THE LIMITS OF WORK (Czech Republic, 2017, 71′)

Monday, September 30 at 6 pm, Rai Teche, Auditorium C, Via Giuseppe Verdi, 31

Event as part of Prix Italia 2024 in collaboration with Rai Teche

On Monday, September 30 at 6 pm at Auditorium C in Via Verdi Job Film Days presents, as part of Prix Italia 2024 and in collaboration with Rai Teche, The Limits of Work by Czech director Apolena Rychlíková. The film, which is part of the television series Czech Journal made for Czech TV, chronicles journalist Sasa Uhlová’s investigation of poorly paid jobs in different parts of the Czech Republic. The screening is therefore part of the Prix Italia international competition (Turin, October 1-4, 2024) organized by RAI under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, which rewards the best radio, TV and web programs for quality, innovation and creativity made globally. Giuseppe Gariazzo (film critic) presents the film.

Method of access: free entry.

Director: Apolena Rychlíková
Screenplay: Apolena Rychlíková, Sasa Uhlová
Photography: Jan Sípek
Editing: Katerina Krutská-Vrbová
Cast: Sasa Uhlová
Production: Petr Kubica – Czech Television, Augustine Micková

Almost one fifth of Czechs work for less than 83 crowns per hour. There is a specific term for referring to them: ‘working poor’. Journalist Sasa Uhlová travelled to different areas of the Czech Republic to investigate those jobs and show their current working conditions. Her method was to work for a month with a video camera hidden in her glasses. She went to the laundry of a hospital, a poultry slaughterhouse and a supermarket. Moreover, she worked for a few weeks as a co-worker in a razor blade factory and as a waste recycler. During her research, she was accompanied by Apolena Rychlíková’s crew. At the same time, Uhlová has to deal with her own complicated family life. As a combination of these two narrative levels, The Limits of Work is part of the television series ‘Czech Journal’ made for Czech TV and was presented at the 2018 Prix Italia.

Apolena Rychlíková(Czech Republic, 1989) studied documentary at the FAMU school of cinema in Prague. She worked for the daily newspaper A2larm. In her works she focuses on social and political issues, exclusion and discrimination. As a journalist she collaborates with many magazines. Her collaboration with Sasa Uhlová continued with Limits of Europe, second chapter of the journalistic inquiry that started with The Limits of Work. This chapter investigates many other Western European Countries. Rychlíková has two daughters and lives in Prague.

Filmography: Family (2023, doc), If Adolf Hitler Lived There Would Be No Rights for Gypsies (s.f. doc, 2014), The Limits of Work (2017, doc), Limits of Europe (2024, doc).