Abrahám Pavel

Starring Beer
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RAPublic
First documentary about the Czech hip hop scene shows how close the Czech rap can come to humour and irony. Three protagonists of the film, James Cole, Hugo Toxxx and Orion appear in situations where they are confronted with a professor of linguistics, children of a Romany quarter, a strict birth registry clerk, classical music trio, a statute of national revival hero Josef Jungmann, and the chanson singer Hana Hegerova, with whom they have a chance to sing the national anthem: "mimino mi mele nohu máma mele maso a máma mele sele kde domov můj?"

Two Nil
At a football stadium in the very heart of Prague the biggest Czech football match of the year is about to take place. The live broadcast begins. This time, however, the twenty-two film cameras are not aimed at the pitch, but at the stands. They record how various people experience one common event. A little footballer, a bettor, a member of the security service, a distinguished literary critic, a lady in the VIP lounge or disoriented Italian tourist. Each character represents a unique version of the same match. As Hannah Arendt says: “Only where things can be seen by many in a variety of aspects without changing their identity, so that those who are gathered around them know they see sameness in utter diversity, can worldly reality truly and reliably appear.”

Football Inside Out
8 clubs, 8 stadiums, 8 matches. Fans in the role of stars, stars in the role of fans. Based on the successful feature-length film Two Nil, a Docu-reality series from the football stands. Following success of our documentary Two Nil (2012), we have developed an entertaining TV-series format, which can be applied in any country at any time. It is based on a unique method of shooting and the technical know-how that was used in Two Nil. But while the style of the film was experimental and artistic, the TV series is going to be a lot more spectator-orientated and „popish“ with strong transmedia potential. Football is the most watched sport today. Drawing the attention of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, it stirs strong emotions. Together at the stadiums, they sing, celebrate the heroes on the grass, start fires, curse the referee, rejoice and cry. That is why in each part, our television series focuses on the stands of a football stadium, introducing five different fans and their diametrically different experience of the match. After the final whistle has sounded, five of the most active football players during that match will be confronted with the film material of the fans, tasked with choosing “Fan of the Match”. Football will be thus be presented inside out; fans playing the key roles and football stars the viewers. This will result in an original programme with strong comic potential as well as a social testimony.

Pavel Abrahám (1978) is a graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He is best known for his full-length debut Czech RAPublic (2008), which was featured at several international film festivals and awarded a number of prizes – the prize for the best Czech documentary of the year at the 2009 Finále Plzeň among others. It also gained a huge amount of attention among general public and became the third most attended Czech documentary since 1989.