Drama in post-production
A story about a man who has everything – until one tragic summer day, when he realizes too late that the infant daughter he dropped off at nursery is actually still locked in the back of the car…
Inspired by real events.
“There may be no act of human failing that more fundamentally challenges our society’s views about crime, punishment, justice and mercy.” Gene Weingarten (Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for his article Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?)
PROJECT DETAILS:
DIRECTOR Tereza Nvotova
WRITER Tereza Nvotova, Dušan Budzak
CAST Milan Ondrík, Dominika Morávková
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Adam Suzin
MUSIC Pjoni
EDITOR Nikodem Chabior
PRODUCERS DANAE Production (SK), moloko film (CZ), LAVA film (PL)
BROADCASTERS Czech Television (CZ), TV JOJ (SK)
DISTRIBUTORS: Cinemart (SK, CZ), Nowe Horyzonty (PL)
DEVELOPMENT :
“A real-life tragedy inspires Tereza Nvotová’s drama Father” CINEUROPA ARTICLE
Selected to Co-production showcase Goes To Cannes at Marché du Film, Cannes Film Festival 2024
Selected to co-production forums: When East Meets West, Baltic Event, Sofia Meetings
nominated for the Coprocity Development Award
Father was supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Czech Film Fund and the Polish Film Institute.
“When I heard this story for the first time—and realized it was not unique—I couldn’t even imagine it in a film. It felt too overwhelming for audiences. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Not because of the tragedy itself, but because what happened violated the basic principle that we all somehow believe in: that playing fair in life protects us from harm and that disasters only happen when we make a big mistake. Of course, forgetting a child in a car is a mistake, but according to scientific research, it’s a potential mistake that is hard-wired into all of our brains. If it doesn’t happen to you, you’re just lucky. The fact that all of us could kill our own children in this way blew my mind. It made me empathize immensely with someone going through this experience. That’s why I decided to make a film about what it’s like to become a victim of your own brain. I hope the film provokes the audience to contemplate on their own, but most of all, I would like it to open people’s hearts, so that we accept our fragility and imperfections and do not judge others or ourselves too quickly.” Tereza Nvotova