“The hedgehog chews cigarettes and spits on his back. Nicotine is a repellent. Even mouflons do strange things.” Biologist and filmmaker Jan Hošek about the heroes of the film Planet Prague
Badgers, dormouse, chickens and mouflons live in the middle of Prague. A new film called Planeta Praha was also made about them. “If a cat played, it would be a negative character,” laughs biologist and filmmaker Jan Hošek. The director talked about experiences with mouflons or hedgehogs that collect cigarettes in Close Encounters with moderator Vasil Fridrich. In the recording, you can hear why plants play only a small role in the film. But also about the fact that foxes are trying to penetrate Prague.
The name of filmmaker and biologist Jan Hošek is in the credits of the new family film Planeta Praha, which is dedicated to nature in the Czech capital. The heroes of the documentary are only animals. Mouflon, blackbird, hen and dormouse. But also a hedgehog.
“For nature films, everything rarely turns out the way we dreamed it would. We wanted to film the hedgehog’s strange behavior. When a hedgehog finds a cigarette butt on the street, he chews it. He’s comical about it. He rolls and spits on his back“ describes Hošek. “Hedgehogs apparently do this because nicotine is a repellent.“
Video Trailer Planet Prague
Brouk is a boring actor
How is the script for animal films created? “We must know what we want“ explains Vasil Fridrich’s host in Close Encounters. “For example, some experts told us: Above all, there should be no bugs, that’s boring.“
“The most important thing was that each of the heroes was a different animal species,“ explains. “If there was a cat in the film, it would clearly be a negative character,“ comments on the mysterious life in the middle of Prague, where badgers also live.
The secret of mouflons
He also filmed about mouflons with his colleagues on the grounds of the Krč hospital where they live. “We have seen strange behavior. But I don’t want to give it away so that people will come to the cinema,“ smiles the author of the film, on which ten cameramen appear.