The Limits of Work

Almost one fifth of Czechs work for less than EUR 3,50 per hour. There is a specific term for them: the working poor. In Apolena Rychlíková's documentary Czech Journal: The Limits of Work journalist Saša Uhlová travels to different parts of the country to investigate the lowest-paid jobs. This documentary is screened as a part of the accompanying program to the exhibition Heigh-ho. It investigates the working conditions of the worst-paid jobs in the Czech Republic. The screening will be followed by an interview with the director Apolena Rychlíková, during which we will learn more about the sequel to this documentary, on which she and Saša Uhlová are currently working. We will also reflect on how the pandemic has affected people's lives and whether there is a direct link between income levels and psychological well-being. Apolena Rychlíková addressed this issue in the series Life during a Pandemic.

Apolena Rychlíková 

Apolena Rychlíková  (1989) is a Czech filmmaker and journalist working for the website A2larm. Apolena graduated on FAMU – Film academy in Prague, Department of Documentary Film. She writes for the state public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic as a opinion journalist and cooperates with many media in the Czech republic as a film director and writer. Her feature documentary film Limits of Work was named Best Czech Documentary in the Czech Joy section at the 21st Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival and also won Audience Prize and the Czech film Critique’s Award in 2017. She has also won a prize for Best Czech Opinion Journalism in 2017. She is one of the most established young journalists in the Czech republic. Apolena Rychlíková is interested in such public topics like racism, gender issues, poverty, discirimination, inequality, housing or labour conditions. In 2020 she became a member of a council of Progressive International – international platform is an international organization uniting and mobilizing progressive thinkers, activists and organizations. She has two daughters and believes a better word is possible.

Czech Journal: The Limits of Work

Journalist Saša Uhlová  spent six months exploring working conditions at the worst-paid jobs in the Czech Republic. She spent several weeks in a hospital washroom, at a poultry plant, behind a cash register, and at a waste sorting facility. Her experience formed the basis for a very personal series of articles about people working invisible jobs under shocking conditions, first published at A2larm.cz website. Apolena Rychlíková has turned these articles into a documentary that consists of scenes shot at Uhlová’s home and of video footage taken at her places of work, accompanied by commentaries of these various spaces read by Uhlová.

Original title: Český žurnál: Hranice práce
Direction: Apolena Rychlíková
Screenplay: Apolena Rychlíková, Saša Uhlová
DOP: Jan Šípek
Editing: Kateřina Krutská – Vrbová
Sound: František Šec
Duration: 71 min (46-90 min) Year:2017