Petr Vachler – producer, director, screenwriter, production designer

 

“Let’s imagine that you lose your car and you think that someone has stolen it. A feeling of sadness, misfortune, you maybe even shed a few tears? But then you ultimately find it in a confusing parking lot or on a side street. Now you feel relief and happiness, at least until your car finally gets all rusty and falls apart. And then I ask what joy one must feel when he finds himself? That’s why today I say that it is more important to find myself than to find a forgotten car in an expansive parking lot or on a side street, even though both are very important. The film The Meaning and Mystery of Life is also about this.“

Filming dozens of hours of material with personalities from all corners of the earth was fantastic work. Seeking the answers to questions delving into the meaning of life and of fear, love, and death with so many crusaders and respondents was an immense joy, and making such a film is a gift of a lifetime”, says Petr Vachler.… MORE HERE

Petr Vachler
cmelak hlavní hrdina

Bumblebee

 

„So you wanted to see me, and you have always asked how come I can fly with this fat…“

When we yearn for someone to share with us the deepest truth, we want it to be our parents, our loved ones, friends, mythical beings, talking animals, or just a voice. Many of us may imagine a different form of godhood. And then some people manifest, for example, a bumblebee.

Jan Budař – Max

 

„Look, imagine that matter is mostly composed of empty space, meaning that we could theoretically pass through a wall…“

There are people who search for the truth their whole life and may not be prepared for it yet. They might not be at the right place at the right time and in the right state. They find out that not everything in the world is so dogmatic, so immutable, and academically definitive. Life offers Max unexpected relationships, loves, and mystical twists.

Jan Budař
Barbora Seidlová

Barbora Seidlová – Eva

 

„I am, for example, also afraid to meet someone…“

Do we burn bridges? Do we no longer want to see a whole number of people, friends? Are we afraid of meeting people? Do we hate the ones we have spent our whole lives with? Are we capable of breaking up families, and destroying friendships, for insignificant reasons? How strong do we have to be to forgive one another and ourselves? Are we able to?

Josef Polášek – Robert

 

„As a doctor, I shouldn’t recommend this…“

Being educated does not equal being wise. The roles that we play offer us opportunities that we may or may not use. Merely collecting information might not be enough to understand the meaning of life.

cmelak hlavní hrdina
Andrea Kerestešová

Andrea Kerestešová – Viky

 

„I am sorry. I truly loved him and I had no idea what it would cause…“

How many people have we loved in our life, and how many more are we going to? Are we alone even when we are surrounded by our closest ones? Does everything has to be how we want it, and is our truth the most important one? How do we come to terms with the fact that our closest people lie to us, and we lie to them in turn?

Vladimír Javorský – Homeless man

 

„I might be sleeping under a bridge, but otherwise, I’m healthy….“

Everything in life is merely lent to us for a limited time. It is up to us what we do with it. Even our body is on loan and he who doesn´t realize it will suffer his whole life. There are people, however, who can play their role with perfection. Even those at the very bottom.

Vladimír Javorský
Petr Buchta

Petr Buchta – Jirka

 

„Hey, you ´haven’t ever really heard me! You allowed it for me to be this way, but it wasn’t the solution…“

It is the desire of all of us to learn a lot while we´re here, and inactivity leads to boredom and later depression. If our life is empty, we end up experiencing even feelings of despair and distaste for life. Nevertheless, everything is right so that we can discover what we wanted to discover. Every step moves us forward, even towards seemingly a failure.

Theodor Vachler – Petr

 

„Dad, tell us that you won’t leave us?“

For the majority of their lives, children see us as beings who know everything. They trust us boundlessly. We are their models, their support. When we realize that children have the same opportunities as us, it completely changes our outlook on life and children themselves, and we become one.

Theodor Vachler
Aneta Krejčíková

Aneta Krejčíková – Helena

 

„So that’s your entire upbringing?“

Sometimes we truly only think of ourselves, no matter what. And the blame? The blame permanently lies with others. We do not realize at all that what we dislike about others is our own problems, our own shortcomings. In reality, we are only angry with ourselves and cheat only ourselves.

Valerie Vachlerová –  Vanda, music composer

 

„It was this large space…“

Before children come to this world, they know and remember much and remain in touch with their godhood even after birth. If they can keep it is a question of upbringing, environment, and the courage of others to accept this gift of connection. Soon afterward, children find out that here it´s only…

Valerie Vachlerová
Viliam_Vachler

Viliam Vachler –  Hugo

 

„Dad, what is the highest education on the planet?“

Children´s souls are pure; they trust us and gather the experience of their ancestors, mirror themselves in us. And sometimes, when we explain to them how everything on this planet works, they surprise us with their response because they sometimes know and remember much more than us.

Robert Jašków – Karel (gamekeeper)

 

„I mean, strike me down if I’m lying…“

We want to get to know each other in every way, even sexually, but every intimate relationship has consequences. It is up to us what choices we make and how many flames at once we can try to keep burning without letting them die. And if we do take this test, we do our best not to hurt others.

Robert Jaskow
Hanus Bor

Hanuš Bor – miller

 

„How much…?“

Sometimes we look at everything in terms of money, even relationships. But God and life must come first. Money will then follow. But if it is me who is controlled by the money and not I who controls it, then greed will become my hell. Not everything in life has to have a price tag.

CREDITS

Producer   Petr Vachler
Director   Petr Vachler
Screenplay   Petr Vachler
     
DOP   Karel Fairaisl
Editor   Petr Svoboda
Music   Valerie Vachlerová
Sound   Petr Kuba
Make-up & Hair Designer   Dana Kohoutová
Costume Designer   Zuzana Kárová, Simona Krompholc
Production Designer   Petr Vachler
VFX supervisor   Tomáš Gaisler
3D Animation supervisor   Martin Šafus
    Dan Stanchev
    Marek Náprstek
Executive producer   Aleš Týbl
Co-producer   Karel Janeček
Co-producer   Ctirad Hemelík
     
Max    Jan Budař
Robert   Josef Polášek
Eva    Bára Seidlová
Viki   Andrea Kerestéšová Ružičková
Helena   Aneta Krejčíková
Karel (hunter)   Robert Jašków
Jiří    Petr Buchta
Homeless   Vladimír Javorský
Vanda    Valerie Vachlerová
Hugo   Viliam Vachler
Petr   Theodor Vachler
Miller   Hanuš Bor
Parson   Petr Stach
Dealer   Pavel Šmerda
Undertaker   Jiří Andrle
Undertaker ‘s mistress   Bára Mošnová
Mirek (hunter)   Lukáš Pavlásek
Altar boy 1   Víťa Nádvorník
Altar boy 2   Antonín Nádvorník
     
Bumblebee voice actor – Czech   Dalimil Klapka
Bumblebee voice actor – English   Peter Hosting
Bumblebee created by   Robin Beneš
    Petr Vachler
     
Interviewees   Shaykha Amat-un-Nur
    Brandon Bays
    Vincent Bridges
    Dannion Brinkley
    Rinaldo Brutoco
    Lorna_Byrne
    Carl Johan Calleman
    Ricardo Cervantes Cervantes
    Adjan Chaiwood
    Peter Chappell
    Deepak Chopra
    Andreas Clauss
    Kiesha Crowther
    James A. Cusumano
    Ruediger Dahlke
    Erich Anton Paul von Däniken
    Emahó
    Masaru Emoto
    Sandra Epstein
    Jorge N. Ferrer, Ph.D
    Amit Goswami
    Charles Grob
    Stanislav Grof
    Lino be Guinsada
    John Hawken
    Octavio Rettig Hinojosa
    James Humble
    Desiree Hurtak
    James Joachim Hurtak
    David Vaughan Icke
    Ana Auntie Kapihe
    Mabel Katz
    Konstantin Korotkov
    Lui Krieg
    Ervin László
    Sergei Lazarev
    Ihaleakala Hew Len
    Eduardo Luna
    Paramhans Swami Maheswarananda
    Roy Martina
    Lynne McTaggart
    Dan Millman
    Tim Mitchell
    Henri Monfort
    Anisia Semizool Mongush
    Raymond Moody
    Tim Wallace Murphy
    Cacique Ninawa
    Silvano Paolucci
    Eric Pearl
    Srikumar Rao
    Jan Rak
    Don Miguel Ruiz
    Lance Secretan
    David Steindl-Rast
    Swami Vishwananda
    Jenny Wade
     
2nd DOP   Petr Hojda
2nd DOP   Miloš Kohout
Asistent Production Manager   Miloš Kohout
Script consultant   Jan Stehlík
Production Manager   Michaela Šveňková
AD   Žaneta Tomášková
Production Assistant   Bohuslava Šašmová
AD   Jiří Andrle
DOP asist.   Jaroslav Kostelník
Focus Puller   Ondřej Kos
On-set Photographer   Tomáš Kostěnec
DOP – Interviews   Tomáš Kostěnec,
    Ondřej Urbanec
    Radim Paluš
Continuity   Zuzana Víznerová
    Titti Fügediová
Video operater   David Vacek
Prop Master   Pavel Chalupa
Assistant Prop Master   Martin Haleš
Stand-by Propman 1   Michal Haleš
Stand-by Propman 2   Patrik Semft
Stand-by Propman   Roman
Young Bumblebee voice actor   Viliam Vachler
     
Key Grip   Robert Koděra
Grip   Michal Ráliš
Gaffer   Jiří Navrátil
Best boy   Tibor Demčák
Eletrician   Igor Murčo
    Pavel Filip
     
Genny Operator / Eletrician   Pavel Hoffman
DIT   Lukáš Pospíšil
Sound Recordist   Marek Musil
Boom Operator   Adam Bezděk
Key Costumer   Andrea Figerová
Costume Assistant   Martina Boušová
Make-up & Hair Artist   Radka Vávrová
     
Location Manager   Lukáš Bech
Construction Manager   Roman Bandas
Production Runner   Martin Kopecký
Stunt Coordinator   Jiří Kuba
Data management   Martin Dobrovolný
Set Decorator    Roman Bandas
Construction    Marek Funda
    Michal Ptáček
     
Security, BaseCamp   Martin Rambousek
Driver   Milan Hampl
    Josef Šveněk
    David Suchánek
    Dan Sadílek
Driver for actors   Kateřina Velková
     
Hlavní postprodukce – Studio Pokrok    
Production Manager   Lubo Procházka
    Lukáš Borovička
Post-production Manager   Simona Jánská
    Stanislava Turková
Assistant Editor   Martin Dobrovolný
    Jakub Helis
     
Color grading   Tomáš Gaisler
Visual Effects Artists 3D   Jan Moštěk
    Tomáš Studnička
    Jaroslav Zajíček
    Jonathan Alonso
    Michal Honc
    Tomáš Novotný
    Gabriela Procházková
    Jan Smrž
    Andrej Otepka
    Travis Work
    Jakub Strauss
    Jan Krejčíř
Character modeling   Jan Blín
Senior matte painter   Michal Čavoj
    Antonín Kolman
Senior compositor 2D   Miroslav Čičmanec
    Martin Čičmanec
    Ondřej Lev
    Ondřej Nečas
2D compositor   Peter Palárik
Data manager   Michal Moc
    Matěj Kořenský
3D    Dalibor Cee
Senior 3D animator   Ladislav Rejkuba
    Dan Stanchev
3D animator   Richard Jirsák
    Jakub Sporek
3D animation supervisor   Marek Náprstek
Animation supervisor   Martin Šafus
     
IT Support   Milan Machač
Production accountant   Marcela Kadlecová
     
Website design   Jaroslav Zajíček
    Matěj Kořenský
Social media and marketing   Šimon Bárta
    Sandra Žigič
Sound assistent   Michal Kloss
English version   Myles Claffey
     
Spolupráce: postprodukce Mirage    
Producer   Petr Král
Executive Producer   Barbora Svozilová
Data handling   Martin Kosina
     
3D visual artists   Zbyňek Kysela
    Veronika Mašková
    Petr Král ml.
Compositor   Vincent Badia
    Robin Mikuláš
     
     
Spolupráce: postprodukce MagicLAB    
     
Extras casting   DeeDee Agency
     
Special thanks:   Pavel Eiselt
    Martin Hájek
    Alena Ebrecht
    Zdeněk Říčař

Copyrighted Song Credit

“True Face”

Written by Valerie Vachlerová;

Performed by VALI; Courtesy of VALI ©

“Paradise”

Written by Valerie Vachlerová;

Performed by VALI; Courtesy of VALI ©

“Jesus Sandals”

Written by Theodor Vachler;

Performed by THE-O; Courtesy of THE-O ©

“Rodeo”

Written by Theodor Vachler;

Performed by THE-O; Courtesy of THE-O ©

“Mauglí”

Written by Theodor Vachler;

Performed by THE-O; Courtesy of THE-O ©

©

VAC – Vachler Art Company

Copyright © 2022 The Meaning and Mystery of Life