Helena Uldrichová

Stromovka Park (originally the King's Royal Game Preserve) and its close environment may become a downsized model (microcosm) of the world at large in which we see Nature, Man and society generally mirrored. Over the course of one year life of specific inhabitants is caught on camera as well as the process of Nature from birth to extinction within the metaphor of the life cycle. The film isn't meant to offer an objective view but in undisguised fashion use the director's perspective: the unifying gauge and bond between the depicted realities is the director himself whose long-term relationship with the afore-mentioned space has engendered a deep emotional link from childhood right to the present. As methodology he has chosen patient observation. He asserts the feasibility of not interfering in the observed course of events and rejects manipulation with reality. The authors’ attention focuses on the most common expressions of everyday life, albeit, when it comes to it, significant in the human context.

A full-length documentary dedicated to life and work of Antonin Kratochvil. B&W feature film captures inner worlds of this world-famous photographer and all periods of his life in an in-depth, yet attractive form. Dramatic character and uniqueness of the story are emphasized by original audio-visual elaboration in line with the photographer´s immutable style. The main idea of the story is FREEDOM as synonym of LIGHT. FREEDOM we believe most concisely characterizes hardly grasping and incalculable personality and work of Antonin Kratochvil. The script is based on original two-layered storytelling with plot split into ten consecutive chapters adapted in a way to keep the visual uniqueness of the movie. Each chapter starts with the letter composing the word “searching” – START, EMOTION, ART, RESEARCH, COOPERATION, HOME, INDEPENDENCE, NEED, and GOAL. Nine chapters capture different phases of the photographer´s life. The tenth chapter – LIGHT IS LIFE – is compiled as a high tide of the storytelling. Each chapter holds clear intention and punch line. Besides Kratochvil, we meet his family and friends and some famous persons with whom he has worked with – David Bowie, Bono, Jean Reno and many more. Film will be shot on selected locations in the Czech Republic, USA (New York, California), The Netherlands (Amsterdam), Tchernobyl (Ukraine) and other places linked to life and work of Antonin Kratochvil.

Pepa, the film’s author and narrator, meets their cousin David after many years lying in hospital where his legs were amputated. Pepa’s older Brother has lived on the street for over a decade. He sleeps in a concrete shed in the middle of a housing development where Brother and Pepa grew up. Their cousin Marco, David’s brother, houses in a garage and makes do collecting electronic waste. Pepa was unable to save their father but is resolved to save their Brother and cousins.

If Pigeons Turned to Gold follows three years in the lives of four relatives, contrasting a common childhood with a present fundamentally at odds. A mosaic-structured documentary, it charts the story of a quest for balance between love and hate, care and self-destruction, exploring the roots of addiction and the possibility of breaking with generational trauma. How does one let those whom one loves most live (and perhaps die)? How do we stop tolerating and begin to respect?