A message to festival attendees from director Karel Smyczek

“When we were preparing Karel Smyczek’s film profile for last year’s Boskovice Festival—also as a tribute to his 75th birthday—we had planned for him to attend in person. Due to the director’s health issues, we ultimately postponed his profile to this year. Unfortunately, Karel Smyczek will not be coming to Boskovice this year either, as he will be undergoing medical treatment during the festival dates. We asked him, at the very least, to send a brief greeting to the audience and fans of his films. The director, of course, agreed, and we are very happy to publish his message,” Petr Michálek, the festival’s film programmer.  

Dear friends, I’m sorry I can’t be with you—so here’s at least a brief greeting from afar.

I see you’re also screening *The Dove*… So here’s a brief note on that. It was František Vláčil’s first feature film, and at the time, it was a completely different, unusually poetic narrative—one that expressed itself primarily through imagery. I’m not sure, however, if it might seem a bit “slow” to today’s audience. I was nine years old, and I was utterly captivated by the adults on the crew. They were actually mostly young people… The amazing (and already noble in appearance) cinematographer Jan Čuřík was, compared to the others, already an experienced veteran. How could I have known that I was running around among future Oscar-winning artists? Mirek Ondříček was just starting out behind the camera, Teodor Pištěk (known as Dodo) was designing costumes for the first time, and I was very close to the assistant director Pavel Kopta (an outstanding screenwriter and director), who was tasked with looking after me a bit. Jan Koblasa, who later became a prominent sculptor, musician, and set designer, sculpted my statue—which is actually there as a prop—and I spent most of my time acting with Mr. Vjačeslav Irmanov (a figure I found utterly captivating as a young boy). Even as a child, I sensed that these people were striving for something, though I didn’t have a clue what it was. The conversations with Mr. Vláčil—when he’d talk to me before a take and subtly “guide” me toward his vision—had a profound effect on me. I looked forward to those moments. I really did. I desperately wanted him to be satisfied with me. I didn’t want to mess it up for them! Experiences and encounters like these are etched not only into your memory, but above all into your very soul.

When I saw which of my works had been selected for you, I was reminded once again that I’ve sometimes filmed very different stories. Sometimes it seems like one person couldn’t have made them all. Take, for example, the film *Why?* and, alongside it, *There Were Five of Us*…Or even music-related projects—*Pražáci, těm je hej!* (with Kocáb and Pavlíček)—and at the same time, I was working on the docudrama *OPSO* (with Ondřej Havelka), so completely different genres. It’s also said that a director should be very familiar with the setting he’s filming, but for example, before shooting *Proč?*, I’d never been to Sparta, and I’d never attended a *Pražský výběr* concert either. Imagination is what matters—that, in my opinion, is also the fundamental principle of creativity. And empathy.

In any case, a director has to somehow make the material that comes his way his own. To immerse himself in it. And above all, to sense the author’s inspiration—his way of thinking, his emotions, and his rhythm. Surely there’s a difference in the poetic style of Radek John, Marek Epstein, or Zdeněk Svěrák, whose screenplays have passed through my hands.
I’ve also shot a number of documentaries featuring very different personalities, about ten portraits in the Gen and Genus series, music videos (back when they were still called “songs”) for TV shows, fairy tales, TV series, and several commercials—but I’ve always been drawn to working with young people and children. Lately, mainly for the Déčko TV channel.  When living and working with children, adults have an extra responsibility, because we never know how significantly we might influence these little people.  I realized long ago that we don’t raise children by what we tell them, but mainly by how we behave—especially toward one another.
 

So have a good time—best regards, Karel Smyczek