Gyumri Czech Republic
2008, 68min.
Prod./Dir.: Jana Ševčíková, Script: Ivan Arsenjev, Dir. of Phot.: Jaromír Kačer, Stano Slušný, Sound: Kateřina Langrová, Edit.: Anna Ryndová
On December 7, l988, thousands of people died during an earthquake in the Armenian city of Gyumri. More than a third of them were children. Bereaved parents responded by naming newly born babies after their deceased brothers or sisters, which in many cases led to problems with identification. Many still believe that the soul of their departed brother or sister lives with or within them, as shown in a documentary about the life after the disaster, shot over three years.
Production Company
FILMSEVCIKOVASEZNAM.CZ
| Ševčíková, Jana Jana Ševčíková (born 1953, Prague, Czech Republic)
With films that reflect on life in contemporary Eastern Europe, Ševcíková has distinguished herself as a practitioner of poetic documentary. She graduated in documentary filmmaking from Prague's Film Academy (FAMU, 1983) with the ethnographic essay Piemule which studies the descendants of Czech emigrants living in Romania. She produced her own short documentary Jakub, 1992. In 1991 she was awarded grants from the Ministry of Culture for a film about Min Tanaka and for the post-production of two of her films. These films brought her success at a number of international festivals. Her films have been shown at festivals in Berlin, Strasbourg, Karlovy Vary and Cracow.
Filmography
Wordy Children (1983), Piemule (1984), Tulakona (1986), Jakub (1992), The Old Believers (2001), The Rite of Spring (2002), Gyumri (2008).
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