Václav Marhoul is a Czech film director, the author of The Painted Bird and of the newly completed film Doznání.
Václav Marhoul is a Czech film director. His film The Painted Bird competed at the Venice festival and reached the Oscar shortlist.[1] His earlier feature films are Smart Philip from 2003, Tobruk from 2008 and The Painted Bird from 2019.[2]
The film Doznání
In October 2026 the completion of Marhoul's fourth feature film, Doznání, was announced. The story is set in 1938 in the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, the film was shot on 35 mm negative, and its cast includes Rob Lowe, James Franco, Nick Nolte and Brad Dourif.[1][2][3] Marhoul said that the film is not connected with Artur London's book The Confession, although the theme is similar.[2] Post-production took place in Prague; the film was edited by Luděk Hudec, and Peter Menzies Jr. was the cinematographer.[5] Filming took place in December 2025 at Santa Clarita Studios near Los Angeles, in a production by the American company Bonfire Legend, headed by the producer Dallas Sonnier.[5] According to Seznam Zprávy, the film is awaiting its world premiere.[3] The world premiere, under the English title Confession, was scheduled for 15 October 2026 in the main competition of the Warsaw Film Festival, and the distribution company Bioscop is to release it in Czech cinemas on 28 January 2027.[2]
The American commentator Ben Shapiro published a trailer for the film on the network X; according to iDNES.cz he worked on it as a screenwriter. Marhoul commented on this for iDNES.cz.[4] Marhoul said that he disagrees with most of Shapiro's views, but the screenplay interested him enough that he accepted the collaboration.[4]
Sources
- Blesk.cz — 13 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 12 October 2026
- Seznam Zprávy — 12 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 15 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 9 October 2026