Intensive Life Unit

A documentary drama following two doctors in the palliative care unit.

Jednotka intenzivního života
Czechia 2021
  • English
76 min.
12+
  • This film is available until 1. 5. 2025 in these territories: Czechia.
Videos
About

Doctors Ondřej and Kateřina look after their patients to the best of their ability, but they can’t prevent their death. Nevertheless, the inevitability of the end isn’t the hardest thing they have to face as heads of palliative care at Prague’s General University Hospital. A pilot project has emerged at a time when countless options are available to prolong human life; death is a social taboo and everyone has to confront his own mortality. Aware that a classic profile of the hospital would fall short, Adéla Komrzý submits a profoundly humanistic meditation on the ethics of palliative care. Betraying her special brand of empathy, she documents intimate conversations between doctors and their patients which demonstrate that, while there’s no good or bad way to die, there’s always a means to improve patients’ quality of life.

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Credits
Director: Adéla Komrzý
Screenplay: Adéla Komrzý
Cinematography: Prokop Souček
Music: Marek Mrkvička
Sound: Michaela Patríková
Editing: Mariana Kozáková
Producer: Pavla Janoušková Kubečková, Tomáš Hrubý, Věra Krincvajová
Cast: Kateřina Rusinová, Ondřej Kopecký
Awards

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

2021 – Adéla Komrzý (East of West Award – Special Mention)

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

2021 – Adéla Komrzý ( FEDEORA Jury Special Mention)

Czech Lions

2021 – Adéla Komrzý, Pavla Janoušková Kubečková (Best Documentary)

Czech Film Critic Awards

2021 – Adéla Komrzý (Best Documentary)

Links
  • This film is available until 1. 5. 2025 in these territories: Czechia.