Films A to Z
Já, Olga Hepnarová
- Runtime:
- 106 min.
- Year of Production:
- 2016
- Country:
- Czech Republic/Poland/Slovak Republic/France
- Director:
- Cast:
- Michalina Olszanska
Martin Pechlat
Klara Meliskova
Marika Soposka - Production Company:
- Arizona Productions
- Berlinale Section:
- Panorama
- Berlinale Category:
- Feature Film
Olga is a complex young woman desperate to break free from her unfeeling family and social conventions. With her Louise Brooks like tomboyish looks she drags herself, chain-smoking, from one job to another until she appears to find her niche as a truck driver. Although she has female lovers she does not form a bond with any of them; instead she clashes, time and again, venting herself in wordless emotional outbursts and other behavioural extremes. Meticulously composed and shot in elegiac black-and-white this film tells the story of the short life of an exceptionally lonely young woman who turns into a mass murderer when, on 10 July 1973 – as she has just turned 22 – she drives a rented truck into a group of people, killing eight. In a letter acknowledging her deed she writes that she sought to take revenge on the world and on those she felt hated her. In spite of clear indications that she was mentally ill she was executed – making her the last woman to be publicly executed in Czechoslovakia.
After producing several documentaries and shorts together, this film marks the directors’ first drama. The film is based on a lengthy period of research which culminated initially in a documentary entitled Everything is Crap.
BIOGRAFIE Tomás Weinreb
Born in Stod, Czechoslovakia in 1982, he studied at FAMU in Prague. His 2009 documentary EVERYTHING IS CRAP screened at numerous film festivals.
FILMOGRAFIE Tomás Weinreb (selection)
2016 Já, Olga Hepnarová
2011 Playoff
2009 Many Men and Many Women
2009 I & Me
2009 Everything is Crap
2007 Jan 007
2006 Eclipse
2005 Story of An Unborn Child
2003 Antero
BIOGRAFIE Petr Kazda
Studied documentary filmmaking at FAMU in Prague. Whilst there he began collaborating with Tomas Weinreb. JÁ, OLGA HEPNAROVÁ (I, OLGA HEPNAROVÁ) is their debut feature film.
FILMOGRAFIE Petr Kazda (selection)
2016 Já, Olga Hepnarová
2011 Playoff
2009 Many Men and Many Women
2009 I & Me
2009 Everything is Crap
2007 Jan 007
2006 Eclipse
2005 Story of Unborn Child
2003 Antero
IMDb - Petr Kazda
IMDb - Tomás Weinreb
IMDb - Já, Olga Hepnarová
Trailer
Interview with Petr Kazda and Tomás Weinreb