha, Jakub Halousek
Music:	Ľubo Burgr, Daniel Hurtuk
Editor:	Jan Daňhel
Producer:	Pavel Berčík, Alice Taberyová, Marko Škop, Ján Meliš, Ondřej Šejnoha
Production:	Evolution Films
Cast:	Jana Oľhová, Matúš Ol’ha, Tereza Oľhová, Mária Oľhová, Juliana Oľhová, Hana Oľhová, Eva Oľhová
Contact:	Evolution Films, WIDE HOUSE

Guests

Pavel Berčík

Producer, Service Company Rep.

Adam Oľha

Director of Photography, Film Director

Barbora Dlabajová

Production Manager

Josef Krajbich

Film Editor

Jakub Halousek

Director of Photography