The dilapidated stadium in Brno will be used for a film about Zátopek

Brno - The dilapidated stadium behind Lužánky in Brno will serve for the shooting of a feature film about the legendary runner Emil Zátopek. This was announced to journalists today by Brno’s Deputy Mayor Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL). According to him, the stadium will replicate both the stadium in London from 1948 and in Helsinki from 1952, where Zátopek won Olympic gold. The South Moravian Film Fund, which receives money from the region and Brno, will contribute one million crowns to the film. The maximum budget for the film is 100 million, and the director is David Ondříček. The film is scheduled to be premiered before the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

The footballers of Zbrojovka Brno have won only one title at the stadium. Since the beginning of the millennium, however, it has been falling into disrepair. Brno did plan a new stadium, but is currently addressing property-legal relations. "Emil Zátopek was a legend. I am glad that the production chose the stadium behind Lužánky. It is good for sports as well as for culture. It is an opportunity to record for future generations what the stadium looked like," said Brno's Councillor for Culture Marek Fišer (for the Pirates) to ČTK. Fišer had previously organized volunteer events to improve the stadium, and in 2015, thanks to this, a farewell to the football player Petr Švancara took place there, which was attended by more than 30,000 people.

According to Hladík, the stadium will be transformed, with work beginning in June and finishing in August. "Filming should start there in September. In London, they ran on cinders, in Helsinki on a clay track, which means the stadium will undergo several transformations. Some things will need to be removed, and the interior of the stadium will need to be adjusted to be identical to both London and Helsinki," Hladík stated.

The South Moravian Film Fund will allocate one million crowns to the film. The South Moravian Region contributes five million crowns to the fund, and the city of Brno also contributes five million crowns. They support filmmakers, but the condition is that the money must be spent in Brno or in the region, benefiting both the city and the region with advertising.

Ondříček hopes to complete the film this year. The main role is played by Václav Neužil, while Zátopek's wife Dana will be played by Ondříček's partner Martha Issová. Zátopek won Olympic gold already in London in 1948, but became a legend four years later in Helsinki, where he won the five-kilometer race, the ten-kilometer race, and the marathon, even though it was his first time running the marathon. He set a new world record in all three races at that time.