Private Project

Habitat

A derelict space burdened with toxicity becomes a landscape of the mind of a sole woman traveler. Sheltering despair and spiritual detachment, her intense presence tells a story of redemption in the time of climatic collapse. Czech director and musician Marek Kimei Matvija, cinematographer Jan Hofman, and contemporary dancer Andrea Miltnerová, portray an intimate yet expressive journey. The stark imagery is supported by an experimental music ensemble that Matvija put together from outstanding players of Japanese and Western instruments. (2020)

  • Marek Kimei Matvija
    Director
  • Marek Kimei Matvija
    Writer
  • GPO Platform
    Producer
  • Andrea Miltnerová
    Key Cast
    Hellboy, Blade 2, Solomon Kane
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-fi, psycho, visual essay, visual poem
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 10, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Czech Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Czech Republic, Slovakia
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.76:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Marek Kimei Matvija

Marek Matvija is an independent filmmaker, video artist and a player of the shakuhachi, bamboo flute of Japanese origin. His films and music reflect passion for fragility, impermanence and cunning juxtapositions.
He performs contemporary, improvised, and Japanese traditional ensemble and solo music. Marek has graduated from the Centre for Audiovisual Studies of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Additionally, has he has studied shakuhachi under Doc. Vlastislav Matoušek PhD. – composer renown for his aleatoric music and Czech pioneer of the instrument. Since 2009, Marek continues his studies with Japan’s leading shakuhachi player Mitsuhashi Kifu who awarded him a teaching licence and performance name Kimei. Marek has performed throughout the Czech Republic and in Japan, USA, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Netherlands, and Portugal. He is a member of the Topos Kolektiv, ensemble for site-specific music. His films and works have been shown internationally, including Liverpool Biennale (cinematography for Marat Sade Bohnice).

Along with Christopher Yohmei Blasdel and Vlastislav Matoušek, Marek co-founded the Prague Shakuhachi Festival (now International Shakuhachi Festival Prague) in 2007 and is a founding member and co-director of NEIRO Association for Expanding Arts.

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Director Statement

In my films and music, I try to reach the existential impermanence of things and phenomena as a point of departure and return.