- Occupation
Producer - Country
Germany
Janatková Veronika
Iceland Year Zero
In October 2008, the three main banks in Iceland collapsed, driving a nation into bankruptcy, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs, their personal savings - and hope. How does a nation, once one of the richest and most developed countries in the capitalist world, react to a total economic collapse? In a landscape where “to be rich” used to be a virtue, who is really to blame for the collapse of a far-too-fast-and-greedy banking system? Or rather, is the decline of the capitalist values maybe the best thing that could have happened to Iceland?
Czechs in Prague
Various exchange programmes that allow young people to study and live in, among other places, Paris are fairly common these days. However, this film introduces several people who had considerably more trouble getting to France. Publisher of the exile magazine Svědectví Jiří Vrzala and ambassador Pavel Fischer discuss the perception of Czechs in France, and a poll in the streets of Paris reveals that many people don't know much about the Czech Republic... Director Rozálie Kohoutová captured the lives ofseveral generations of Czech emigres.
In October 2008, the three main banks in Iceland collapsed, driving a nation into bankruptcy, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs, their personal savings - and hope. How does a nation, once one of the richest and most developed countries in the capitalist world, react to a total economic collapse? In a landscape where “to be rich” used to be a virtue, who is really to blame for the collapse of a far-too-fast-and-greedy banking system? Or rather, is the decline of the capitalist values maybe the best thing that could have happened to Iceland?
Czechs in Prague
Various exchange programmes that allow young people to study and live in, among other places, Paris are fairly common these days. However, this film introduces several people who had considerably more trouble getting to France. Publisher of the exile magazine Svědectví Jiří Vrzala and ambassador Pavel Fischer discuss the perception of Czechs in France, and a poll in the streets of Paris reveals that many people don't know much about the Czech Republic... Director Rozálie Kohoutová captured the lives ofseveral generations of Czech emigres.
Concrete Stories
Both a capitalist invention and a Soviet symbol, the concrete slab buildings link a whole destiny of people. A film about a shared reality. In Concrete Stories, people from different countries who live in concrete buildings tell their stories as they relate to industrial housing in the time of clashing ideologies between East and West. The film puts forward a European story of standardization that has ruled the lives of entire generations. We compare spaces and public interests of the time, the tenants in different countries become virtual neighbours. The documentary aims to connect various stories from all around Europe to erase the stigma concrete panel buildings often have, by relating their historical and European meaning.
Tracks
Two diaries, one from 1919 and one from 2009. Both follow the same tracks through the "sleepy land" of Siberia. We found a diary written by a Finnish man Jalmari Ollila, hidden in the town library in Kasko, Finland. The diary was dated from 1913 to 1920. He wrote about his childhood in Finland, his longing to explore Russia and his travels as a fur seller in Siberia. His notes have become an inspiration for our journey; we wanted to learn more about this part of the world. We wanted to see the places Ollila describes. We wanted to meet the people he met and learn about their history. Today, the rail tracks through Russia are the same as a century ago. Along the tracks people are living in their cities in modern Russia. Jalmari came there as a stranger to a totally different society. We are going in the same tracks, writing our own diary while trying to find parallels with his description of the places to see what has changed in the course of the past century.
Both a capitalist invention and a Soviet symbol, the concrete slab buildings link a whole destiny of people. A film about a shared reality. In Concrete Stories, people from different countries who live in concrete buildings tell their stories as they relate to industrial housing in the time of clashing ideologies between East and West. The film puts forward a European story of standardization that has ruled the lives of entire generations. We compare spaces and public interests of the time, the tenants in different countries become virtual neighbours. The documentary aims to connect various stories from all around Europe to erase the stigma concrete panel buildings often have, by relating their historical and European meaning.
Tracks
Two diaries, one from 1919 and one from 2009. Both follow the same tracks through the "sleepy land" of Siberia. We found a diary written by a Finnish man Jalmari Ollila, hidden in the town library in Kasko, Finland. The diary was dated from 1913 to 1920. He wrote about his childhood in Finland, his longing to explore Russia and his travels as a fur seller in Siberia. His notes have become an inspiration for our journey; we wanted to learn more about this part of the world. We wanted to see the places Ollila describes. We wanted to meet the people he met and learn about their history. Today, the rail tracks through Russia are the same as a century ago. Along the tracks people are living in their cities in modern Russia. Jalmari came there as a stranger to a totally different society. We are going in the same tracks, writing our own diary while trying to find parallels with his description of the places to see what has changed in the course of the past century.
After studies in Prague, Paris and Germany Veronika is now based in Berlin working as producer in Kloos & Co. Medien, documentary production. Veronika has been working in production since 2004, focusing mainly on creative documentary. Among other projects she has produced „Iceland, year zero“ by S.H. Magnusson or „Concrete Stories“ by L. Findeisen (in production) or „Film Fabrik Prague 2011. She has been regularly working with Axman Production in Prague and Artpark Productions in Paris.
CZ: Iceland - year zero (since 2009), Concrete Stories (since 2007), Elixir (2007), Loves in Prague (2006)
FR: Film Fabrik (since 2008), Cargo (2009), CO2 (2008), Pres des rails (2008)
Axman Production
Rybná 17/683
110 00 Prague 1
Rybná 17/683
110 00 Prague 1
Artpark Productions
32 Bd de Strasbourg
75010 Paris
32 Bd de Strasbourg
75010 Paris
Kloos & Co. Medien GmbH
Schlesische Strasse 29/30
10997 Berlin
Schlesische Strasse 29/30
10997 Berlin