Archive of films Teacher / Učiteľka
Slovak Republic / Czech Republic
2016, 102 min
Section:
Official Selection - Competition
Year: 2016
The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting after it’s alleged that the seemingly empathetic and kindly-looking teacher Mrs. Drazděchová uses her students to manipulate their parents. Although this confidently-directed drama is set in the era of late Czechoslovak Normalization, the multifaceted study of pathological manipulation has universal applicability.
Synopsis
The early 1980s, Czechoslovakia. The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting. Allegations have been made against a seemingly empathetic, kind, and amiable-looking teacher named Mrs. Drazděchová, claiming that she uses her students to manipulate their parents into providing her with minor handyman assistance, unearned material comforts, and even a love affair. Will any of the families oppose the unscrupulous teacher or will her unwritten system continue to hold sway? Featuring a snappy script, masterful performances, and assured direction, the drama presents a multifaceted study of pathological manipulation. The picture can be read as a bold contribution to the debate about the monstrosities that warped Czechoslovak society in the Normalization era, or about the post-revolution period, tainted by communism, that allowed the mechanisms of the past to take firm root. But the story, of course, has a universal application – the corrosive force of power, corruption, and human calculation hardly respects the limitations of time and space.
Martin Horyna
About the director

Jan Hřebejk (b. 1967, Prague) is one of the Czech Republic’s most prolific and versatile film directors. He has also directed for the stage since 1997 (one of his most talked-about productions was Bullets over Broadway). His debut Big Beat (1993) won the very first Czech Lion Awards for Best Picture and Best Direction. Cosy Dens, which competed at KVIFF in 1999, and Pupendo (2003) feature among the biggest hits of post-revolution Czech cinema. Hřebejk was nominated for an Academy Award for the war tragicomedy Divided We Fall (2000), and received another Czech Lion for Best Director. Since filming Kawasaki’s Rose (2009), he has opted for more weighty moral and social themes. Two of his films have been in the main competition at Karlovy Vary in the past decade: Beauty in Trouble (2006, Special Jury Prize) and Honeymoon (2013, Best Director).
Contacts
LevelK
Gl. Kongevej 137 B, 3rd floor, 1850, Frederiksberg
Denmark
Tel: +45 201 085 80
E-mail: [email protected]
A-Company Czech s.r.o.
Štefánikova 18/25, 150 00, Praha 5
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 257 315 540
Offside Men
Senovážné náměstí 10, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 222 240 770
E-mail: [email protected]
About the film
Color, DCP
World premiere
Section: | Official Selection - Competition |
---|---|
Director: | Jan Hřebejk |
Screenplay: | Petr Jarchovský |
Dir. of Photography: | Martin Žiaran |
Music: | Michal Novinski |
Editor: | Vladimír Barák |
Art Director: | Juraj Fábry |
Producer: | Tibor Búza, Zuzana Mistríková, Ľubica Orechovská, Ondřej Zima, Jan Prušinovský |
Production: | PubRes |
Coproduction: | Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska, Offside Men, Česká televize |
Cast: | Zuzana Mauréry, Csongor Kassai, Zuzana Konečná, Tamara Fischer, Martin Havelka |
Sales: | LevelK |
Contact: | Offside Men |
Distributor: | A-Company Czech s.r.o. |
Guests

Jan Hřebejk
Film Director

Ondřej Zima
Producer

Petr Jarchovský
Cinema Representative

Zuzana Mistríková
Producer

Vladimír Barák
Film Editor, Film Editor

Michal Novinski
Music Composer

Zuzana Maurery
Actress

Eva Bandor
Actress

Martin Žiaran
Director of Photography

Zuzana Konečná
Actress

Richard Labuda
Actor

Csongor Kassai
Actor

Peter Bebjak
Actor / Film Director, Producer

Martin Havelka
Actor

Slavomira Salajová
Co-producer

Klára Bobková
PR & Marketing

Katarína Štrbová Bieliková
Costume Designer

Martina Reková
PR & Marketing

Silvie Michajlova
Producer

Ľubica Orechovská
Distributor, PR & Marketing, Producer

Jana Petrikovičová
Other

Tereza Keilová
Producer, TV Representative

Barbora Dlabajová
Producer

Jan Kallista
Producer

Jiří Klenka
Film Crew

Erik Panák
Producer

Zeljko Sampor
Other

Roman Jordan
Producer

Tine Klint
Sales Agent