The CZK 3.3 million film was financed with a CZK 1.4 million grant from the Czech film fund and CZK 670,000 from public broadcaster Czech TV.
Filming took place beginning in January 2009 on location in the U.S. (including New York and Los Angeles) and in Prague and other Czech sites. Postproduction will be completed at Czech TV.
The film focuses on Voskovec‘s life in the United States after 1950 when the communist regime in Czechoslovakia forced him into exile at age 45. Voskovec, the pre-war Czech equivalent of The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, had previously been in exile during WWII when he escaped from the Nazis, and paradoxically ended up in detention on Ellis Island for a year at the height of the McCarthy communist "witch hunts" in the U.S. After 1950 his name was effective erased from Czechoslovakia's cultural history, but generations remembered the Dadaist humor of the cabaret shows he performed with Jan Werich and composer Jaroslav Jezek.
Voskovec's long film career included five films made in Czechoslovakia, with the remainder made abroad. They include iconic masterpieces including 12 Angry Men and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The documentary features commentary from his colleagues and friends, including Milos Forman, Andrei Serban, and Vaclav Havel.
Production Information:
Director, producer: Libuse Rudinska
Coproducer: Petr Moravek, Czech TV
Story: Libuše Rudinská, Michal Janoušek
Camera: Libuse Rudinska, Ivo Popek
Sound: Michal Janousek
Editor: Milos Malek
Contact:
Libuse Rudinska
Matejkova 2123/11
Prague 9, Czech Republic
tel. 725 044 891
