Czech Television Made a Series About Kuciak's Murder — All of Slovakia Turned It Down

Eight years after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, Czech Television has co-produced a six-part series called "Our People" about the 2018 killings that shook all of Europe. The series was made by Slovak director Tereza Nvotová — not a single television channel in Slovakia itself was willing to take on the story.

Nvotová, who also co-wrote the screenplay together with Miro Šifra and Tomáš Hrubý, recalls how she learned of the tragedy. "I was in Los Angeles and woke up to my phone buzzing with notifications: Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová had been killed. Nobody understood what had happened here or what it meant," she told Czech Television.

A conversation with the victims' parents

Before filming began, the director met in person with the parents of both victims. She says the series aims to give a complete picture of those events and to help viewers reach an emotional understanding of what happened. "The story is so vast and complicated that if we really want to talk about it, we have to do so thoroughly and in a large format — which is exactly what a series is," Nvotová explained.

The title "Our People" refers to a Slovak expression used to describe a network of people bound together by clientelism, corruption and closeness to the political leadership.

Why the filming took place in Czechia

For the miniseries to be made at all, its creators had to look for partners outside Slovakia — Czech Television stepped in as co-producer. "The producers have so far not found a Slovak broadcaster willing to take on this story. The job of public media is to tell stories we're not proud of, but which are important to know," said producer Tereza Polachová.

Czech Television will premiere the miniseries "Our People" next spring.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz