17/12/2021 - The Slovenian-born, Prague-based filmmaker’s latest project intertwines a dark coming-of-age drama and the adult theme of failed parenthood

Award-winning Slovenian-born and Prague-based filmmaker Olmo Omerzu currently has two films on the festival circuit, Bird Atlas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile] and The Last Day of Patriarchy, and is already preparing his next feature-length project. The new work, titled Ungrateful Beings, is germinating under the banner of the Czech production outfit Endorfilm headed by Jiří Konečný, who has produced all of Omerzu’s previous feature-length endeavours. The award-winning producer-director team is joined by Nebojša Pop-Tasić, who co-wrote Omerzu’s Family Film [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile], as well as Czech playwright Kasha Jandáčková.

While Bird Atlas marked Omerzu’s shift towards a story centred on adult characters, Ungrateful Beings will be a cross-over between the director’s coming-of-age dramas and an adult-themed story unfolding in the clash of a daughter with her father. Recently divorced David takes his two teenage children on a camping trip near the Adriatic Sea. His daughter Klára, suffering from anorexia, gets entangled with local bad boy Denis, who becomes bad news for David after a shocking incident. The family drama continues after a return back to the Czech Republic where David’s ex-wife confronts him about his failures.

The story mixes a dysfunctional family, a summer romance, parental failings and father-daughter alienation in a combination of drama, thriller, and comedy. The director said he will strive to portray a dialogue between two perspectives, parental and offspring. Ungrateful Beings will develop a thematic thread started in Bird Atlas, about patriarchal missteps. Esteemed Polish editor Jaroslaw Kaminski (The Lure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnieszka Smoczyńska
film profile], The Other Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile]) will be cutting the film.

Czech producer Konečný confirmed to Cineuropa that the project is in the early stage of financing, although the shoot is planned for autumn 2022. Post-production will unfold throughout 2023 and the world premiere is expected for 2024. Ungrateful Beings is planned as a wider European co-production open for additional Central and Eastern European co-production and financing partners.

Ungrateful Beings is being produced by Czech production outfit Endorfilm in co-production with Slovenian company Cvinger Film. The Czech Film Fund supported the development, while the Slovenian Film Centre supported the production. The project does not yet have a sales agent.