The Rolling Stones have inspired a lot of films over the years – including Martin Scorsese’s The Concert Highlight (2008) and The Maysles Brothers Give me shelter (1970), which documented the chaos of the band’s 1969 US tour, culminating in its bloody climax at Altamont. Now a Czech director is adding a completely different chapter to this canon.
Writer-director Tomáš Hodan is evolving Stones are rolling to Prague (Where do you come from Pray?), a period comedy centered around one of the most famous concerts in post-communist history. Hodan, known for the 2022 historical drama The last race and Adventure film Karel Zemanpremiered the project on Monday at the second edition of its KVIFF Central Stage screening during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Industry Days, a showcase dedicated to features from established directors with strong festival pedigrees.
Set in the spring of 1990, just after the Velvet Revolution, the film follows four friends who once organized underground concerts for bands banned during the Communist era. Now, with the country suspended between euphoria and chaos, they receive an offer from President Vaclav Havel they can’t refuse: organizing a Rolling Stones concert in Czechoslovakia.
“The road trip begins – the band’s rider translates with dictionaries, sends faxes from the president’s office, and raises an unprecedented $1 million,” the synopsis reads. “Incredibly, on August 18, 1990, Mick Jagger entered the Strahov Stadium and shouted: ‘Ahju braha!’ 100,000 rock fans burst into tears of joy. A punk comedy based on a true story about the struggle for freedom.
The film’s producers are Jacob Krauss, Martin Balan and Tibor Boza, with Bontonfilm Studios serving as the production company. The cinematographer is Jean Basset-Stryzetsky. The cast includes Peter Olek, Jan Nedbal, Joseph Trojan, and Matthias Jesnicek, and the film will be in three languages: Czech, Slovak, and English. What the project lacks includes additional financing, international distribution and an international sales agent.
Stones are rolling to Prague “It’s a loser comedy, because it’s about four guys who only have desire, but no experience, don’t speak English, and don’t have a fax machine,” Hodan told the KVIFF Industry Days audience. “It’s a failed comedy about a very special time in our history, about the beginning of freedom after 40 years of communism.”
The director admitted that feature-length comedies faced challenges in the Czech Republic, but stressed: “I really wanted to make a comedy based on a true story.”
As for the soundtrack, the Stones will be present but will not dominate. “because [the film] It’s not about the Rolling Stones [as much as] Producer Krauss explained: “The four guys who organized concerts in the Communist era, and now they organize a Rolling Stones concert. The underground music of that era will play an equally important role.”
Houdan concluded with the moment the entire film is heading towards. “It was a miracle until the end, because no one believed they would see Mick Jagger any time soon,” he said. “And when Mick Jagger came on stage and Keith Richards started playing ‘Start Me Up’, that was a miracle for Czechoslovakia.”
