11-12-2023

PRODUCTION: Sundance Winner Ondřej Hudeček Shoots Debut Feature Little Thief

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    Little Thief by Ondřej Hudeček Little Thief by Ondřej Hudeček credit: Nutprodukce

    PRAGUE: The Czech director Ondřej Hudeček, who won the Special Jury Prize for Best Direction at the Sundance Film Festival for his short film Peacock / Furiant in 2016, is currently in production with his debut feature Little Thief / Poberta. This Czech/Slovak coproduction will premiere in the summer of 2025.

    The plot of Little Thief is set in a small Moravian town during the COVID-19 pandemic and it follows a reformed thief, Lupyn, and his gang of petty criminals who decide to save the town's economy by committing fake thefts. These insurance frauds save companies facing bankruptcy.

    "In the Czech context, the film will be exceptional in its work with genres, and it will seek to stand out internationally by tackling an issue that has touched practically the whole world from an unexpected perspective," producer Tomáš Hrubý told FNE.

    Hrubý is producing through Czech Nutprodukce in coproduction with its Slovak sister company Nutprodukcia and the Czech Television. The project was supported by the Czech Film Fund, the Slovak Film Fund, Eurimages and the South Moravian Film Fund.

    The budget has not been disclosed.

    The project will enter postproduction in January 2024. The shooting is taking place from 6 August to 31 December. According to Hrubý, the biggest challenge of the production was to shoot complex action scenes in conditions of limited local funding.

    In addition to directing, Ondřej Hudeček is responsible for the screenplay, cinematography and editing.

    The cast includes Matyáš Řezníček, Václav Neužil, Stanislav Majer, Lukáš Příkazký, Filip Kaňkovský and Denisa Barešová.

    After his Sundance winning short film Peacock, Ondřej Hudeček made the long documentary The Nagano Tapes / Pásky z Nagana.

    Production Information:

    Producer:
    Nutprodukce (Czech Republic)
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    Coproducers:
    Nutprodukcia (Slovakia)
    Czech Television (Czech Republic)

    Credits:
    Director: Ondřej Hudeček
    Screenwriter: Ondřej Hudeček
    DoP: Ondřej Hudeček
    Editor: Ondřej Hudeček
    Cast: Matyáš Řezníček, Václav Neužil, Stanislav Majer, Lukáš Příkazký, Filip Kaňkovský, Denisa Barešová