My name is Hungry Buffalo

About the film

The story of Buffalo, a man born unable to see and whose hearing is deteriorating, mainly takes place on a Native American reservation in New Mexico. Buffalo leaves Moravia, Czech Republic, to visit a Navajo medicine man and undergo a healing ritual. His journey is full of archetypal meetings. Thanks to a hidden camera, viewers are drawn into Buffalo’s world, and they almost physically experience his journey to climb the Shiprock formation. In terms of genre, the film moves between comedy and a meditative observation of a hero who is eager to live.

featuring	Jan a Zuzana Pavlíčkovi, Blackhorse, a další
story, screenplay, and directed by	Pavel Jurda
produced by	Radim Procházka
screenplay by	Pavel Jurda
photography	Jiří Strnad
edited by	Marek Šulík
photographer, producer	Roman Franc
sound	Jiří Kubík
music	David Smečka

The Crew

Pavel Jurda

PAVEL JURDA *1970 (director) graduated from the Faculty of Forestry at the Mendel University in Brno and in dramaturgy from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. He is a director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, and occasional actor, and for several years, he also worked as a forester. He has made dozens of documentaries. In addition to the feature film My Name is Hungry Buffalo, which took five years to make, he has directed the musical documentary Sólo pro jednu ruku (A Solo for One Hand, 2017) about the dramatic origin of one of Janáček’s piano works. His feature film Dobrý život bratra Bendy (The Good Life of Brother Benda) about a quirky Moravian member of the Sokol will come to cinemas in 2018. As a script editor, Jurda co-operates with the National Theatre in Brno.

Radim Procházka

RADIM PROCHÁZKA * 1975 (producer) Producer and director.
He graduated in mass communication from Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University and documentary film at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he is now a mentor of foreign students. He has produced films directed by Robert Sedláček (e.g. Pravidla lži (Rules of Lies) or Rodina je základ státu (Long Lives the Family!) and Karel Vachek (at present, they are shooting a feature essay Komunismus (Communism)). He also focuses on international co-productions and films by debut directors. His films have won many awards, e.g. Schmitke directed by Štěpán Altrichter won the Czech Lions Awards for sound and music in 2016. Procházka’s latest directorial achievement, 50%, is the first Czech short documentary about online film forums.

Jiří Strnad

JIŘÍ STRNAD *1977 (photography) As a cinematographer, he has worked on many documentaries (in 2011, he won the Audience Award for Nesvatbov (Matchmaking Mayor) directed by Erika Hníková at the Berlinale; in 2012, the Per Artem ad Deum Award for Pražské Jezulátko (The Infant Jesus of Prague) directed by Otakáro M. Schmid). He is also a director of short films, producer (Filmium o. s.), and photographer.

Jiří Kubík

JIŘÍ KUBÍK * 1977 (sound) works as a sound engineer and editor, co-operating with leading Czech documentary film-makers (e.g. Jan Gogola, jr. – Rock života (A Year of The Stump), Král nic nedělá (The King Does Not Do Anything), Kateřina Šedá: Jak se dělý mýtus? (Kateřina Šedá: Mythmaking)).

Marek Šulík

MAREK ŠULÍK * 1977 (editor) works as an editor (he edited, for example, 66 seasons (66 Seasons) and Jak se vaří dějiny (Cooking History) directed by Peter Kerekéš) and director of documentaries (Cesta Magdaleny Robinzonovej (The Journey of Magdalena Robinson), Zvonky šťastia (Bells of Happiness)). He is also a teacher at the Department of Documentary Film-making at the Faculty of Film and Television – The Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia, and co-ordinator of an archiving project focusing on amateur films.

Roman Franc

ROMAN FRANC * 1983 (photographer) studied social sciences and physical education at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno, followed by a master’s degree in photography at the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University in Opava. He organizes photography courses and workshops for both private and public institutions, with an emphasis on inspirational environment and experience, and prepares exhibitions as a curator. His photographs can be found in museums and private collections in the USA, Canada, and Europe. In addition to taking photographs, Roman Franc also co-operates with the Czech television, shooting documentaries. As a photographer, he is represented by Pictura Gallery in Indiana, USA.

The Book

The accompanying book by director Pavel Jurda includes themes you won’t see in the film. The main character, Hungry Buffalo, is captured in a Navajo reservation and in the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona in colour photographs by Roman Franc. The portraits are characterized by a subtle humour, with the blind man presented in the places he has dreamed of all his life. The book, which is a separate project, features a distinctive design by Milan Nedvěd.

Price CZK 290

80 pages, 210 x 253mm
Swiss binding
+ free bookmark

* The most beautiful Czech books 2016

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more excerpts from the book

In cinemas

5. 10. 7 p.m., premiere at the Kino Pilotů cinema, Prague
in the presence of the film-makers and Hungry Buffalo
Facebook event

6. 10. 8:30 pm., festive premiere in the Kino Scala cinema, Brno
in the presence of the film-makers and Hungry Buffalo
Facebook event

For more current projection, see the overview at ČSFD.

FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

The fun and engaging story about a trip to the other end of the world is also a unique look into the world of the blind. Viewers will be able to try what it is like to "watch" the film with their ears. At selected screenings, the screening will be accompanied with audio description conveying the information about what is happening on the screen. As an experiment, some cinemas will play only the audio track and after the screening, viewers will be able to discuss the film with the main character. Alternatively, they can compare the audio experience with watching the film.

For more information or screenings, contact distribuce@apkcz.cz