Helena, the pregnant wife of a factory manager, is about to give birth and her family is facing a rosy future in a modern city. But her illusions will soon perish when a dead body of a newborn hermaphrodite is found in their factory. Helena needs to find out what happened for the safety of her own child, but she runs into her own prejudices.
“I chose We Have Never Been Modern as my next film mainly because it communicates current and important topics through an understandable genre concept of a detective drama, originally set in a period scene. For me, this is a film about what is really normal and natural, and how society actually treats exclusive individuals. It's also a film about the clash of nature/ naturalness with progress, and in a figurative sense a film about colonisation, whether in terms of land or political beliefs and ideas”, Matěj Chlupáček said in a statement.
“Our film treats the theme of hermaphroditism (intersexuality in the contemporary language), in a new context. At its core, this is a story about illusions, told in an entertaining, genre-defying way, and led by a female protagonist who shows the audience that the 1930s were not so different from today”, producer Maja Hamplová told FNE.
Miro Šifra penned the script. The main cast includes Eliška Křenková, Miloslav König, Richard Langdon, Milan Ondrík, Luboš Veselý, Ladislav Hampl, Iveta Dušková and Martha Issová.
The film is produced by Maja Hamplová and Matěj Chlupáček through Barletta (Czech Republic) in coproduction with Rasťo Šesták through D.N.A (Slovakia). The total budget is 3.1 m EUR.
The film was supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, the Czech Film Fund, the Czech Television, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Slovak Television.
“Thanks to the above-standard financial resources and a certain development prestige, we were able to prepare the project for production in a truly rigorous way, securing almost all sources of funding and at the same time getting the best filmmakers for it, guaranteeing its professional production and, we believe, a great film”, Maja Hamplová also said.
“The shooting began on 25 April 2022 and ended on 30 June 2022. We have another week of VFX shooting (just background plates, as we are building a miniature of a city the film is set in) starting with 5 September 2022. The film was shot mostly in Zlín, Czech Republic and in/under the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia”, Matěj Chlupáček told FNE.
British-born Berlin-based Simon Goff, who won a Grammy Award for the Chernobyl series, is composing the music. Colorist Natasha Leonnet (La La Land, The First Man) is also part of the crew.
Bontonfilm will distribute We Have Never Been Modern theatrically in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Negotiations with an international sales agent are underway.
Production Information:
Producer:
Barletta (Czech Republic)
Maja Hamplová: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Matěj Chlupáček: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
D.N.A. (Slovakia)
Credits:
Director: Matěj Chlupáček
Screenplay: Miro Šifra
DOP: Martin Douba
Editor: Pavel Hrdlička
Music: Simon Goff
Sound designer: Pavel Rejholec
Production designer: Henrich Boráros
Colorist: Natasha Leonnet
Cast: Eliška Křenková, Miloslav König, Richard Langdon, Milan Ondrík, Luboš Veselý, Ladislav Hampl, Iveta Dušková, Martha Issová
