DIRECTOR
Petr Václav
DIRECTOR
Petr Václav
SCREENPLAY
Petr Václav
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Miroslav Janek
Petr Václav
EDITING
Florent Vassault
SOUND
Daniel Němec
PRODUCER
Jan Macola
PRODUCTION
Mimesis Film
CO-PRODUCTION
Česká televize
Cinéma Defacto
The film follows the staging process of the opera Olimpiade while at the same time exploring the dramatic life of its composer Josef Myslivecek, a friend and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The opera was premiered in spring 2013 in the National Theatre in Prague, then travelled to Dijon, Caen and Luxembourg. It was directed by the renowned Ursel Hermann and conducted by Václav Luks and his Collegium 1704.
I was careful not to state anything that would not be factually inaccurate. Although Mysliveček himself speaks in in the documentary as a voice from beyond the grave, which is rather a “fiction”, he doesn’t make anything up. The blinds spots are filled with Mysliveček saying: “and you will never learn what happened because I took all of that to grave.” – Petr Václav
Doclisboa International Film Festival
International Documentary Festival FIPADOC
Petr Václav (1967, Prague) is considered one of the most talented filmmakers of Czech post-revolutionary cinema. He graduated from FAMU and made his debut in 1996 with Marian (1996), which won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno IFF. His films Parallel Worlds (2001) and The Way Out (2014) premiered in San Sebastian (New Directors Competition) and in the ACID section of Cannes, respectively. The Way Out won seven Czech Lions in 2014, including the Best Film Award, and four Czech Film Critics' Awards. The drama We Are Never Alone (2016) was screened in the Forum section at the Berlinale and at the Toronto IFF. In 2015, he made the documentary Confessions of a Disappeared about a performance of Josef Mysliveček's opera Olimpiade. This then served as the inspiration for a narrative historical film about the composer's life, which had its world premiere in competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
