100 years after Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, Czech commercial broadcaster Nova TV has packaged 12 short crime episodes for Drakuluv svagr (Dracula's Brother-in-Law), touted at the European Film Market by Prague Filmexport Distribution. Shot on 16mm - all written by Miloslav Svandrlik and directed by Karel Smyczek, with Boris Rössner as Dracula's brother-in-law in No. 11 - the 19-25 minute instalments will be aired this spring.'
They all possess a slightly morbid sense of humour,' said managing director Marta Koernerova, who set up Filmexport Prague Distribution with Jitka Slavikova in 1993, from the remains of the state agency, Czechoslovak Filmexport.
Koernerova and Slavikova brought with them the full library of 800 features, produced at the then government-run Barrandov and Zlin studios - including the numerous films which were banned during the Communist reign.
Among the 200 titles, they are actively working with, are two Czechoslovak Oscar winners from the 1960s, J Kadar-M Klos' Obchod na korze (Shop on the Main Street, 1965) and Jiri Menzel's Ostre sledovane vlaky (Closely Watched Trains, 1967).
They are also representing the 1992 nominee, Obecna skola (The Elementary School) by Czech director Jan Sverak, whose Kolya reached the final selection of candidates for this year's Foreign Language Oscar. At the European Film Market, Koernerova reported on strong foreign interest for the packages of Czech films for children and youth audiences picked from the extensive catalogue. 'Admittedly we are mainly handling old product, but the Nova TV acquisition is the first step towards adding new films and television series to our catalogue,' she said.
Jørn Rossing Jensen
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