THE ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS THIS YEAR'S YOUNG STARS

They are young, talented, and have recently made their film debut for the first time. And very successfully. This is a trio of Czech young stars who will visit the 60th Zlín Film Festival this year, and not only to present their films. Visitors will be able to meet Josef Trojan, Tomáš Dalecký, and Tomáš Mrvík in the cinema, as well as during the planting of the festival tree.

"All three of this year's young stars have something to say to today's young generation and can be great role models for them,"

says artistic director of the Zlín Film Festival Markéta Pášmová, adding that this is actually the meaning and essence of this special festival project.

The first of this year's three acting stars is Josef Trojan, who will bring his film Abstinent, by director David Vigner, to the festival. This intimate Czech psychological drama opens up the topic of young people's addiction to alcohol. In the film, Josef Trojan portrays a young teenager who is being treated at a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. Even though he is only nineteen years old, he is an alcoholic and has also been charged with a crime.

"The role was really big, it followed the whole story, so it was clear to me that in this case I had a lot of responsibility for the result of the film. It stressed me out, but it also motivated me. The director of the film gave me a relatively free hand, for which I am very grateful to him, because thanks to that it became a great school for me,"

he recalls the filming of Trojan.

Markéta Pášmová explains why the organizers of the Zlín Film Festival decided to nominate Josef Trojan for the role of one of the young stars:

"The initial impulse was his performance in the film Abstinent, because it falls exactly into the category of films that we want to show young people. The fact that he subsequently successfully presented himself at the Berlinale festival in the film The Charlatan only underscores his acting qualities and proves his enormous potential. Our choice was clear. "

Last year in Zlín, Tomáš Dalecký shone in the film Scent of Oranges. This year he is returning to the festival again, this time with a new film, The Pack, which will have its premiere here. In addition to him, Tomáš Mrvík, the third festival young star, also played in it. They both agree that filming on the Zlín ice rink in Zlín was challenging.

"Just standing on the ice for a few hours in the gear took almost the last of my strength. Unfortunately, I had only a little preparation for the role because I got it only 2 months before the actual shooting started. I didn't really get on the ice much before that, so I had to rely only on my previous experience on skates,"

recalls Tomáš Dalecký about the filming of The Pack, which took place mainly at the Zlín hockey stadium.

This is also confirmed by Tomáš Mrvík, who also presented himself at the Zlín Film Festival in 2019, in the film Winter Flies.

"I knew it was going to be amazing, but at the same time challenging to shoot on ice. I'd never experienced that before. So it was a challenge for me, which I hope I successfully met,"

says Mrvík.

"Both protagonists of The Pack were a clear choice for us when choosing young stars because they are young promising actors who appeared at our festival last year. We are pleased that they have established themselves and that this year they will again be presenting a premiere film,“

adds Markéta Pášmová.

Visitors to the festival can meet the young Czech stars not only at the screening of their films in the cinema, but also, during the planting festival trees in the University Park. This will build on last year's foreign predecessors Jordanne Jones from Ireland and Eleanor Worthington-Cox from Great Britain. The popular event will take place on Monday, 7 September at 10 a.m.