An Ordinary Legend: Olda Říha as Catapult of Fate

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Felix Hill
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1 director: Jan Gogola junior An Ordinary Legend: Olda Říha as Catapult of Fate

2 This is a fi lm encounter with a man who regards strokes of misfortune as salutary lessons. Meet Olda Říha at a time when the band of his life has died and his world with it, and in an advanced age he has to start from scratch again. The story of the founding member and leader of the group Katapult, who is going through a crisis, will be premiered on the International Documentary Film Festival 27 th of October. The fi lm was co-produced by CIREAL and HBO Czech Republic and directed by Jan Gogola junior. In cinemas from 3th of november 2011

3 The prologue of this unique situation documentary, whose four chapters follow the seasons, takes place in January 2009, at the funeral of Říha s band member and friend, Jiří Dědek Šindelář. The storyline consists of Říha s experiences during the year, absurd situations full of surprises, which it is pointless to reveal in advance: How will he cope with the death of his lifelong friend and what is his attitude to death? Will he go on playing? What does his case tell us about the coexistence of show business alongside everyday routine? What form can his personal life take? Does anything other than music fulfi l him? Does he believe in anything apart from himself? Director Gogola creates, in the spirit of some of his previous fi lms (Nonstop, Česko na provázku, Hranice po našimu), open situations with open endings: Is Říha a real maverick? Is there humility in his coarseness? Just how convincing are his refl ections on music, and not only on music? The key collaborators of Jan Gogola junior were producer and editor Ladislav Cmíral, cameraman Vladan Vála, sound engineer Jiří Melcher, and dramaturge Martin Mareček. Katapult In the more than thirty-fi ve years of its existence the rock band Katapult has become one of the Czechoslovak (and Czech) greatest phenomena in popular music. The founder and leader of the band is guitarist and singer Oldřich Říha. The second protagonist was his lifelong friend, bass player Jiří Dědek Šindelář. Different drummers have alternated in the band: Vladimír Krampol, Anatoli Kohout, Jaroslav Kadlec, Milan Tutsch, Jiří Stárek, Pavel Lopata, Milan Balcar, Michal Šindelář, Karel Káša Jahn.

and what is his attitude to death? Will he go on playing? What does his case tell us about the coexistence of show business alongside everyday routine? What form can his personal life take?

4 Despite alternating periods of favour and disfavour on the part of the Communist censors Katapult has played during its long history about seven thousand gigs. In sales of recorded music it ranks second behind Olympic. Katapult won twice the Golden Nightingale award, in 1979 and In 2007 the group was inducted into the Beat Hall of Fame, and two years later it entered the Music Hall of Fame. In 2009, Oldřich Říha became, according to the MF Dnes newspaper, one of the Czechs of the Year. Director Jan Gogola junior (1971) A graduate in Journalism at Charles University and of Documentary Production at Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts In Prague (FAMU), Jan Gogola works as director, screenwriter, dramaturge, publicist and teacher at FAMU. He has also worked as editor for Czech Television, teacher and lecturer at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, and the Documentary Film Institute. His fi lms have received awards at national and international festivals (Jihlava, Krakow, Leipzig, Syracuse...). As dramaturge, he has participated in dozens of award-winning fi lms made by his colleagues. Filmography: Vila Inocent (1997) Deník babičky Němcové (1999) Slečna Braník, Panelák je kamarád (cyklus Praha mizerná) Nonstop (2000) Panenka proti zbytku světa (2001) Národ sobě aneb České moře v osmnácti přílivech (2002) Přes hranici - České Velenice evropské (2004) Mám ráda nudný život (česko-německý projekt Breathless) (2009) Česko na provázku (2010) Hranice po našimu (2011). CIREAL productions An experienced fi lm and TV production company, owned by Ladislav Cmíral. It specializes particularly in the development and implementation of new TV documentary and entertainment formats (such as the docusoap Ptáčata and the improvisation show KOMEDIOMAT, respectively). After completing the Rock života project, CIREAL has continued its successful cooperation with director Jan Gogola jr., this time on a feature length portrait of Jožo Ráž. Tentatively entitled Elán života a smrti, the fi lm is expected to be released in 2014.

In 2007 the group was inducted into the Beat Hall of Fame, and two years later it entered the Music Hall of Fame.

5 Contacts Offi cial page CIREAL: CIREAL production: Ladislav Cmíral: HBO: Pavla Brožková: Distribution Czech Republic/Slovakia: Verbascum Imago: Alena Faiglová: Offi cial page:

eu HBO: Pavla Brožková: pavla.brozkova@hbo.

BRNO A JIŽNÍ MORAVA BEZ HRANIC brnobezhranic.cz

Project press release BRNO A JIŽNÍ MORAVA BEZ HRANIC brnobezhranic.cz Project held under the auspices of: Bc. ROMAN ONDERKA, MBA, Mayor of the Statutory city of Brno, JUDr. MICHAL HAŠEK, Governor of the