[on genesis of
Vsichni moji blízcí (1999)] My mother, who never talked about her experiences from childhood, suddenly, because she was doing some exhibition - the reconstruction of a family album - told me some very nice stories from her childhood, about her five crazy uncles who went to the casino - they were skirt-chasers - and she remembered that she had a very happy childhood and one day it stopped because of the war, and eventually most of the people from her childhood disappeared. Suddenly it struck me that this can be really a great story, which was actually never done before, that I wouldn't shoot a film about the wartime experiences, but I would shoot a film about what preceded the war from the perspective of a child. The child gradually starts to understand that something's happening and eventually he is the only one who is rescued.
