The film director Planeta Praha is accompanied by a book of the same name
Update: 26/07/2022 13:13
Issued by: 26/07/2022, 13:13
Prague – Director Jan Hošek’s film Planeta Praha, which follows the documentary Planeta Česko, is accompanied by a book of the same name. The film, which has been in the making for two years, will hit theaters on August 4. Ten cameramen recorded footage of the unexpected animal neighbors of the metropolis’ residents thanks to state-of-the-art technology from an exceptionally close range. The authors presented the film to journalists today.
“We understand the book as an extension of the film, it supplements what could not be filmed. The publication has 67 chapters, each of which is dedicated to a different phenomenon. It more or less presents the city by describing the opportunities it gives to nature, both animals and plants,” she said ČTK Jana Kostelecká from the Jakost publishing house.
The book was created concurrently with the filming of the film, which was directed by director Hošek and a team of professional collaborators and film colleagues. Experts became authors of book texts, cameramen became photographers.
The film, with a budget of 20 million crowns, among other things, answers the questions of how mouflons got from the Kunratic Forest to the Thomayer hospital, why herons live in the zoo, why the green-footed hen doesn’t like nutria, what the steppe ant and the slave ant are fighting for or why patriots are waiting for the first subway.
“All the shots were complex and time-consuming. Filming animals in their natural behavior is, therefore, the environment of a number of topics we were unable to realize,” said Hošek. Commentary on the film was narrated by Jiří Macháček.
Through animal heroes, Planeta Praha will offer a new perspective on places in Prague where one would not expect wildlife. The green-legged hen nested in the sludge tank of the Bubeneč wastewater treatment plant, the peregrine falcon nests on the chimney in Holešovice, and the bush mouse was born not far from Franz Kafka’s grave at the New Jewish Cemetery.
Few would also suspect that Petřín is the Prague home of the great dormouse, which may have lived here before humans, and the Slatina reservoir in Dubč serves as a roost for hundreds of thousands of Central Bohemian starlings. And thanks to the fact that the Vltava almost never freezes in Prague, some birds stopped migrating on it.
“The aim of the film Planet Prague is to inspire viewers to discover the stories of our close animals, which we usually do not pay attention to. At the same time, we would like to motivate greater responsibility towards nature not only in Prague, but in all cities while preserving its diversity,” added Hošek.
Natural science documentaries are among the most popular among Czech viewers, but most of the productions are about exotic animals in distant regions. Director Marián Polák has already proven with his film Planeta Česko that domestic nature offers an exciting environment. His popularly successful documentary showing the adventures of animals and plants living in often unexpected places was nominated for the 2018 Czech Lion Award and the Award for the Best European Documentary Film for Children and Youth.