The Absence of Closeness, a psychological drama about a young woman who struggles in her relationship with her child, is the feature debut by writer and director Josef Tuka, a graduate of FAMU. The movie is set in the region of Karlovy Vary and stars Jana Plodková, known for her roles in Protector and Lost in Munich.

The movie’s main character is a hair stylist named Hedvika, a young single mother with a daughter named Adélka. Despite being a single mother, she could be happy, but she is haunted by the fact that she feels more for her dog than she does for her own child. Everything changes when, one night, Hedvika discovers the diaries of her late father, containing his loving memories of her childhood. Will they awaken motherly feelings in Hedvika?

Josef Tuka explains: “I recently stumbled across the diaries of my grandfather, who had recorded my mother’s childhood, and I was surprised at how moving they were. I wouldn’t have expected that from a man, and it made me wonder what inspired it: was it really the feeling of being a father, or was it actually self-centeredness, in the sense of ‘Here i am documenting the perfect image of myself?’ That’s what kickstarted my inspiration for writing the story.”

Tuka continues: “When i consulted with Kateřina Schmidová, who runs a parent’s helpline, she confirmed that one of the reasons a mother can be alienated from her child is if she didn’t experience maternal love herself during her childhood, and this is the story of Hedvika. She has to cope with the coldness of her mother and the absence of her father, who probably would have showed her warmth, but he died when she was little.”

The story takes place in the Karlovy Vary region, which is seismically the most active part of the Czech Republic. “Especially between Karlovy Vary and Sokolov, there are often small clusters of earthquakes, with mysterious rumbles emanating from the bowels of the Earth. In the film, we use them to amplify the psychological tension,” Tuka explains.

Tuka worked on the screenplay for several years. Once it was finished, he attended the MIDPOINT scriptwriting seminar at FAMU, which he describes as vital. “It gave me the opportunity to work with Milena Jelinek, which was crucial. Especially since Forgotten light, a movie based on one of her scripts, was basically what got me interested in filmmaking.”

With a Little Help From My Friends

Like many feature debuts, The Absence of Closeness faced funding problems. “As a typical FAMU graduate, I thought the best way to finance the movie would be public funding, through the State Cinematography Fund Czech Republic or with Czech Television. Unfortunately, neither of these options worked out. I had shot both my student films in coproduction with Czech TV, but then there was a glut in arthouse movies, so that was no longer possible. We applied to the Cinematography Fund, but we didn’t get support, although we had a decent expertise. The third time we failed, I realized I was out of time –  I already had arrangements lined up with the actors, we had a couple versions of the script and the locations were all picked out — so I decided to just use my own funds to finance the project and began filming with producer Asmara Beraki.

The budget was about 800,000 Czech crowns, or roughly 30,000 euros. About 550,000 of that came from me, through Asmara’s company, Cinema Belongs to Us. Fortunately, we also got a helping hand from the Film office of the Karlovy Vary region, which, among other things, found us affordable housing, helped us communicate with the local police, and secured the key locations. We also got support from corporate partners, like the Imperial Hotel in Karlovy Vary, the Ostrov hospital, and the AutoEder car dealership.” In addition, Tuka ran a successful crowdfunding campaign on HitHit. cz that raised 250,000 crowns for post-production.

The shooting took place under rough conditions, Tuka says. “At first i was worried the crew members would be irritated, since we had limited funds, which of course had an impact on working conditions. We slept in sleeping bags and the most inexpensive hostels. I didn’t even have an assistant director – all to save money. But it turned out there was no need for concern. The mood on set was great, and to this day, whenever I run into members of the crew, they say what fond memories they have.”

Currently, as The Absence of Closeness nears completion, Tuka is making arrangements for distribution and getting the movie into international film festivals. “In the fall, we’d like to do a tour of towns in the Karlovy Vary region, featuring discussions with the actors and concerts by the jazz piano player Vojtěch Procházka and lo-fi songwriter Moin Moin, who both wrote music for the film,” says Tuka.

Josef Tuka (b. 1979) studied radio and TV screenwriting and dramaturgy at JAMU, followed by film directing at FAMU, with Věra Chytilová. He made his first impression with his student films Sahara Sands and Small Circle of Attention, which won awards at several international festivals (including Cinemaiubit 2010 and River Film Festival 2012). In 2013 he won the competition held by the Filmová nadace with his screenplay for Blue Ribbon Champagne.