On Czech Centre London’s Vimeo (UK only):
10am 7 November – 10am 10 November 2020
£6.99; pre-order available now: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/owner
A riveting and poignant comedy set in a residents’ association meeting, where everyone must agree on building management. The homeowners’ characters, ranging between idealists, profiteers and manipulators, are revealed to hilarious but chilling effect. UK Premiere.
Dir. Jiří Havelka, Czech Republic / Slovakia, 2019, 96 min, English subtitles
Cast: Tereza Ramba, David Novotný, Dagmar Havlová, Klára Melíšková, Jiří Lábus, Kryštof Hádek
‘I am the owner and I do not have to do anything.’
Mr Kubát (Jiří Lábus)
Twelve homeowners, each with a different agenda, have to agree on the future of their building at a residents’ association meeting. Idealistic Mrs Zahradkova (Tereza Ramba) wants to save the crumbling old house and appeals to the newlyweds who have just moved in while bureaucratic Mrs Roubickova is insisting on rigidly following the rules of the meeting. As Mrs Prochazkova and her business partner are only interested in increasing the value of their property, whilst grousy pensioner Mr Kubat is sabotaging all decisions and gossipmonger Horvathova (excellent and unrecognisable Dagmar Havlova) is stirring up trouble, the meeting soon falls apart and slick businessmen, the Cermak brothers, step in to save the day. Authentic characters, a perfect cast and an excellent script based on the director’s personal experience deliver a poignant and humorous portrayal of contemporary Czech society in this compelling comedy which gets you laughing at one moment and chills you the next but has you in its grip all the way through.
Winner of the Best Screenplay and Best Actress for Tereza Ramba at the Czech Film Critics’ Awards.
The film will be available to rent (from UK only) for £6.99 from 10:00 on Sat 7 Nov GMT till 10:00 on Tue 10 Nov 2020 GMT on Czech Centre Vimeo on Demand viahttps://vimeo.com/ondemand/owners
BONUS: Q&A WITH DIRECTOR JIŘÍ HAVELKA
Organised by the Czech Centre as part of Made in Prague ON/OFF Festival.
