Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #129. Krajina ve stínu – Bohdan Sláma

Krajina ve stínu

Czech Republic’s Bohdan Sláma makes his first period piece with his sixth film, the black and white Country in the Shadow, a WWII drama which reunites him with his Ice Mother stars Zuzana Kronerova and Pavel Novy. The title is produced by Jindrich Motyl and lensed by Marek Divis (who has worked with Slama on every feature since his 2005 sophomore film Something Like Happiness). Sláma’s 2001 debut The Wild Bees went to Rotterdam and he competed in San Sebastian with Something Like Happiness. 2008’s The Country Teacher premiered out of Venice Days and then he competed in the World Dramatic lineup at Sundance in 2012 with Four Suns. 2017’s Ice Mother premiered in Berlin’s Forum, won Best Screenplay at Tribeca and was selected as his country’s official Foreign Language Academy Award submission.

Gist: Ivan Arsenjev’s script, based on a true story, chronicles the events of a village on the Czech-Austrian border from the 1930s to 1950s, where genocide occurred due to fallout between German citizens and Czechs who collaborated with the Nazi regime during the war.

Release Date/Prediction: Slama was in post-production as of July 2019. A return to Berlin, potentially in competition, would be entirely plausible, otherwise we expect to see him pop up at fall fests, potentially TIFF, where his titles are often programmed (and could also elevate him to Platform).