Olga Hepnarova was a young, lonely lesbian outsider from a coldhearted family who couldn’t play the part society desired of her. Her paranoid self-examination and inability to connect with other people eventually drove her over the edge of humanity when she was only twenty-two years old. The film shows the human being behind the mass murderer without glorifying or downplaying the terrible crime she committed.
Guided by her letters we delve into Olga’s psyche and witness the worsening of her loneliness and alienation as we reconstruct the events that led up to her disastrous actions. Although the story is set in the seventies, young people worldwide today still face problems of not belonging, being different, and being bullied because of race, gender or sexual orientation.
Press
"Anchored by a startling performance by Michalina Olszanska, the Czech film "I, Olga Hepnarova" is an austere, hypnotic story of sadness, madness and murder." - New York Times
"[Olszanska's] glassy-eyed, understated rendition of a woman who's lost all touch with reality jars us from our senses, despite - or perhaps because of - the filmmakers' clear fascination with their protagonist's sex appeal." - NPR
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CZECH THAT FILM
For the third year, the Film Society is proud to host this nationwide film festival celebrating the bst Czech films and filmmakers from the past to the present.