EMPIRE BUILDERS

Docu-fiction portrait of right-wing populists in a migration crisis. Do people have ideologies or do ideologies have people?

Tomas Mestan is a cameraman and propagandist of Czech Republic's once most vocal anti-Islamic and anti-immigration activist group. As an admirer of big film stories, he builds stories of his own - from crafting and spreading disinformation through transforming the party he works for to building his image of a puppeteer. He takes us behind the scenes of a movement where he has involved his friend, sociologist Petr Hampl, who builds on the story of the clash of civilizations. Named after Boris Vian's absurd drama, the docu-fiction depicts their experience of the world on the backdrop of the migration crisis, following the rise and fall of their political career. Do they really believe what they preach? How are they seen by those around them? Where is the line between reality and fiction in an empire of ever-present ideology?

script: Andran Abramjan / director: Andran Abramjan / DOP: Matěj Piňos, Andran Abramjan / sound: Radim Lapčík / editing: Michal Böhm, Andran Abramjan / producer: Hana Blaha Šilarová / co-producer: Studio FAMU

awards: Cena ARAS 2018, Cena Pavla Kouteckého 2019

festivals: Jeden svět 2018, Festival dei Popoli 2018, Elbe Dock 2019

Czech Republic | 2018 | 83 min | MP4

distribution contact: Hana Blaha Šilarová / +420 602 792 856 / hana@framefilms.cz