FAMU documentary film student Albert Hospodářský is working on his first feature-length fiction offering, titled Brutal Heat [+lire aussi :
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interview : Albert Hospodářský
fiche film]. Hospodářský previously shot a short documentary, Nekyia: Inner Portrait of the Poet Hradecky, starring Czech poet Daniel Hradecký in “an inter-genre film about a journey into the depths of [the poet’s] consciousness”. Similar topics also resonate in the writer-director’s feature debut, which follows the rites of passage of young protagonist Vincek. The 18-year-old is feeling anxious about himself, his father and everything that has been going on around him, including a shard from the Sun that is hurtling towards the Earth. The protagonist decides to visit some friends at a cottage, but his seemingly banal journey turns into a more action-packed adventure, as he is robbed and beaten up, spends the night with some unknown girls, and gets into a quarrel with a bus driver.

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The central character in this coming-of-age road movie laced with an apocalyptic premise is based on the director’s brother, Vincent Hospodářský, who also stars in the leading role as a fictionalised version of himself. “He could be anybody, anywhere in the world, and that’s why he has no motivation to fight for his own individuality,” notes the director about the main character, who represents a whole generation. “The journey forces him to live in the moment and make his own decisions, thus becoming an authentic ‘self’ for the first time in his life,” Hospodářský explains. The voyage to the cottage turns into a symbolic ritual, and the director adds that the film is about searching for oneself, for hope and for reconciliation.

Brutal Heat is a Czech-Slovak project with Lukáš Kokeš, Ondřej Lukeš and Tomáš Hrubý, of nutprodukce, producing on the Czech side, and Ivan Ostrochovský (Punkchart Films) co-producing for Slovakia. Kokeš confirmed to Cineuropa that the production stage would last until January 2022, followed by post-production, which is expected to wrap in March 2022. The producers are eyeing summer 2022 for the film’s premiere.

Brutal Heat won the Star of Tomorrow Award in the domestic screenwriting competition organised by the Czech Film Foundation. Kokeš says that Hospodářský’s debut is unique in terms of the way the director works with poetics, teetering on the edge of realism, magical realism and soft sci-fi. “The story combines the auteur’s stylisation and intentional hyperbole, and takes place in a world that could collide with a fragment of the Sun in 40 years’ time,” adds the producer. Kokeš confirmed to Cineuropa that they are currently looking for partners – more specifically, a sales agent, festivals and distributors.

The Czech Film Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Pardubice region and the City of Pardubice have all supported Brutal Heat.