Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, who discovered Jiri Menzel while studying at the Film and Television Institute in Pune, travelled to Prague in 2010 to meet his idol in person. The idea of making a long documentary on Menzel’s filmmaking as well as the work of other prominent personalities of the Czechoslovak New Wave was born in a cafe.

Czech Mate – In Search of Jiri Menzel features filmmakers such as Vera Chytilova, Ivan Passer, Milos Forman, Juraj Jakubisko, Jan Schmidt and DoP Miroslav Ondříček, as well as contemporary Czech directors like Radim Spacek, Jan Svěrák, Bohdan Slama and Jan Hřebejk. Ken Loach, Woody Allen, Andrzej Wajda and István Szabó are also featured in the film.

Indian company Dungarpur Films is producing. The film was shot in Prague, on several other locations in the Czech Republic and in Bratislava. The premiere is set for the beginning of 2017.