Comparing making a film about exile to a highly painful but necessary visit to the dentist, Bokova, herself an émigrée, sets out to explore various aspects of emigration, its effect on people’s lives and the impossibility of stepping into the same river twice. As one of her protagonist says: “You return to your 30s but everyone around you is 60.“ Moving betwen the streets of Prague, Paris and Buenos Aires and talking to a fascinating variety of émigrés such as philosopher Vaclav Belohradsky who left because of the 1968 Soviet Invasion; singer songwriter Vlasta Tresnak, endlessly interrogated and tortured by the state secret police, who had to choose between prison and emigration; poet and translator Petr Kral reflecting upon the mechanism of totalitarian power, Bokova builds a captivating documentary essay about home, the world and staying in those fictious spaces. And about friends.
Czech Republic/Argentina 2008, 114’, English subtitles
UK PREMIERE
“It becomes clearer with each new film, that whether Jana Bokova belongs to Czech, British, French or Argentinian cinematography or the cinematography of fiction or documentary cinematography, is a pointless question. Bye, Bye Shanghai is an essay about home and about the world and about staying in those fictional spaces. And about friends.”
Michal Bregant, Director of Czech National Film Archive
Followed by Q&A with Jana Bokova and Henrietta Foster on home & exile
Organised by the CZECH CENTRE LONDON
Part of In Focus: Jana Bokova
