‘107 Mothers’ Director Péter Kerekes Talks Upcoming ‘Marathon,’ Debuts Teaser: ‘It’s Not Just About People Who Run’ (EXCLUSIVE)
25.10.2023 - 09:27
/ variety.com
Marta Balaga Péter Kerekes will follow “107 Mothers” – which won Venice’s Horizons Award for best screenplay – with “Marathon,” currently in production and eyeing a winter 2024 release. Set in his Slovak hometown and revolving around the Košice Peace Marathon, established in 1924, the doc will clock in at exactly 2 hours and 7 minutes, mirroring its current record. “It’s not just about people who run, get to the finish line and that’s it, end credits.
There are so many beautiful contradictions in the stories we are recounting here,” Kerekes tells Variety ahead of the film’s bow at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum. He didn’t immediately jump at the idea, he admits. “I am not a runner and I already made one film about the history of my city [‘66 Seasons’].
I didn’t want to repeat myself. Then the organizers forced me to meet some of the veterans connected to the marathon and I completely fell in love with them.” “I realized so many of them weren’t runners, but they experienced the fascist occupation of my city, then the Soviet ‘liberation.’ They really had to run for their life, for their freedom.” Produced by Kerekes and Tereza Tokárová for kerekesfilm (Slovakia), “Marathon” is co-produced by Filip Remunda and Vít Klusák for Hypermarket Film (Czech Republic) and Julianna Ugrin for Eclipse Film (Hungary). Slovak National Television and Czech Television are also on board.
As the history of the town and of the marathon start to intertwine, Kerekes will try to reflect the emotional turmoil of the sport, however. “There will be many optimistic and joyful stories at the beginning. Then you have to go through terrible pain, but when you finish, there is this extra dose of endorphins,” he assures, mentioning some of his headstrong
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