Dark Blue World a "gala" film on the international scene

Jan Sverak, director of the Academy Award winning film "Kolya", has premiered his latest film "Dark Blue World" to the international film community. The film has been one of the hits of the 26th Toronto International Film Festival, which is currently under way, and was greeted with enthusiastic applause. Nicole Klement has more.

Dark Blue World

"Dark Blue World" is the product of a five-year, multimillion-dollar joint venture between the father and son team, Zdenek and Jan Sverak. Using breathtaking wide-screen cinematography and dialogue in both Czech and English, Sverak's film tells the tale of a political prisoner in 1950s Stalinist Czechoslovakia, Franta Slama (Ondrej Vetchy), who recounts his WWII flying experiences with his best friend Karel Vojtisek (Krystof Hadek). When the Nazis occupy Czechoslovakia a handful of pilots flee to England and enlist in the Royal Air Force. Karel's plane is shot down and he shelters in the home of Susan Whitmore (Tara Fitzgerald), with whom he falls in love. However, Karel's relationship becomes threatened when Franta meets Susan and the two fall in love with the same woman.

"Dark Blue World's" position as "gala" film at the festival, where 300 international films are being shown, is a great achievement. The annual Toronto International Film Festival, running September 6th to the 15th, is a highly anticipated event in the North American film industry. This festival began in 1976 as the "festival of festivals" and has become an ideal platform for premiering international films in North America. The acclaim received at this festival may foretell Sverak's continuing ability to produce films of Oscar winning calibre.

The Toronto festival was the first opportunity to see Dark Blue World in North America, and the film will go on broader release in the US and Canada next year.