Authors

Karel Čtveráček (1970) - film director

Mastered in Zoology at the Charles University Department of Biology. Between 1993-1999 he studied Documentary Film at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts and has made several short films for Czech Television and FEBIO production company. He is currently working on documentary projects focusing on photography.

Filmography: Memory of Light (2001), The Man Who Painted the Sea (2005), Prints (2006)

Film&Sociology

The Film & Sociology production company has made since 1992 more than 160 documentary films directed by the prominent Czech directors: Helena Třeštíková, Miroslav Janek, Pavel Štingl, Věra Chytilová, Viliam Poltikovič, Pavel Koutecký, Martin Hanzlíček and others.

Film & Sociology produced the film Citizen Havel - the most successful documentary film in the Czech distribution.

Selected filmography:

• Short Long Journey, directed by Martin Hanzlíček, original idea Fedor Gál, 2009
• The Romany King, directed by Viliam Poltikovič, 2009
• Citizen Havel, directed by Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek, 2008
• Written for Prague Spring, Opus No. 3, directed by Jaroslav Hovorka, Pavel Koutecký, 2007
• Love Your Enemies, original idea, directed by Tomáš Škrdlant, 2005
• God’s Stone Quarry (One Year in North Bohemia), original idea, directed by Břetislav Rychlík, 2005
• Seeking the Wisdom of Old Age, original idea, directed by Tomáš Škrdlant, DV, 2002
• Seekers of a Fixed Point, original idea, directed and written by Pavel Koutecký, 2001

Interview with film director Karel Čtveráček

How did you find out about the Seidel studio – are you connected with Český Krumlov in some way?

I’m from the north of Bohemia, and for a long time Český Krumlov was completely unknown to me, a town at the other end of the map. And then one day the dramaturge Hana Jemelíková, who knew of my interest in photography, drew my attention to the famous Krumlov studio. It was winter 2006, just when they were beginning to move the valuable glass photographic plates from the studio, and the building as a whole was being prepared for renovation. Things began to gain momentum and there was no time for second thoughts. The cameraman Jan Horáček and I immediately set out for Krumlov. The atmosphere of the old studio, unused for years, and the people involved, everything made a strong impression on us. We realised we had a major task ahead of us, and a remarkable story which is certainly not at an end. I think that was why we decided to make the film about the Seidel Photographic Studio.

Did you have a clear concept for the film from the beginning? The story of the Seidel family and the people around the studio, yesterday and today?

It took time for the shape of the film to emerge and I have to say, not without difficulty. I had certain lines and motifs which I held onto, but when we started filming I only had a faint idea how it would eventually turn out. It wasn’t clear what would be discovered in the studio, or how the revitalisation of the building itself would turn out. I only knew that I had to tell the story of the place, and at the same time I was determined to follow what was going on now. I had an idea that the historical story would emerge from the present, from people talking, from situations arising when they were in contact with old objects and photographs. That was why one summer I arranged with some friends from České Budějovice to take photographs with a portable screen. We filmed and took photographs at the places where Seidel had taken photographs, and tried to capture not only what people looked like, but also their reactions, their questions. Again, we were working out how to tell the life of the Seidels in a roundabout way, not just to compare and contrast. Maybe something of this worked out.