Court rules filmmakers must pay back 54 million crown bank loan

Prague’s Municipal Court has ruled that filmmaker Juraj Jakubisko and his wife Deana will have to pay back an outstanding 54 million crown loan owed to Česká spořitelna - funds provided by the bank for the making of the 2008 film Bathory. The bank has a bill of exchange for the amount which it said should originally been paid back by the end of 2008, meaning the borrowers were in default. The ruling can still be appealed – a move reportedly being considered by Mrs Jakubisková who was present at the court session on Monday. In addition, the Jakubiskos reportedly also have a number of other legal disputes with the bank. The film Bathory, which won a Czech Lion award for Best Art Direction, cost roughly 328 million crowns (or roughly 17 million US dollars) to produce.