Sold-out theaters throughout the Czech Republic herald an exceptional event this year's film autumn. Today, the official full-length trailer for the film The Secret and the Meaning of Life is finally released, and tickets to special previews are hard to come by.

Petr Vachler in front of an audience in Jablonec nad Nisou on 6.9.2023 September XNUMX

The film has already sold almost 11000 tickets and will tour 30 Czech cities during September and October with a total of 45 film screenings. The author of the film, Petr Vachler, even dared to enter the large hall of the Thermal in Karlovy Vary. And the sales indicate that even this cinema-giant could sell out by the October screening. What the situation will be after the official premiere is, of course, a question. The author of the film commented on this by saying:

 "I don't know how big our bubble will be, but people go to previews and repeatedly. They write that they buy more and more tickets regardless of their price. I'm pleasantly surprised and pleased that I probably filmed something that is beyond me."

And what was the reaction of Jan Bradáč, director of the company Falcon, under which the film will be distributed in the Czech Republic?

"It doesn't happen often that after almost three decades spent professionally in the area of ​​Czech film, I come across something that really surprises me. In the case of the new film The Secret and the Meaning of Life, it happened. I have come across a number of films that boasted high pre-sale numbers a few weeks before their launch. But this magnum opus by Petr Vachler was able to attract almost 11 thousand viewers to the screens of Czech cinemas even before any pre-sales started and standard distribution even started. When I said that this film can become a cinematic event, it is usually confirmed (or often not) only after the premiere. Here we already know.  

The film bypasses the reputation of a unique work, which at least the released trailer confirms with a combination of film forms, as well as why the film was worked on for about ten years.

 The final decision was supposed to be made in February of this year, but the director of the film decided to shoot another scene with Andrea Růžičková – Kerestešová in August. Why?

"A friend abroad was dying of a severe form of cancer, a lot was written about it in the press, and since the film deals with this topic, among other things, I needed to clarify certain things in the story. Even after ten years, I'm still involved in film and I'm happy about it."

The author of the film also goes his own way in the form of promotion. He created a system of a series of extraordinary pre-premieres, which, in addition to the screening itself, then offer a roughly two-hour debate with the author of the film. The ticket price of CZK 499 is advised as the price for the screening, to support the film and for the lecture and discussion after the screening. The overwhelmingly positive reactions of visitors to previews so far confirm his intention to enable the spread of opinions about the film from ear to ear, from viewer to potential viewer. In addition, at all pre-premiere screenings, he goes to the market with his skin through personal participation and a subsequent lecture.

The form of a massive series of pre-premieres is so unique that Czech cinematography has never seen anything like it in its history. The pre-premiere had the status of an exceptional and unique event until now. Petr Vachler doesn't deny it, he just doesn't offer it to a select elite, but to everyone who wants to see the film before it goes into wide distribution. 

The first special screenings with debates in June showed enormous audience interest, and film screenings in Prague, Olomouc, Liberec and Teplice were sold out very quickly. The positive reaction after the screenings themselves, as well as in the evaluations of the users of the film websites Kinobox.cz and CSFD.cz, led Vachler not to be shy about fundamentally expanding the possibility for viewers to see the film in previews in other cities as well.

"For example, we sold out the Prague Lucerna in three days, or we sold out three shows in a row in Strakonice. In most cities, we have doubled film showings, but we will definitely not be able to satisfy the demand for the pre-premiere in the entire country. And paradoxically, I am glad that it is so. Everything could have turned out completely differently", commented Vachler on the audience's interest.

And he doesn't intend to stay with his film only on domestic soil.

"At the end of October, I should fly to the USA and Mexico to meet people who would like to buy the film not only for the American continents. There are producers who are excited about the film. How it turns out is the question. Maybe we will choose a completely different path, just as we chose it in our country, which means first community pre-premieres and then we will see", he said about other plans with the film.

Petr Vachler at KD Poklad in Ostrava 8.9.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX

He is also proud of the fact that the film does not contain any advertising or product placement. In this sense, he was so thorough that he removed all company brands and logos that were accidentally shot from the film. At the same time, he emphasizes that no one other than himself intervened in the creation, the course of filming and the search for the final shape. 

The representative of the main character, Jan Budař, is optimistic about the film's entry into distribution:

"I believe that the film can resonate a lot because it asks extremely important and universal questions that every person has to ask themselves, willy-nilly. What is after death? What is the meaning of life? What is the universe made of? And so on."

And his film partner, actress Bára Seidlová, feels the same way:

"I don't remember ever seeing such a form of storytelling. I think that thanks to her, the audience will be able to compare in their heads what their life decisions are, what they bring to them and how their life could unfold if they had made a different decision, if they had simply rewritten their own script, reacted differently..."

It is already being debated that The Mystery and the Meaning of Life overturns the belief that spirituality and ordinary everyday reality are incompatible categories. Audience response and interest indicate that Vachler's energy poured into the multi-year project will not be wasted. This is also illustrated by the words of one of the film's protagonists, actress Aneta Krejčíková: "...It is true that over the past ten years, society has changed quite a bit in its perception of what this film is about. Therefore, it can appeal to a large group of viewers. The approach to what is somewhat derogatorily called ezo has also changed. At least in my life or what I live, it's something completely normal…”

MD Jan Vojáček and Petr Vachler at their joint discussion after the pre-premiere in České Budějovice 9.9.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX

The Secret and Meaning of Life (TASZ) touches the entire universe. He is preparing a special screening of the film for the participants of the 6th International Conference. You can buy tickets for the conference at www.ufokonference.cz. By purchasing a ticket to the conference, you get a discount on a ticket to the TASZ film.