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
There's Still Tomorrow
A critical and box office sensation in Italy, Paola Cortellesi's triumphant directorial debut is the tale of a Roman housewife in 1946, who stands up against the routine sexist abuse she suffers. Funny, heartbreaking and inspiring.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
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)