THE KITCHEN

 A Short Talk with Valer Futej (director), Zuzana Nevolova (screenplay), Adéla Růžičková (producer)

BEST STUDENT FICTION

22nd IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival 2025

Czech Republic, Czech, 00:13:11, 2024

Synopsis: The static environment of the kitchen is disrupted by the arrival of a young woman—a new cook—who tries to adapt to the strictly defined working conditions and settle into the established routine. By the time she realizes the system is exerting overwhelming pressure on her, it is too late to break free from the mechanism she has become a part of.

Biography: Valér Futej is a Slovak director and editor studying at FAMU in Prague. He made several short films awarded at local film festivals. In his works he focuses on a distinctive stylization of narrative, location, acting and directing. He's passionate about diversity and marginalised stories - through fictional, highly-stylized narratives, he sets up a mirror of young individuals trying to fit into today's modern society.

Valér Futej, director

Evgenia Evtimova: Your film feels very sterile, mechanical, and precise. Was this style intended as a metaphor, or did it naturally develop and lead to various interpretations?

Zuzana Nevolova: The stylization is definitely very strict, and it comes from the core of our topic. We discussed having a mechanical style very early on during the synopsis development, Valer wrote it in first, and I developed it further in the script. Valer was very careful as a director to maintain that strictness, especially in how the actors moved and the choreography of their gestures.

Valer Futej: For me, the film is a short allegory about replaceability, how people can be disposable in society. Together with our director of photography, we created this language of strict lines and toxic-like colors to represent the rigid social hierarchy. It’s meant to highlight how the main character doesn’t fit in.

Evgenia Evtimova: Your film has a very strong directorial vision and stylistic coherence. From a writing standpoint, the dialogue is minimal. What filled the pages of the script?

Nevolova: What really attracted me when Valer came with his idea was the rhythmic style of the script. I focused on maintaining that rhythm, and the dialogue actually came only three days before shooting. The actors learned quickly. Most of the script focused on describing the set and ensuring everything stayed coherent throughout.

Evgenia Evtimova: From a producer’s perspective, this is quite a unique film to make. Adéla, what was the biggest challenge, and what are you most proud of?

Adéla  Růžičková: The biggest challenge was definitely finding the right location. The film is set in one place, the kitchen and the surrounding hallways, but we ended up shooting in six different locations. You wouldn’t notice this in the final film.

Interviewer: Evgenia Evtimova

Editor: Martic Kudlac