Bata refers to the international shoe company founded by a small-town son of a cobbler, Tomas Bata, who built the Czechoslovak company and brand into a global behemoth. Kerekes braids three threads together into the documentary: a biography, the subject of global capitalism and a memoir. The French/Czech/Slovak coproduction travels the world in portraying a complex and originally-told story.

The 80-minute film combines both colour and black-and-white footage. It was produced by the French company Seppia, which is handling sales, and coproduced by Peter Kerekes’s own company together with the Czech TV, Negativ and ARTE. The budget was 350,000 EUR and the film received support from the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Film Fund and France’s CNC.

Production information:

Producer:
Seppia (France)

Coproducers:
Peter Kerekes (Slovakia)
Negativ (Czech Republic)
Czech TV (Czech Republic)
ARTE (France)

Supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Film Fund and France’s CNC

Credits:
Director: Peter Kerekes
Screenplay: Peter Kerekes, Pavel Hajny
DoP: Martin Kollar
Editor: Marek Sulik
Music: David Solar