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China－Eastern Europe Film Promotion Project:
Central & Eastern European Films Presentation
Menandros & Thaïs (2014)
(Original title: Menandros & Thaïs)
Country of production: Czech Republic, Austria
Synopsis: An experimental, feature-length adventure movie based on a novel by Ondřej
Cik á n. An Austrian/Czech co-production by Die Gruppe, FAMU and nutprodukce. A
kidnapped bride. A distraught hero. Odysseys in surreal worlds. At her wedding to
Menandros, Thaïs is carried off by pirates. In his search for her, the bridegroom becomes a
bloodthirsty avenger, his horse grows wings, a witch promises him another woman, King
Xerxes attempts to unman him, but eventually everything comes to a happy ending. Or
does it?
Director: Ondřej Cikán, Antonín Šilar,
Ondřej Cikán, director, screenwriter, producer.
Born on 20th June 1985 in Prague, he has been living in Vienna since 1991. Here he
completed his studies in classic philology: ancient Greek and Latin. Together with Anatol
Vitouch he co-founded the group Die Gruppe. The main activities of this association are
literary readings and recording radio dramas. Cikán excels mainly in the field of theatre, film
and translating. In 2009 he drew attention to his literary skills for the first time - he was
chosen as one of the finalists of the literary award Open-Mike in Berlin. Two years later he
published his novel MENANDROS AND THAÏS. He is now working as a director together
with Antoním Šilar in creating a film adaptation of his novel.
Antonín Šilar, art director.
Born on 17th April 1986 in Prague. Up till now he has been known mainly as a scenographer
and a lighting designer. He concluded his studies at the Department of Alternative Theatre
at DAMU (Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts). He is a member of Die
Gruppe. In the course of his career he has created many stage designs for renowned Prague
theatres, several settings for the movies of Petra Tejnorová and currently he is co-directing
the low budget movie MENANDROS AND THAÏS together with Ondřej Cikán.
Cast: Jakub Gottwald, Jessyca R. Hauser, Ondřej Bauer, Petr Růžička, Violetta Zupančič
Producer: nutprodukce – Pavla Kubečková, Tomáš Hrubý
Die Gruppe – Anna Tydlitátová, Ondřej Cikán
Production: Die Gruppe, Hyrtlgasse 26/15, 1160, Vienna, Austria
Contact Person: Anna Tydlitatova,
T.: (+420) 734 386 367
Email: annatydlitatova@gmail.com