A new animated film originated in Czech-Japanese co-production

Animated film is a very important part of Czech cinema. Names like Jiri Trnka, Hermina Tyrlova or Bretislav Pojar are very well known to every animated film fan. Friends of Bretislav Pojar's work can now enjoy a new film. As Czech animated film is well known even in Japan, Japanese film producers asked him to make a film based on a story written by the Japanese writer Yeto Sato.

"Hiroshi - Tears in the wind" - as the film is called - tells the story of the friendship between a little boy from a city and a man who hosts him in his cottage in mountains, far away from civilization. Even though the story is very simple, it nicely depicts the feelings of a little child who learns about nature and builds a new relationship to another person.

Bretislav Pojar liked the story as well, and agreed to animate it.

"In my own youth I was a big fan of woodcraft, so this story of a little child in the mountains and nature is very familiar to me."

But the story takes place in Japan, it is a story of a Japanese boy. Wasn't it difficult for you to understand it?

"No. After all this is a story of a child. I don't think it is only about a Japanese child. Of course, there is in the story a Japanese boy, a Japanese painter, and Japanese parents but this could be the story of any child in the world. The setting isn't typically Janpanese. It could equally be European or North American.... So I don't think it is typically Japanese."

Can you compare this film to any other films you have made in the past or is it something very different?

"It is very different. This is a sort of documentary story without big dramatic moments. It is only a description of a summer in the mountains. So it was very difficult and I was curious how the film would turn out."

Is it easy to tell the same story to children from different countries, different cultures?

It is sometimes difficult. The spirit of children is different; the spirit of the nation and of the language is different. But if you are happy and you find a good story, it is possible."