When and who did the very first impulse for writing the screenplay of Polski Film come from? Is it true that Matonoha, Liška, Daniel and Polášek addressed you with its complete concept, or were you there when the original idea came up?
Some time ago I made a TV show called Komediograf with these actors and it turned out that these long-time friends and former schoolmates had been longing to make a film together. I took them seriously, addressed producer Milan Kuchynka and my co-writers Tuček and Geisler and we set ourselves to work.
How much did the original idea tend to differ in the course of preparations?
All four boys worked with us hard when putting together the story and the screenplay. We spent quite some time at Tomáš Matonoha’s cottage, listened to many details from their lives, drank a lot of alcohol and had a lot of fun but we also witnessed a real quarrel between Liška and Daniel and put its fragments into the screenplay. When there came up the possibility of Polish part being involved, we used it in the script as well as in the production. We shifted the problem of spending Polish money in Poland which arises out of any co-production to our characters who will have to deal with certain difficulties due to that. For example they are forced to go to Cracow to shoot scenes which take place in Brno there.
Pavel Liška and Tomáš Matonoha became famous thanks to Komediograf show and their comic duo Kamil and Michal, as Polski Film itself mentions. Will the viewers find the specific humour of those two actors in the film?
This film is not a comedy in the traditional sense but it definitely originated from the style of humour which is close to us, writers as well as to the actors. We really enjoy what our characters are doing. We like to deal with absurdity and mystification and Polski Film offers quite a lot of both.
The structure of Polski Film is quite unusual, it gradually wipes away differences between mystification and reality, the viewer can sometimes hardly tell if the actors are acting or if a being shot by a documentary camera in real-life situations… Why did you choose this form?
The fact that the key four actors as well as Jan Budař and in a way also Jana Plodková and Polish actress Katarzyna Zawadzka came in with their own identities is the basic asset of the whole project. Our aim was to tell something about the existence of these people, therefore there is also a lot of truth in the film. Although as our characters say: I might be playing myself but it doesn’t mean it’s me…
Polášek, Plodková, Matonoha, Daniel, Budař… all these names appear in your previous films. Do you like to work with actors who you know well?
Yes, but it doesn’t mean we play it safe. I think our two previous films showed that we accept challenges and do not seek easy solutions, not even in terms of casting.
On the other hand, you casted also Polish actors, what was it like to work with them?
It was fun to do and beneficial in every respect. Katarzyna Zawadzka brought in grace and charm of Polish women, both her colleagues Czeczot and Kobiersky enriched the film with energy typical for our Slavic brothers. All in all I consider my encounters with the Polish element which started two years ago when Protektor / Protector won at Off Plus Camera festival in Cracow, very beneficial and it has been a significant life experience.
Polski Film has actually a happy ending – a bunch of schoolmates makes their dream come true despite all the quarrels and crises, they get to play in a film together. Do you like happy endings?
In case of this film it is pretty arguable to call the ending happy. Did the characters end up well or not? How about their real-life models? I’m not sure, however, I quite like happy endings.
The poster to Polski Film as well as the poster to Protektor was created by your brother Aleš Najbrt. Is it an advantage? Does it spare you long discussions because you’re on the same wavelength?
I enjoy working with my brother, I know he never underestimates anything and goes through with his tasks. Our relationship has reached its peak lately and us working together is its cause and its consequence at the same time.
Unlike in the story of Protektor which took place during the Second World War you could improve your budget for Polski Film by product placement. From what we see on a screen we understand that producers used this opportunity to the fullest. Moët, Orbit, Ytong… Am I right?
That’s one of the paradoxes of cinematography nowadays. Of course it’s clear to me that many people who spot all those logos in Polski Film will consider it a blatant product placement. However, the truth is it would be way too expensive for us to remove omnipresent brands from the documented reality so we decided to keep them in the picture. At the moment Moët the only proper sponsor and even this brand appeared in the film first and only then there came our agreement. Brands like Orbit or Dynavix are in the story simply because they belong to Polášek’s and Liška’s lives. And that’s what I like about it.
I suppose you are working on several other stories and screenplays – what might be your next film about?
There are several options. With Geisler and Tuček we are currently working on an eco-apocalyptic story called “The Dam” but we are also interested in the tumultuous year 1938 and together we are planning to write a pilot episode to a TV series called Casting which should formally work as a sequel to Polski Film. It’s all open now, though, so we’ll see.
