Film Archive

Always Together

Documentary Films - Out of Competition 2015 / Stále spolu / Czech Republic 2014

Director Eva Tomanová’s film, presented in the Competition for First Appearance at the top documentary festival – IDFA in Amsterdam, faithfully captures the life of the 11-member Mlčoch family, who live in primitive conditions in the Bohemian Forest, guided by their father’s extremely rigid view of paternal authority.

Synopsis

25 years ago, Petr Mlčoch, a university graduate from a Plzeň prefab apartment block, decided to take a radical step. He and his new bride Simona moved to a trailer standing in the middle of a Bohemian Forest meadow and began to realize Petr’s dream of a life of complete family freedom, devoid of civilization’s every convenience. Today they have nine children and even a grandchild from their eldest daughter. But their idyllic existence living under primitive conditions amid the enchantments of nature has one fundamental drawback: absolute obedience to and unconditional respect for the highest authority, here represented by the male head of the family. Director Eva Tomanová has known the Mlčochs for almost ten years, and her film, presented in the Competition for First Appearance at the top documentary festival – IDFA in Amsterdam, faithfully captures what it’s like to live with a man who experiments with his own family. Or put another way, to what extent are the restrictions on his children, whose lives are defined by their father’s extremely rigid view of paternal authority, masked by the apparent freedom of a natural life?

Filip Šebek

About the film

74 min / Color, DCP

Director Eva Tomanová / Screenplay Eva Tomanová / Dir. of Photography Petr Koblovský, Jiří Krejčík, Michal Vojkůvka, Patrik Balonek, Petr Mlčoch / Music Dva, D&M Krutský, Erik Truffaz Quartet / Editor Dominik Krutský, Krasimira Velitchkova / Producer Jiří Konečný / Production endorfilm / Coproduction Česká televize / Sales Visible Film / Distributor Aerofilms

About the director

Eva Tomanová (Czechoslovakia) graduated from the Faculty of Social Science, Charles University. While still in school she worked as a TV screenwriter and wrote reports for social dailies. Beginning in 1999 she worked as a reporter and, later, director for TV Nova and for TV Barrandov, creating several shows in her position as editor-in-chief of current affairs. Soon enough, however, she began dedicating all her creative efforts exclusively to directing. She shot a series of documentaries for Febio, docs for Czech Television, and reports for the opinion journalism show “The Reporters of CT.” With Jana Škopková she came up with the idea for the show “Twilight” and then worked on it as script editor and programmer. The documentary Always Together (2014) was presented in the Competition for First Appearance at IDFA and received a nomination for Best Film with three other pictures.