Prague/Berlin, Jan 10 (CTK) – The new Czech film “Masaryk,” which depicts one period in the life of diplomat and politician Jan Masaryk (1886-1948), will be screened in the main programme at the International Film Festival in Berlin within Berlinale Special, project spokeswoman Uljana Donatova has told CTK.
She said the film by Julius Sevcik will be premiered in the section, in which “extraordinary cinematographic works or honours to world film personalities are screened.”
The film producer, Rudolf Biermann, said he believes the story of Jan Masaryk can be comprehensive to the international public also becasue it speaks about events that markedly influenced the emergence of modern Europe.
Sevcik said the story of people who try, even if imperfectly, to stand up to dictatorship, is always timeless and romantic. At the same time, it is often cruel and doomed.
“This is true of Jan Masaryk who tried to persuade great powers to stop the Nazi aggression, or the Soviet aggression in a different life period,” Sevcik said.
The lead character is played by Karel Roden.
Jan Masaryk was a son of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, first president of Czechoslovakia (1918-35). He worked in the diplomatic services. In 1940-45, he was foreign minister in the Czechoslovak government in exile in London. After the war, he held the post until March 10, 1948, when he was found dead beneath the window of his flat at the Foreign Ministry. The death, which occurred after the Communists seized power in former Czechoslovakia in February 1948, has not been fully clarified as yet. It could have been a suicide, but the belief predominates that Masaryk was killed.
The Czech Republic will be also represented in the main Berlinale competition by the Polish-Czech film Game Count made by Polish director Agniezska Holland in cooperation with Czech screenwriter Stepan Hulik. One of the main roles is played by Czech actor Miroslav Krobot.
