Leaving Before Dawn

Country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production year

1977

Runtime

15 min

Category

film

Genre

étude

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent filmshort

Original title

Odejít před svítáním

Czech title

Odejít před svítáním

English title

Leaving Before Dawn

Synopsis

German soldiers are holding a mass of men, women, and children in a prison in very poor conditions. One of the elder wants to open the window because he is having problems breathing. Another prisoner, who has begun ordering others around out of fear, refuses to allow the man to open it. One of the people lying on the floor is a young man called Felix, who has taken a little girl called Hana under his wing, and talks to her although the girl cannot hear anything. She has lost her hearing during a bomb raid. She calls for her grandmother and is frightened. Felix calms her down and offers an apple to soothe her thirst. The two spend the night talking and sleeping. In the morning, Felix opens the window despite the orders to keep it shut. The blazing sun blinds everybody. Suddenly, shots are heard.

Cast

Kateřina Thořová

holčička Hana

Jan Prokopec

Felix

Vladimír Salač

brýlatý muž

Magda Maděrová

žena-vězeňkyně

Vlastimila Vlková

žena-vězeňkyně

Jana Šléhoferová

žena-vězeňkyně

Josef Hochmann

Petr Vaďura

Crew and creators

Screenstory

Zdeněk Troška

Director of Photography

Ota Kopřiva

Production Manager

Václav Petr

Production info

Original Title

Odejít před svítáním

Czech Title

Odejít před svítáním

English Title

Leaving Before Dawn

Category

film

Typology

featurenon-theatrical distributionstudent film

Genre

étude

Student film

Origin country

Czechoslovakia

Copyright

1977

Production Year

1977

Production

Studio FAMU

Technical info

Duration typology

short film

Duration in minutes

15 min

Original length in metres

407 meters

Distribution carrier

35mm

Aspect ratio

1:1,37

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Sound system/format

mono

Versions

Czech

Dialogue languages

Czech

Subtitles languages

without subtitles

Opening/End credits languages

Czech

Awards

Vítěz

Festival: 16. filmový festival mladých Banská Bystrica

1978
Banská Bystrica / Czechoslovakia
Zdeněk Troška