Oscar-winning Czech director and producer Jan Sverak has begun filming Vratne lahve on location in Prague.Zdenek Sverak, thedirector's father and long-time collaborator, wrote the script and plays thelead role in the film about a reluctantly retired teacher who takes a job in asupermarket.

In addition to Zdenek Sverak,the cast features other Czech stars, including Tatiana Vilhelmova(Something LikeHappiness) and Jiri Machacek(Up And Down).

"The new version of the script revolves more around themain figure and his family. Dad connected with the story of personal experiencewith the autumn of life and now it works - it's personal, true andbittersweet," the director said.

Sverak's previous feature, Dark Blue World, dominated the Czechacademy awards in 2002. His 1996 film Kolya, which starred and featured a script by Zdenek, won a raft of awards, including an Oscar, a GoldenGlobe and seven awards from the Czech Film and Television Academy.

Falcon will distribute the film in the Czech Republic and broadcaster Nova haspre-bought domestic TV rights. Nova bought TV rights after reading the script.Prague-based acquisition outfit AQS has pre-bought all rights for Bulgaria,Hungary, Poland,Russia, Romaniaand the former Yugoslavia. No international sales agent has been announced.

The film, the title of which translates as 'ReturnedBottles', is produced by Biograf Jan Sverak. Filming began March 13 and will conclude in earlyMay, with a Czech release already scheduled for March 8, 2007. The film's website allows fans to followthe production through photos and web cameras.

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