Entertainment

Up Again skating documentary sets Ji.hlava premiere and HBO Max launch

Jonah VillalbaPublished 15m ago2 min readBased on 2 sources
Up Again skating documentary sets Ji.hlava premiere and HBO Max launch
Image by manfredrichter from Pixabay

A three-year portrait of a champion skater is about to reach the screen.

Up Again, known in Czech as Znovu vstaň, follows three-time Czech figure skating champion Barbora Vránková between the ages of 15 and 18, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It is the feature debut of Czech director and composer Eliška Andršová Cílková, who directed the film and composed its score.

The film will have its world premiere — its first public screening — at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival on Oct. 24, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It will play in two festival strands. They are First Lights and the Czech Joy Competition.

The cinema release follows fast. Pilot Film and nutprodukce will release Up Again in Czech cinemas on Oct. 29, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Five days separate festival and cinemas. That is a tight turn.

Then comes streaming. The film will become available on HBO Max in all European territories from Dec. 4, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That sets a five-week gap between cinemas and streaming. In industry terms, that gap is the theatrical window, the period cinemas hold a film before it moves to homes.

Behind the film is a three-way co-production. The partners are nutprodukce, HBO Europe and FAMU in Prague, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lead producers are Lukáš Kokeš for nutprodukce, Hanka Kastelicová and Tereza Bóna Keilová for HBO Europe, and Lenka Medová and Tomáš Šimon for Studio FAMU. Support came from the Czech Audiovisual Fund and Creative Europe MEDIA.

The craft team is small. Cinematography is by Tomáš Frkal and Kryštof Hlůže, according to the Czech Film Center. Editing is credited to Eliška Cílková. Cílková’s dual role as director and composer keeps music close to the story.

For audiences new to the project, this means a short wait. Festival first. Cinemas next. Streaming in December.

The trailer was premiered exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter. The premiere at Ji.hlava will be the first chance to see the full film with an audience.

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