Eliáš (12) and his family are coming home to settle down after years of nomadic lifestyle, but instead of an idyllic return, they find their mother’s father dying in his dirty flat. The mother collapses from exhaustion and the father takes her to the hospital. The old man dies overnight and, when the father returns, the militia is already taking Eliáš and his little brother away. The wild odyssey of the father, Eliáš, and his little brother, all three in female disguise, begins here.
“It seems to me that today we are willing to sacrifice almost everything to feel safe and comfortable. In order to reach that state we create an illusion that prevents us from experiencing life the way it really is. Topol’s book affected me during a time when my father was suddenly dying and my first daughter was born. A Sensitive Person is a film about the complicated relationship between a father and his son that takes on the format of a road film. This crazy journey also works as an allegory to a boy’s growing into adulthood. In order for Eliáš to mature, he must retain his child’s sensitivity not only towards the cynical world that surrounds him, but also to his own father, who has suppressed his sensitivity. Our ambition is to provide the audience with a radical auteur film that confronts the observer with the difficult topics of today’s world, but which through its stylisation, energy and spontaneity offers an encouraging way out”, Tomáš Klein told FNE.
The main cast includes Jaroslav Cuhra, David Prachař, Alexandra Borbély, Jiří Lábus, Tatiana Dyková, Ján Jackuliak and Jiři Schmitzer.
The film is produced by Tomáš Michálek through Czech MasterFilm and by Ivan Ostrochovský through Slovak Punkchart films. It is coproduced by the Czech Television. Jaroslav Sedláček is the creative producer. The estimated total budget is 1.2 m EUR.
The project is supported by the Czech Film Fund with 408,259 EUR / 10 m CZK, as well as by the Moravian-Silesian Region with 40,828 EUR / 1 m CZK, the Pilsner Region with 16,331 EUR / 400,000 CZK and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund with 200,000 EUR / 4, 898,433 CZK.
The shooting started in April 2022 and wrapped by the end of the summer. The film was shot in the Moravian-Silesian and Pilsen Regions, as well as in Mělník and Malý Dunajec (Slovakia).
The image and sound postproduction are scheduled to take place in January - April 2023.
CinemArt will release the film in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Tomáš Klein studied directing at FAMU. His short film Retriever was presented in the Cinéfondation section of the Cannes FF. He worked as the second director on The Wolf from the Royal Vineyard Street (2016), produced by Czech MasterFilm in coproduction with French Bocalupo Films and Slovak Media Film, which he later finished after the legendary author Jan Němec passed away.
Production Information:
Producers:
MasterFilm (Czech Republic)
Tomáš Michálek: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Punkchart films (Slovakia)
Ivan Ostrochovský: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
Czech Television (Czech Republic)
Credits:
Director: Tomáš Klein
Screenwriters: Tomáš Klein, Lucie Vaňková, Kateřina Traburová
DoP: Duan Husár ASK
Composer: Jonatán Pastirčák (Pjoni)
Cast: Jaroslav Cuhra, David Prachař, Alexandra Borbély, Jiří Lábus, Tatiana Dyková, Ján Jackuliak, Jiři Schmitzer
