Country of production: Czechia | Category: Documentary | Year of production: 2021 | Duration: 100’ | In Czech and French with Ukrainian and English subtitles

WHAT IS THE FILM ABOUT?

Czech writer Milan Kundera has not given an interview for more than thirty years. "Everything I wanted to say, I have already said in my works," explains the author, whose mysteriousness only increases interest. Director Milos Šmídmajer reconstructs the Czech and French periods of the writer's life. He tries to piece together a portrait of Milan Kunder from his own archival records and the stories of friends and colleagues, literary critics and publishers, historians and directors.

Why is it a must-see?

Мілан Кундера – один із найвидатніших романістів XX століття, якого Milan Kundera is one of the most outstanding novelists of the 20th century, who was considered a potential winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote his most famous work, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", while in exile. With the russian occupation of Czechoslovakia, Milan Kundera and his wife were forced to leave for France: "At that time, everything was controlled by the russians, and it was they who decided that I was no longer Czech." In June of this year, the writer's heart stopped forever. He was able to restore Czech citizenship only 4 years before his death. Kunder despised everything russian for the rest of his life.

About the director

Milos Šmídmajer dedicated his first documentary film, "Hold that dram tight...", to the Czech director Milos Forman ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Amadeus"). While working for Czech television, Šmídmajer made a number of documentary portraits of important figures in Czech culture, and later founded and produced his own production company, Bio Illusion.

Festivals

JIFF International Film Festival (South Korea), 2022

International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava (Czechia), 2021

TDF International Documentary Film Festival (Greece), 2022