Canadian Premiere
Fifty years after his retirement, they were still calling him the greatest runner of all time. Emil Zátopek (played by Václav Neužil) didn’t look like much of an athlete—he was all elbows and knees. He hurled himself down the track, always grimacing, hair in permanent retreat, and he panted so loudly when he ran that they nicknamed him “The Czech Locomotive”. But long distance running doesn’t award points for style, and Zátopek had a knack for crossing the finish line first. In 1952, he won Olympic gold medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon, breaking Olympic records in each event—an unparalleled achievement.
David Ondříček’s engaging movie—the Audience Winner at the 2021 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival—artfully cuts between the famously gregarious runner in retirement, giving eccentric counsel to his friend, the Australian athlete Ron Clarke, while romping through the Czech’s illustrious career highlights, his tense relationship with the communist authorities, and most poignantly, his lifelong love affair with Olympic javelin thrower Dana Zátopková (a spunky Martha Issová).
Audience Award, Karlovy Vary 2021
Václav Neužil, Martha Issová, James Frecheville, Robert Mikluš, Jiří Šimek
Czech Republic/Slovakia
2021
In Czech and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
KPop Demon Hunters: A Sing Along Event
The surprise hit of 2025, KPop Demon Hunters is a blast of good vibes and catchy tunes -- this generation's Ghostbusters, Gorillaz, or Spice Girls -- or some delightfully unholy combination of all three. Rated PG, all ages welcome!
Köln 75
The true story behind the greatest solo concert in jazz history, this is Keith Jarrett's legendary 1975 Köln Concert — as organized by 18-year-old rebel music promoter Vera Brandes. Fun, inventive and feminist, it's the Bend It Like Beckham of jazz films.
Frankenstein
Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro might have been made for each other. The movie does not disappoint, a ripping yarn of grand adventure, spectacle, hubris, passion and XXL body parts, a tale of the fantastic that rings the imagination. Screening in 35mm.
Body and Soul
Our new Film Studies series explores the subversive cinema that led to the blacklist. Mike Archibald introduces one of the great boxing films, starring proto-Method actor John Garfield.
Credits
Executive Producer
Daria Špačková
Producer
Kryštof Mucha, David Ondříček
Screenwriter
David Ondříček, Alice Nellis, Jan P. Muchow
Cinematography
Štěpán Kučera
Editor
Jarosław Kaminski
Original Music
Beata Hlavenková
Director
David Ondříček
David Ondříček is a screenwriter, producer, and one of the most distinctive post-revolution Czech directors. He debuted with the film Whisper (1996), followed by Loners (2000), One Hand Can’t Clap (2003), and Grandhotel (2006), all of which are considered Czech classics. His next feature film, In the Shadow (2012), won in all major categories at domestic film awards, and was the Czech Republic’s nominee for the Academy Awards. In 2013, Ondříček was listed in Variety Magazine’s 10 Directors to Watch.
Filmography: Whisper (1996); One Hand Can’t Clap (2003); Grandhotel (2006); In the Shadow (2012)