Archive of films I, Olga Hepnarova / Já, Olga Hepnarová

Czech Republic / Poland / Slovak Republic / France
2016, 105 min

Section: Czech Films 2015–2016
Year: 2016

“This is my verdict. I, Olga Hepnarová, a victim of your brutality, sentence you to death by vehicle.” Thus wrote the 22-year-old woman in 1973 before using a truck to kill eight people in Prague. This restrained and chilling period drama investigates a lonely murderer whose actions are just as inexplicable as Hepnarová herself.

Synopsis

Normalization-era Prague, July 10, 1973. A 22-year-old woman by the name of Olga Hepnarová borrows a Praga truck and heads for the tram stop at Strossmayer Square. Once there, she steps on the gas and slams into a group of 30 people, killing eight. She later admits to the mass murder, explaining that she was punishing a heartless society for tormenting her. Two years later she was hanged, the last woman to be executed in Czechoslovakia. Just as she had wanted. In their debut picture, without glossing over the guilt for a brutal crime, directors Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda focus in on several key years and moments in the life of a lonely person. The dark and dispassionate drama, composed in part from long, carefully constructed shots, features a powerful performance by Polish actress Michalina Olszańska, whose Hepnarová is just as inscrutable as her act. Premiered at Berlin, this black-and-white film is one of the strongest Czech entries of the year.

Jan Škoda

About the director

Tomáš Weinreb (b. 1982, Stod, Czechoslovakia) graduated from film school in Písek before taking a degree in documentary filmmaking at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). He has shot several short movies, including Everything Is Crap (2009) about Miroslav David, Olga Hepnarova’s boyfriend. I, Olga Hepnarova is his feature film debut. Petr Kazda (b. 1978, Prague) graduated from film school in Písek before taking a degree in screenwriting and script editing at Prague’s FAMU. He has written scripts for several shorts, cooperating as co-screenwriter and assistant director on the feature Beware of Dog (Tady hlídám já, 2012, dir. Juraj Šajmovič). I, Olga Hepnarova is his feature-film debut.

Contacts

Frame100R
Vlkova 17, 13000, Praha 3
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 230 234 313
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.frame100r.com

Arizona Productions
5, Boulevard Barbès, 75018, Paris
France
Tel: +33 954 525 572
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.arizonafilms.net

Bontonfilm, a.s.
Na Poříčí 1047/26, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 257 415 111
Fax: +420 257 415 113
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.bontonfilm.cz

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About the film

Black & white, DCP

Section:	Czech Films 2015–2016

Director:	Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
Screenplay:	Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, story by Roman Cílek
Dir. of Photography:	Adam Sikora
Music:	Marian Varga
Editor:	Vojtěch Frič
Art Director:	Alexander Kozák
Producer:	Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Vojtěch Frič
Production:	Black Balance
Coproduction:	Mediabrigade, Frame100R, Alef Film, Arizona Productions
Cast:	Michalina Olszańska, Martin Pechlát, Klára Melíšková, Marika Šoposká, Juraj Nvota, Ondřej Malý, Martin Finger, Marta Mazurek, Zuzana Stavná
Sales:	Arizona Productions
Contact:	Frame100R
Distributor:	Bontonfilm, a.s.

Guests

Vojtěch Frič

Producer

Renda Kořenář

Producer

Klára Melíšková

Actress

Martin Finger

Actor

Petr Kazda

Film Director, Producer