Animal Crusaders
Premiere 2022
For the first time, we take over the role of executive producer and thus participate in the work during the entire (implementation) process (of realization) – in the development of the script, film preparation, technical support and securing financial resources.
The film Animal crusaders is a Czech-Polish co-production and is the directorial debut of Robin Lipo, a graduate of the Film Academy in Zlín and a prestigious international film school in Łódź, Poland. The film takes place in the environment of environmental activists and promises a raw emotional experience. We want to release it in cinemas in 2022.
“Each film we collaborated on had a strong story and an interesting theme, whether it was alcoholism in Úsměvech smutných mužů, Můj příběh on domestic violence or Smečka on bullying in sports teams. The same applies to Animal Crusaders, where we were fascinated by the controversial environment of environmental activists. From the outside, they can sometimes look like eco-terrorists, our aim is to offer a different perspective on them and make the audience think about the approach to animals and nature in general.” Martin Gazda, producer of IS Produkce.
That’s why we want to choose a realistic or even raw tone in order to evoke emotions in the viewer that persist even after leaving the cinema. The film will be a road movie love story with the background of environmental activism. The central characters of Rebeka and Xavery will be played by a pair of young actors – Jessica Bechyňová from Czechia and Eryk Kulm Jr. from Poland.
Rebeka and Xavery meet during a hitchhiking, then travel together for a few days while getting to know each other. Rebeka lives in an artistic squat with a group of activists in Prague, together they organize concerts, seminars and run package-free shops.
Xavery is impressed by them and joins them. His relationship with Rebeka is weakening, but Xavery’s involvement in working together on a reconstruction of the shop is growing, and he is also active in devising and preparing other events. He’s radicalizing, which Rebeka doesn’t like. In addition, Rebeka finds out that she is pregnant, and she is considering whether it is responsible to bring the child into this world…
Formally, the filming started on Saturday, 4th July, in Hošťálková, where test scenes with both main actors for the teaser were filmed. The main shooting will take place in the summer and autumn of 2021. We want to distribute the film in 2022.
