Two German films are currently being shot in the Czech Republic. The first is a multiple-part television movie with the working title Rebel and the second is the narrative historical film Henri IV.
The shooting of Rebel started in mid-July, and the production will stay in the Czech Republic until the beginning of November. The picture is being produced by ndF, a Munich-based company, for Germany’s public service channel, ZDF. The story of the three-part TV film takes place in post-war, 1950s Germany, and centers around a young technology enthusiast, Lena (Alexandra Neldel), highlighting her unusual journey through life, her trials and tribulations in life and her sensational career in the field of television technology.
Headed by director Ute Wieland, the crew is shooting around Prague in locations in the center and in neighborhoods such as Žižkov. The main motifs, however, lie beyond Prague – a chateau near the Slapy Reservoir and the Červený Dvůr farmstead near Benešov. “It is remarkable and even rather unusual that we are spending over 80 days at so many different exterior locations that are accessible from Prague, where our base is. Almost all the locations are either in or nearby the capital, in places we can drive to each day. I don’t know of any other film city that can offer that,” says producer Filip Hering, whose company, Wilma Film, is organizing shooting in the Czech Republic.
The historical epic Henri IV started shooting early September. The crew will stay in the Czech Republic until the end of October, when they will head to France, and then on to Germany in November and December.
Most of the shooting locations in the Czech Republic are in northern Bohemia. The crew will be filming in places around Teplice and Ústí nad Labem – for example at Duchcov Chateau or around the town of Bílina, where battle scenes will be shot. Besides the large crew, up to 600 local extras will participate in the shoot. The crew will then move to the monastery Plasy near Plzeň and on to Prague’s Invalidovna, where they will shoot scenes depicting underground passageways beneath the Louvre in Paris.
The film, based on a Heinrich Mann novel, is an international co-production. The German company Ziegler Film found co-producers in Germany, France, Spain and Austria. The services for shoots in the Czech Republic are provided by Maya Production.