Jan Sverák is one of the most successful directors in Czech Republic. He owns more awards than he actually directed films. Here in the Finále Czech films festival, the trend seems to go on as he eventually got rewarded with the two “best feature film in competition” prices for his ninth long feature. Indeed, the International jury, and the newly instituted student one, both elected Kooky to stand on the very top of the finest Czech films selection.

With Kooky, Jan Sverak narrates the story of a teddy bear through a child’s imagination. After he got thrown away, Kooky will escape the rubbish dump and discover a whole new world in the suburban forest. He will meet loads of colorful characters with their charms and flaws, living together as a community. Chased by the dump guardian, he will have to get himself accepted and protected as one of theirs.

Kooky is deeply anchored in the long time Czech culture of the puppet theatre. Inspired by the work of Frantisek Skála, the universe and the characters are made of different kinds of raw materials such as used plastic bottles, iron wires, vegetable roots and other things no one could imagine able to breath or talk. Yet Kooky is surprisingly vibrant and dynamic, profoundly modern.

Here is the Jan Sverák Interview, realized the day before the closing ceremony that will crown the Czech director…twice!

And here is the Kooky trailer (english version) :