feature documentary, 80min / Dir.: Michal Konrla / Editor: Alexandra Jonášová, Michal Kondrla / DOP: Lukáš Teren / Producer: Michal Hlavačka / PROTOS production
An idealistic inventor with an unconventional style of thinking
and a successful businessman at the peak of his career,
cross paths in order to create a flying car.
A flying car has always been the symbol of something beyond reality; something that crosses the boundary of what is possible within human capabilities and the forces of physics. A full-fledged automobile, that flies. A plane that you can take to the supermarket. A flying car is an oxymoron, something that history confirms. The human race has been trying to join car and plane for a century. All of these attempts have ended with ridicule, at best, and with tragedy, at worst.
The inventor Štefan Klein was in luck, as his father was the same type of crazy inventor as he was, lacking an instinct for self-preservation and harboring a deep distaste of all things mainstream. He brought up his son to believe in and never doubt his seemingly insane ideas. This is why Klein was able to persevere and bring his dream dangerously close to reality. For 25 years, no one took him seriously and no one wanted to finance his project, which would allow him a professional working environment rather than the amateurism of his garage. All this changed when he met Juraj Vaculík, Klein's old classmate from university. A self-made man and owner of an acclaimed advertising agency, Vaculík was a man who had reached the pinnacle of his business career through his sheer assertive nature.
While following the development of Aeromobil, the flying car, we would like to uncover what drives these two people towards their goal. What is their main motivation? Why did Štefan Klein take over his father's dream and push it to become one of the top five most advanced projects within the international race to develop a flying car? Why does a local businessman, Juraj Vaculík, want to become the leader of one of the top technological companies in the world? Will they be able to change the world or will they end in failure, as all those who have tried throughout the last one hundred years? What effect will this have on their characters and relationship?
The inventor Štefan Klein was in luck, as his father was the same type of crazy inventor as he was, lacking an instinct for self-preservation and harboring a deep distaste of all things mainstream. He brought up his son to believe in and never doubt his seemingly insane ideas. This is why Klein was able to persevere and bring his dream dangerously close to reality. For 25 years, no one took him seriously and no one wanted to finance his project, which would allow him a professional working environment rather than the amateurism of his garage. All this changed when he met Juraj Vaculík, Klein's old classmate from university. A self-made man and owner of an acclaimed advertising agency, Vaculík was a man who had reached the pinnacle of his business career through his sheer assertive nature.
While following the development of Aeromobil, the flying car, we would like to uncover what drives these two people towards their goal. What is their main motivation? Why did Štefan Klein take over his father's dream and push it to become one of the top five most advanced projects within the international race to develop a flying car? Why does a local businessman, Juraj Vaculík, want to become the leader of one of the top technological companies in the world? Will they be able to change the world or will they end in failure, as all those who have tried throughout the last one hundred years? What effect will this have on their characters and relationship?
/// IN PRODUCTION 2008 - 2021 ///
developed in the Ex Oriente Film workshop 2015