Private Universe, Helena Třeštíková's latest long-form documentary epic that captures the ups and downs in the life of a Czech family (and Czech society) over the span of 37 years, received the Grand Prix at the 9th EIDF - EBS International Documentary Festival (August 17 - 24, 2012, Seoul, South Korea).
After a special screening at the 2012 Hot Docs and a retrospective in Krakow, Helena Třeštíková presented Private Universe at the 2012 Karlovy Vary IFF. The film travels to international festivals as part of the East Silver Caravan.
While Private Universe grabbed the Grand Prix and USD 10,000 for Best Documentary Film in the programme Festival Choice, awardees in other sections were announced as well, including In My Mother's Arms (dir. Mohamed Jabarah Al Daradji, Atia Jabarah Al Daradji, Iraq, The Netherlands, UK, 2011 - Edu Choice Grand Prix); High Tech, Low Life (dir. Steven Maing, USA 2012 - Spirit Award); Inocente (dir. Andrea Nix Fine & Sean Fine, USA 2012 - UNICEF Special Award) and, finally, Sean McAllister's The Reluctant Revolutionary that was voted the audience favourite.
Read more about the 2012 EIDF here.
Private Universe
Soukromý vesmír , Czech Republic, 2012, 83 min, 35 mm, Longitudinal, Personal View, Social Issues
Honza was born in 1974 into the cheerless era of socialism in Czechoslovakia. At that time, his parents Jana and Petr lived in one room in the apartment of Jana's divorced mother and her widowed grandmother. A few years later, the family moved from Prague to Liberec where Petr found a job and a little house for the family. When Honza was born, his father began writing a family chronicle and he has continued to do so for 37 years. Private Universe shows not only the life of one ordinary family but also how the Czech society has changed in the last four decades. Who are we, where do we come from and where do we go?
East Silver 2012 / East Silver Caravan 2012
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