email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

VENICE 2008 Venice Days

A Country Teacher begins international tour

by 

Czech cinema returns to the Venice International Film Festival with Bohdan Slama's third film, A Country Teacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
film profile
]
, screening in the Venice Days section.

After Venice, A Country Teacher heads to Toronto, where it screens in the Contemporary World Cinema section.

Pavel Liska plays the title role. Fleeing a destructive relationship and his parents, who disapprove of his homosexuality, he leaves the city and takes a teaching position in a village. There he must resist the attentions of a local woman, played with pathos by Zuzana Bydzovska, and his own desire for her teenage son.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

“We deem the premiere in Venice, one of the most prominent international festivals, and the subsequent appearance at the festival in Toronto, the gateway to the American market, as a brilliant international launch for A Country Teacher,” producer Pavel Strnad said. “We believe that combination will help our film, which is represented by one of the strongest global sellers, Wild Bunch, make its way to foreign distribution.”

Liska also appears in Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa's Venice Days title The Visitor [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Slama's previous film, Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile
]
, won the Golden Seashell at San Sebastian in 2005. His first, Wild Bees, took home a Tiger from Rotterdam in 2002.

A Country Teacher is produced by Negativ (Czech Republic), Pallas Film (Germany), Ceska televize (Czech Republic), and Why Not Productions (France), with support from the State Fund for Support and Development of Czech Cinematography, Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung, and Eurimages.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy