PRAGUE: Czech director/producer Jan Strejcovský is currently in production together with his first long documentary Is It Price It? / Má to cenu?, which is estimated to be finished in 2024.
To find out art’s price isn’t easy because it speaks to people’s personal experience, tastes and expectations. This documentary a(u)ction essay explores the true value of art in contrast with its price as an investment on the art market. A mosaic of bizarre stories, the film tracks the machinery of art collectors, businessmen and artists inside the art market’s pyramid. It also captures the artists feeding the market with their work, and it maps their relationship with gallerists, who sell art regardless of the price.
“The thought of a movie in regards to the changes in collecting and dealing art has been on my mind since my Master’s Degree at FAMU. I actually have been investigating related topics from the very starting of my filmmaking profession: money, power and standing on the one hand, and the chances of free artistic expression on the opposite. My goal is to make use of the film to indicate the present methods and principles of dealing art also within the context of the socio-historical situation of our times”, Jan Strejcovský said within the statement.
The film is produced by Jakub Wagner and Martin Kohout through the Czech GPO Platform. Currently, the entire budget is roughly 102,000 EUR / 2.5 m CZK.
The project is supported by the Czech Film Fund with 44,704 EUR / 1.1 m CZK (for production) and with 18,322 EUR / 450,000 CZK (for development), in addition to by the Czech TV with 20,400 EUR / 500,000 CZK and 18,500 EUR / 452,000 CZK in-house.
The shooting began within the autumn of 2020 and can wrap within the autumn of 2023.
Jan Strejcovský has been specializing in art and business topics since his very first documentaries, which were shot in his native Czech Republic and in addition in Norway, Japan and the USA. He has also collaborated on documentary series for renowned galleries (National Gallery Prague) and for the Czech TV. Together together with his colleagues from the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU, he founded the production company GPO Platform with the goal to provide independent long documentaries.
Production Information:
Producer:
GPO Platform (Czech Republic)
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Credits:
Director: Jan Strejcovský
Scriptwriter: Jan Strejcovský
Script advisors: Jan Gogola jr., Jan Šípek
DOPs: Patrik Balonek, Jiří Strejcovský jr., Jan Březina
Editor: Michal Böhm
