Section: POLSKIE HORYZONTY: The Female Gaze

Ochránce

The Defender

Tereza Kopáčová
Czech Republic, 2019, 129 Min

From the classroom to the underworld. In this gripping “Czech Noir” crime series, set in an unusual setting, youth counsellor Aleš Pelán is sent to schools in order to investigate mysterious cases of bullying and sexual harassment which, in some cases, went as far as murder. These stories shake the Czech education system, speaking as they do of the little reported on dark sides of an entire school system.

Three boys bully their teacher Lida. When Aleš stands up for her, he himself becomes a target and is besieged with allegations of having sexually molested schoolgirls. This, however, is just the beginning of a campaign of harassment, at the end of which Lida is dead and Aleš decides to quit his job as a teacher in order to solve and prevent the reoccurrence of such cases. The road is rocky however; first and foremost, those in power give him the job with the aim of being re-elected. They refuse to acknowledge that more than a combating of symptoms is necessary in order to find sustainable solutions to problems that are deeply anchored within the system. Tereza Kopáčová shockingly narrates the dark sides of everyday school life; these, in turn, are based on real events and researched and fictionalised by education experts. As a result a heated debate ensued in the Czech Republic about the country's system of education. THE DEFENDER is a stirring series that not only entertains but also encourages reflection and discussion on a topic that concerns each and every one of us, nobody more so than our children.

Filmformat
16:9
Drehbuch
Tomás Fertek, Matej Podzimek
Kamera
Pavel Berkovic
Ton
2.0 Stereo
Schnitt
Michal Hyka
Ausstattung
Mariana Kucharova
Musik
Jiri Hajek
Darsteller
Lukas Vaculik, Iveta Duskova, Jaroslav Plesl
Produzent
Michal Reitler
Produktion
Czech Television
Kontakt
Czech Television
Jitka Prochazkova
jitka.prochazkova@ceskatelevize.cz
Tereza Kopáčová

Tereza Kopáčová -