The company’s portfolio includes films that have been screened or awarded at major international film festivals including Berlinale, IDFA, CPH:DOX, and Visions du Réel, received national awards such as the Czech Lions, and have been released theatrically in Germany, Spain, the UK, or streamed on Netflix.
Focused on auteur-driven and highly creative cinema, and operating within a network of international co-productions, Somatic Films collaborates with partners in France, Germany, Austria or the USA, with the involvement of broadcasters such as ARTE or Czech Television.
Somatic Films produces films by internationally acclaimed authors including Viera Čákanyová, Klára Tasovská, Martin Kollár, Anna Kryvenko and Lynne Siefert.
I am Not Everything I want to be
documentary, 89 min, writer/director – Klára Tasovská
After the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková strives to break free from the constraints of the repressive Czechoslovakian regime and embarks on a long journey towards freedom.
Premiere: Berlinale 2024 (Panorama)
Festivals: CPH:DOX, IndieLisboa, Karlovy Vary, IDFA,, Camden, Viennale…
Co-production: Nutprodukcia, Mischief Films, ARTE GEIE, Czech Television
Sales: Square Eyes
Chronicle
documentary essay, director – Martin Kollar
A country awakens from a deep winter sleep. An incomprehensible and absurd world slowly unfolds before the camera, imbued with strangeness, even though we are familiar with its sounds, rhythms and colours. Then the stakes become higher, and the suspense grows. The shadow of ongoing collapse looms over Chronicle, but it is not spectacular.
Producer: Punkchart Films
Co-production: Somatic Films, Slovak Television and Radio
Premiere: Visions du Réel (International Medium Length & Short Film Competition)
Bardo
experimental animated documentary, 25 min, writer/director – Viera Čákanyová
Deep breath, experiences that dig even deeper, and dark ambient as their companion. Inspired by Bardo, the Tibetan name for the liminal state between death and rebirth, Viera Čákanyová embarks on a fascinating introspective journey towards darkness. Through generative animation, she sets matter and thoughts into motion. In the end, returning to reality may be the greatest challenge.
Premiere: FID Marseille (Compétition Flash)
Co-production: guča films / Sales: DiscoSailing
Supported by Czech Audiovisual Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Trailer
This House is Undamaged
feature documentary, expected 80 min, writer/director – Anna Kryvenko
Documentary that explores the transformation of Mariupol, a Ukrainian city destroyed by the Russian invasion in 2022. Through careful deconstruction of images, social media ads, and archival footage, the film reveals the harsh reality of a city that is being rapidly rebuilt to hide the signs of war.
Supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, Czech Audiovisual Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Valley of The Night
hybrid documentary, expected 90 min, writer/director – Lynne Siefert
A science fiction documentary that envisions a near future world in Phoenix, Arizona, the hottest city in the United States, where nighttime becomes a place of natural refuge as people adapt to survive the extreme temperatures.
Supported by Sundance Institute / Sandbox, Creative Europe MEDIA, Czech Audiovisual Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation
Presented at: Ji.hlava IDFF (winner of New Vision U.S.), AFO Olomouc (winner of Sandbox Prize)
