Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovský is planning a U.S. remake of “Only Beautiful Things to Look At.”
His latest drama, which premieres at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, is set in the 1980s and follows a doctor (Aňa Geislerová) who begins to question the forced sterilization of Romani women in former Czechoslovakia.
“This was happening all around the world,” he tells Variety.
His regular collaborator Katarína Tomková – who produced the film alongside Ostrochovský, Albert Malinovský, Pavel Strnad and Petr Oukropec for Punkchart Films and Negativ – has enrolled in the Global Media Makers Residency with Film Independent, which focuses on the business of filmmaking in the U.S.
“We have already conducted research and location scouting on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico, and we’re currently adapting the story to fit the local context. Between the 1970s and 1980s, the birth rate among Native Americans declined by an estimated 60%, and it’s believed that approximately 40% of Native American women were subjected to forced sterilization,” says Ostrochovský.
“The feedback we received was that they didn’t want to see another film portraying them as victims, however. They want to meet in the middle and start a dialogue.”
Before that happens, he hopes to start a dialogue in Slovakia too, a country which still has to acknowledge its problematic past and treatment of the Romani community. Forced sterilizations continued well into the 2000s.
“A few years ago, these women started to go to court, but Slovakian government doesn’t want to pay them compensation for these procedures. There has been one official apology – that’s it. We’re a small country and there aren’t that many films, so chances are people will talk about this one.”
Ostrochovský, who co-wrote the film with Marek Leščák, is already behind Slovak Oscar submission “Servants.” At Karlovy Vary, he’s also showing new documentary “Igor and After” and “33 Steps,” which he produced.
He reached out to some doctors responsible for the sterilizations.
“We spoke with them and they understand why we’re doing this. But many of them really wanted to help [back then], particularly those living in really terrible conditions with seven or eight kids. That’s the main issue here: when you have all these logical, rational arguments, you can forget about what’s moral.”
Despite its relatively dark subject matter, “Only Beautiful Things to Look At” might be his most accessible film yet, featuring star Aňa Geislerová in the lead. One of the best known Czech actors, she’s been recently seen in Cannes premiere “Caravan.”
“We wanted to reach the widest audience possible, especially since we knew we were dealing with a difficult subject. We also believed that Aňa attracts a different kind of audience to cinemas than those who would typically come to see our films,” he notes.
“We needed someone who could convincingly portray a character who initially appears cold and rational yet is able to undergo a profound transformation in a believable way without pathos. Also, very few actors can convincingly share the screen with a non-professional actor without overshadowing them. Aňa is one of them.”
She’s joined by Simona Boledovičová, Eva Mores, Vlad Ivanov, Éva Bandor and Attila Mokos.
With the help of cinematographer Juraj Chlpík, he tried to reflect their characters’ dilemmas in a visually creative way.
“I was thinking about nature documentaries and all these macro shots of insects or animals. After all, this film is a study of human behavior,” he says.
“I wanted it to be pleasant to look at – also because it serves as a metaphor for the so-called ‘nice life.’ It means different things to different people. To this doctor, it means being comfortable. To someone else, it might mean having lots of children.”
He adds: “I didn’t want to make another depressing Eastern European movie and scare the viewers away.”
variety.com
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