09/06/2022 - The sophomore feature by the young emerging Czech director, about pursuing happiness through esoteric means, will bow in the new Proxima competition at Karlovy Vary

Writer-director-composer Šimon Holý, a young rising talent from the Czech Republic, is about to return to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (see the news). Holý premiered his first feature-length effort, Mirrors in the Dark [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Šimon Holý
film profile], at the Czech festival last year. The black-and-white drama, verging on a chamber piece, depicted a millennial relationship stretched past breaking point and received two nominations for the Czech Film Critics’ Awards: for Best Actress and Discovery of the Year. Since his debut in late August 2021, the young director has managed to finish his sophomore feature, And Then There Was Love…, which will bow in the Czech gathering’s new Proxima competition, set to replace the East of the West section (see the news).

In contrast with the millennial age bracket of Holý’s debut, the story of And Then There Was Love... has been broadened into an intergenerational, female-driven dramedy. Kristýna (Pavla Tomicová) is a sixtysomething moderator of focus groups. She is quite successful in her career, but less so in her personal life. Kristýna is desperately looking for love and happiness, so she decides to attend a weekend workshop with a tarot reader, called Zdena (Tereza Hofová), and her daughter Sára (Sára Venclovská). Kristýna learns more about her complicated relationship with the people around her, with her daughter and even with herself during that weekend. Eliška Soukupová, of Mirrors in the Dark, joins the cast as Lenka.

Holý told Cineuropa that the story was inspired by true events. “I was surprised that people who are rational and well educated can desperately look for clear answers in esotericism and quackery,” the director notes. Holý, who is producing the movie for šššššFilm, told Cineuropa that his second feature is a low-budget flick based on a four-page treatment, and the film is mostly improvised. Indeed, on the set of his feature debut, the director also used improvised scenes. He then worked on a podcast called Break Up, where a form of directed improvisation became a proof of concept for And Then There Was Love... The director credits the four lead actresses as co-writers of the script, explaining: “They influenced the film to a large extent through their approach to and perspective on the topic.”

Furthermore, the helmer is working on two additional projects that are in development, as a co-producer, writer and director: Thinking David, about a young Jewish boy and his coming out; and Chica Checa, which follows a fiftysomething called Zdena, whose life is turned upside down when her son returns home from New York to say a final goodbye to his grandmother, Zdena’s mother.

And Then There Was Love… is being produced by Šimon Holý and Jan Syruček, of šššššFilm, and co-produced by Jana Hojdová (Bridge Films), Lukáš Moudrý (Studio Beep) and Tomáš Srovnal (PFX). The Vyšočina region and the City of Jihlava supported the film. The Czech theatrical release will be handled by Aerofilms, and the local premiere is preliminarily set for 1 December. Meanwhile, Filmtopia will oversee the Slovak theatrical distribution in January 2023. Negotiations for a sales agent are ongoing.