‘Waves’ Writer-Director Jiří Mádl & Cast Discuss Shining A Light On Brave Czech Journalists During Prague Spring – Contenders International

Before he began his career as a writer-director, Jiří Mádl was at journalism school when he first found out about the story of a group of brave Czech journalists who would later become the subject of his third feature Waves.

“As a punishment for not having proper attendance at the seminars, I got this assignment to read a historic book about Czechoslovakian Radio,” Mádl said, discussing his movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International showcase. “I knew that I really wanted to turn this into a screenplay and it’s stayed in my head since 2009.”

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Waves, which is the Czech Republic’s official entry into the International Oscar race this year, is set during the 1968 Prague Spring and explores the dramatic events of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia from the point of view of journalists working in the International News Office of Czechoslovak Radio.

Set during a period where rock-and-roll student rebellions were changing the world, the story follows radio station employee Tomáš (played by Vojtĕch Vodochodský), who finds himself caught between secret services and his revolutionary brother as the station broadcasts a confidential recording, forcing him to confront history head-on.

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When researching the film, Mádl said he was lucky enough to meet four of the actual journalists – including Vera Štovíčková (played by Tana Pauhofová), the only female journalist of the group – who were able to provide him with details of the event. They were, he says, “the primary source” for the film’s research. “I would say 80% of the information came from Vera, the only woman in the newsroom.”

Vodochodský said his character Tomáš is someone who “represents someone we can all see ourselves in – someone who is ordinary and is thrown into extraordinary circumstances. He’s not a traditional hero, especially at the beginning of the story …but he becomes one through his courage and his moral decisions.”

Though the story of Waves takes place during a monumental period of modern Czech history, Mádl stressed that “the historical event is only the background of it.”

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“In the center of the story, there’s the dilemma that people have … about whether you choose to go for something that is beneficial to you or whether you go for something that brings you objective disadvantage but you consider to be a good step to take and this is something that really attracted me,” he said. “I think this is something that translates even into today’s world because once again, we face these decisions.”

Mádl added: “It’s not the history that is important, but it’s the intimate story of the two brothers and of the individual decisions.”

Check out the panel video above.

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