The upcoming Czech tragicomedy Waltzing Matilda is named after the famous Tom Waits song about dancing in the face of life’s obstacles. Veteran Czech documentary filmmaker Petr Slavík is currently shooting this first fiction project of his, which he co-wrote with his wife Nataša Slaviková, who also produced the film. Rigorous research into the realities of living with Alzheimer's disease preceded the movie’s script, which the husband-and-wife team previously transposed into a successful television documentary, Life with Alzheimer's, for Czech TV.

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Despite its social relevance, Alzheimer's disease doesn’t play a dominant role in this family drama, but is only one aspect of it, according to the producers. Inspired by true events, the film follows a former opera singer, octogenarian Matilda. Unlike his extroverted mother, Karel is emotionally cold, but continues to visit his mother out of a sense of obligation. Yet Karel also has a dysfunctional relationship with his own son, Pavel, who can’t forgive him for leaving the family when he was small. When Matilda develops Alzheimer's disease and loses her apartment, Karel is unable to care for her properly on account of his demanding job as a court executor. Pavel's carefree nature proves to be the sole solution to the situation. And a way to mend fractured family relations.

“Our story contains motifs of illness, death, and the breakdown of traditional family ties, and, for this reason, it couldn’t be a light-hearted comedy. But we haven’t abandoned our viewers in any way. On the contrary, we look for moments of hope and optimism, opportunities for personal development, and, thanks to personal experience, we know that living with an ill family member leads to many comical or tragicomic situations,” Petr and Nataša Slavík explain.

Shooting on the film started in July, in Prague, and will subsequently move to Pilsen and then Bratislava, Slovakia. The crew are one third of the way through the scheduled 28 days of filming. The main part – of the Bohemian opera singer and, later, bar singer – is played by Czech actress Regina Rázlová (who recently starred in Mira Fornay’s provocative, absurd drama Cook F**k Kill [+lee también:
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entrevista: Martin Šulík
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Waltzing Matilda is produced by Nataša Slavíková for Czech outfit Phoenix Production and Vít Janeček and Zuzana Piussi for Slovak outfit VIRUSfilm, in co-production with Czech Television (Helena Uldrichová). The movie enjoys the support of the Czech Film Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Pilsen region, Radim Passer, and the City of Bratislava Foundation. Bontonfilm will oversee the film’s release in Czech and Slovak territories in 2023.