Krejča Behind the Gate

This portrait of the actor and stage director emerged out of the cooperation of Otomar Krejča on the previous film by Radim Procházka Naše lípa (Our Linden). In it Krejča appears in the role of the director and the character of the Miller in Jirásek's Lantern and the time spent together was transformed into a film about him. The title of the film refers to the milestone experiences in Krejča's life and at the same time to Divadlo za branou, the theatre where he worked as an artistic director. Given the importance of that theatre, his story is at once the story of Czech art and Czech society from the mid-20th century to present time. The film is composed out of situations drawn from the director's life, into which extracts from Krejča's theatre and film work are cut. These lead to questions relating to the more ambiguous stages in his life, such as the period of the 1950s and Krejča's political engagement at that time. Krejča wages a battle with the filmmaker and a question comes to hang over the film - to what extent does the director direct his own life and what has remained unsaid? In the end he objects to how the documentary has been conceived and hesitates to consent to its public release. The film's director throughout filming approached Krejča as openly as possible, and during the year of meetings only rarely was he not informed about what was going to be shot. One exception is the moment where an unprepared Krejča is confronted with extracts from the file made by the Communist secret service. Department of documentary film, FAMU - graduate film.