Movies by Martin Ryšavý

Country of Dream

The Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic is now in a very difficult situation. A part of its members are, thanks to the economic crisis, at very difficult economic conditions, have to leave the familiar method of earning money and find new one. In this situation the new Vietnamese immigrants are becoming their competitors, because they try to look for a job in Czech companies with the help of a personal agency. The majority of economic immigrants come to the Czech Republic already with huge debts for intermediation their journey and extreme expectations as well as without any knowledge of local language, environment and the Czech law i.e. without knowledge of their obligations and rights. All above mentioned factors often lead to higher vulnerability of these people from the trade with people and exploitation point of view apart from the fact that many of them are thus more or less involuntary put on the verge of the law.

The film Country of Dreams gives a report about a very oppressive and often even a situation of a personal tragedy of some of them and adds knowledgeable comments from local Vietnamese settlers and competent people, who are on behalf of the Czech Republic in charge of immigrants, whether they are high public officers, lawyers or delegates of Czech businessmen, which employ Vietnamese immigrants.

This film was created with the support of State Fund Czech Republic for supporting Czech cinematography and Czech Television.

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Banana Kids

The Vietnamese community represents the third biggest national minority in the Czech Republic. It consists mainly of small tradesmen, people originally from poverty areas in Vietnam, who have been migrated to our country in the course of better living since 90s. Whereas they spend most of the time working, speak badly Czech and feel homesick, their kids learn Czech at school, become accustomed to Czech environment more quickly, speak Czech better than Vietnamese and have only a weak and not clear relation to their country.

The film Banana Kids shows portraits of some of them, whereas it provides space for pupils from lower classes of the primary school, secondary school students and University students or graduates. Thanks to them the film allows Czech viewers to look into the specific and visually very inspired environment of the Vietnamese community, which is usually considered to be very reserved, and better understand the complicated situation of the families, whose members as a result of the life in a foreign environment and in a community, which is bound by traditional conventions, are exposed to the risk of a strong generation conflict, weakening of mutual ties and a disunion.

This film was created with the support of State Fund Czech Republic for supporting Czech cinematography.

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Who Will Teach Me the Half of the Character

About the good idea of uncle Ho, respect for teachers and return to homeland or Traveling Vietnam in the footsteps of Czechoslovak – Vietnamese friendship

The document “Who Will Teach Me the Half of the Character” follows the footsteps of former Czechoslovak – Vietnamese cooperation and seeks to sum up its importance, regardless of its close political aspects, for lives of few particular Vietnamese citizens and also to report on contemporary Vietnam through experience of local people, who surprisingly aren’t separated from Czech by language barrier.

On the basis of Agreement of cultural cooperation between Czechoslovakia and Vietnam from 1950’s, few dozens of Vietnamese students were annually given scholarships on Czechoslovak universities. This cooperation was terminated after 1989, but Vietnamese students still remember their teachers and socialist Czechoslovakia, which gave them opportunity to achieve education in the times, when most of their fellow citizens and relatives were sorely affected by aftermath of war with French and Americans. There may be no other country in the world with a group of Czech speaking native citizens of comparable size and regarding this fact, the document can be considered a unique evidence of this extraordinary phenomenon at least for Czech spectator. And only thanks to this phenomenon, the film staff could visit the variety of places in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnamese countryside with and speak of the experience with surprising obviosity and immediacy.

The appraising and generally festal mood of the document is supported by the fact that it was filmed during 30th anniversary of ending of Vietnamese – American war and jubilee of ancient Vietnam king dynasty of Hung.

This film was created with the support of State Funf Czech Republic for supporting Czech cinematography.

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