WomenCinemakers vol V WomenCinemakers vol V | Page 57

were working with full concentration and whole the
time perfectly in the characters... I ll tell you, with
some of actors I even don´t know their real
characters as whole shoot they were so
concentrated on the character whom they
represented.. I called them not with their real names
but with the names of the characters...
Gorgously shot on RED, Ujo Viktor uses an
elegant, simple camera style which favors a
restrained naturalism that is by turns handsome
and melancholic, reminding us of Šar nas
Bartas'cinema. What were some of your aesthetic
decisions?
Viktoria: My aesthetic decisions were very much
simple. I wanted to shoot story of Ujo Viktor - of my
real uncle Viktor and whole my family as realistic
and true as possible. We even shot in the same
hotel where the real incident in between my family
some time back happened. I wanted to make kind of
personal intimate and natural cinema, not any
stylized artificial show of.
That  was  my  intention  and  my  DOP  Jan  Skriečka
really did his best in this matte r.
What do you hope viewers will take away from
the film?
Viktoria: I just believe that film will find its way
towards the audience and it will share its true
message. Any time and anywhere as time and
space for art doesn´t matter.
We have previously mentioned Šar nas Bartas,
who among international directors influenced
your work?
Viktoria: For me the great personal inspiration are
directors and my teachers from Czech new wave as
I  mentioned  before   Věra  Chytilová,  Jan  Němec,
Still from Ujo Victor (Prague)
interview by Melissa Duncan(Belgium)
cinemakers // 23
Viktoria: I enjoyed whole process itself very
much. From very beginning till the end. It was
really amazing and challenging experience, and
I learned a lot. It took us whole tree years to
make this movie. From the first draft of the story
till the final version of the edit and sound... For
me to shoot film means to dedicate part of life
time. Same like when you are carrying a baby.
You give him everything. Your own blood, your
own energy, your own time, your own love. I was
also lucky I had really amazing crew without
whom this shoot might not be impossible. I am
very  much  thankful  to  my  DOP  Jan  Skriečka,
who was not afraid to shoot with me sometimes
even around 20 hours per day, as we had very
much tight budget and we had to shoot so many
scenes. Actors also did their great job - they
Can you tell us something about the shooting
of your film? What did you enjoy about
working on this project?