15-01-2009

Czech Wolf at Berlinale

By Irena Zemanová
    A Czech family film, Are you Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál), has been chosen to screen at the Berlinale, opening February 5.

    The film by director Maria Procházková will compete in the Berlinale Generation Kplus, a section dedicated to movies for children and youth, the film´s producer Vratislav Šlajer announced.

    A poetic story about a crisis between two parents, told from the point of view of their 5-years old daughter Terezka and combining the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood with a full-bodied family drama, premiered in Czech cinemas December 4. The film was produced by Šlajer´s company Bionaut Films (www.bionaut.cz) and is distributed by Bontonfilm (www.bontonfilm.cz) .

    "We are very happy with such an international release of our movie," Šlajer told FNE, confirming that the selection was attracting international attention. "Right after our announcement as a participants of Berlinale, several foreign sales agents and distributors called me," Šlajer said.

    "It's amazing to be at the Berlinale film festival," exclaimed Procházková. "It seems to us that the Generation section was organized exactly for us," she said, mentioning the child point of view of her movie and the theme of Generation Kplus section, which is "a contemporary world from the point of view of children and teenagers."

    Are you Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf was coproduced by Czech Television (www.ceskatelevize.cz). Since its release in the Czech Republic, the film has drawn more than 14,000 viewers and box office of 1.2 million crowns (€45,000), according to the Czech Union of Film Distributors (www.ufd.cz). "We hope that the Berlinale standing and repute will help us with increasing the sales in Czech cinemas, as well as the international interest," Šlajer said.