2024-07-20 04:49:04
More than ten years ago, he murdered his wife Monika and their young daughter. Now the story of Petr Kramné is resurfacing in Petr Hátle’s docuseries. The director filmed with a convicted murderer and with people who were directly affected by the tragedy. “For the first time, we were given the opportunity to focus on the memories of Monika Kramná and not only deal with her killer,” says Hátle in an interview for Aktuálně.cz
In your projects, you have been dealing with the phenomenon of true crime for a long time. Why did you film the Kramný Case now?
When I was asked for a new documentary true crime series, I thought a lot about what kind of case actually has the potential to support a multi-part series. And Petr Kramný is simply the most media-watched and best-known Czech case, I would say, par excellence. So the choice was clear, but gradually as we worked on it I found that it had deeper and deeper layers. It’s not just about what we know from the media, but that the real cause, the form, is hidden behind this world or behind that information.
Kramný also acts in the series, so you had to meet him in person. What was it?
At first we exchanged classic letters, the letter always went there for a week and then back again for a week. Everything was done by correspondence at first, until after a long time we agreed that we would come to see him in Mírov. In itself, it was like a glimpse into a completely different world. Mírov is a medieval castle and prison with increased security. So just when you come there through that courtyard, it affects you quite intensely.
In the same way as when Petr Kramný sits across from you across the bars, but at a distance of about two meters, and tells you his story. He is already different than he is in the media footage from ten years ago, which is understandable when he spent ten years in one of the most difficult criminal centers in the Czech Republic. He has aged and it shows. At that moment it was interesting to compare how you know him from that TV with how he acts when he is sitting two meters away from you.
In the end, the killer is always more famous than the victim
Murderer Petr Kramný with his defense lawyer Jana Rejžková. | Photo: Profimedia.cz
How do you deal with ethical aspects in your work? In one of the interviews for your film about the Stodols, you said that in each of your projects you try to find a theme that is somehow beneficial and important to society. What is it in the case of the series about Petr Kramný?
I see the case of Petr Kramný as a very tragic event, as some kind of trauma that came into people’s lives and turned them upside down. People experience similar events surprisingly often, such things just happen. I think talking about tragedies like this out loud can be a form of therapy. They don’t keep quiet about it and it’s not taboo. At the same time, I don’t want to talk about it in tabloids or only through emotions. My point is to find some other topic, other perspectives and other points of view in the case. And that’s what we’re trying to do in the documentary.
So what specific new perspectives did you find? You personally met not only him, but also relatives and friends of the Kramný family. What specifically was the most powerful moment for you during such meetings?
For me, it was, for example, moments with Monika Kramná’s friends. For the first time in ten years, we were given the opportunity to focus for a few hours on the memories of Monika Kramná and not only deal with Petr Kramný, who paradoxically had much more media space.
Gradually, during long conversations, we revived the victim together again. Both friends recalled specific memories, for example how they went to the disco together or how Monika laughed. Given that Monika Kramná’s parents actually died quite shortly after her and her siblings did not want to appear in the documentary for understandable reasons, it was powerful for me that we got the testimony of at least someone who knew and liked her.
Her friend also remembers Monika Kramna in the documentary. | Photo: TV Nova/VOYO
At the same time, with the entire document, you willy-nilly also remind a convicted murderer. How do you cope with it?
This is of course controversial. I am aware of this, but at the same time I am of the opinion that everything should be talked about and nothing should be hidden. Petr Kramný is legally convicted of the murder of his wife and daughter. At the same time, there are many people who question his conviction. He himself is no longer an anonymous worker from Karviná, whom I would drag into the spotlight. This happened already ten years ago.
In contrast to the processing of the case of Mr. and Mrs. Stodolov, you chose the format of the document this time, why?
I mainly wanted to meet real people who were touched by the case and had their lives completely turned upside down. I’m still a trained documentary filmmaker and that’s important to me. A documentary is completely different from a feature film. Filming with real protagonists telling us their stories has an authenticity that you can never achieve in live action.
Author of photography: TV Nova/VOYO
The Kramný case
Petr Kramný was convicted of the double murder of his wife Monika and daughter Klára, who died in 2013 during a family vacation in Hurghada, Egypt. The original Egyptian investigation suggested poisoning, but Czech forensic analyzes concluded that the women died as a result of electrocution. Despite several attempts to resume the trial, Petr Kramný continues to insist on his innocence.
Why are people interested in other people’s misfortunes?
Why is there so much interest in true crime? We see it daily, be it podcasts, soap operas, documentary series, movies. What do you think it is about it that actually attracts viewers?
It’s hard to say, it’s obvious in the Czech Republic now, but I have the impression that, for example, abroad, the wave is slowly fading away. But the reasons can be different. According to some studies, people actually relive what could happen to them through the tragedies of others. It’s a bit of prevention, a sort of vaccination. We all know that the world we live in is dangerous. When we have the opportunity to experience it in fiction, it is easier for us to come to terms with the fact that such things happen and that they can happen to us.
How did the people you approached react to your intention to make a documentary series?
“I tried to personally explain to the survivors that I am not talking about a sensation,” says director Petr Hátle. | Photo: Tereza Šolcová
It was difficult. The performers are only a fraction of the people we have contacted. For many of the performers, it is a personal matter that arouses emotions. Some of them simply do not want to be known publicly. Reactions were initially dismissive or lukewarm.
And how did you convince them?
I tried to explain to them personally that I am not interested in sensationalism, but I am interested in what they tell me and how they see the case. But at the same time, I am not accessing the authorization. All the performers agreed to this and trusted me that I would not abuse their trust. I hope it was successful this time as well.