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Film Archive

On the Roof

Czech Films 2018–2019 2019 / Na střeše / Czech Republic, Slovak Republic 2019

A grumpy old man happens upon a young Vietnamese lad on the roof of his Prague apartment block and offers him a temporary home in his flat. The two very different individuals initially find it difficult to get along; however, they gradually discover that they need one another. Actor Jiří Mádl demonstrates his talent as a director in this small-scale piece interwoven with gentle humour.

On the Roof On the Roof

Synopsis

Ageing professor Rypar discovers a Vietnamese boy called Song on the roof of his Prague apartment building. The lad is about to jump – he’s in a state because he hasn’t got any papers and the police caught him during a raid. Initially, Rypar doesn’t trust the wan-looking Song but then he offers him the job of cleaning his flat in order to ease his own solitary routine. He helps him to improve his Czech and also starts losing at chess, a game at which Song excels. This small-scale piece about an unlikely pair is supported by masterful performances, in particular from Alois Švehlík in the role of Rypar, who combines sarcasm with vulnerability. After his resourceful directorial debut To See the Sea, actor Jiří Mádl tells a universally comprehensible story about the simple fact that we all need somebody.

Jan Škoda

About the film

100 min / Color, DCP

Director Jiří Mádl / Screenplay Jiří Mádl / Dir. of Photography Martin Žiaran / Music René Rypar / Editor Jakub Vansa / Art Director Adam Pitra / Producer Monika Kristl / Production Dawson Films s.r.o. / Coproduction Hitchhiker Cinema s.r.o., Rozhlas a televizia Slovenska, Investito s.r.o., Česká televize, Barrandov Studio a.s., Innogy Česká republika a.s. / Cast Alois Švehlík, Duy Anh Tran, Vojtěch Dyk, Mária Bartalos, Adrian Jastraban / Contact Dawson Productions / Distributor Falcon a.s.

About the director

Jiří Mádl

Jiří Mádl (b. 1986, České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia). Filmography: To See the Sea (2014), On the Roof (2019)

Contacts

Dawson Productions
Pštrossova 21, 110 00, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 999 911
Fax: +420 224 999 923
E-mail: [email protected]

Falcon a.s.
Radlická 3185/1c, 150 00, Praha 5
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 422 222
E-mail: [email protected]

Guests

Monika Kristlová
Producer

Michal Reitler
Producer

Martin Žiaran
Director of Photography

Alois Švehlík
Actor

Duy Anh Tran
Actor

Barbora Šonková
Producer

Jiří Mádl
Actor, Film Director

Other partners
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