Document Batalives presents life in five Baťa towns

Zlín - The documentary film Batalives portrays life in five Baťa cities across five countries. Its pre-premiere was viewed by audiences in Zlín today. The film, directed by Karolína Zalabáková and Petr Babinec, took two years to make. Its central theme revolves around the people living in cities associated with the name Baťa, Zalabáková said shortly before the film's screening, according to ČTK. The film will be officially released in cinemas on April 5.

"Most of the crew has grown up, lives, or studies in Zlín, so the fact that there are various small Zlíns around the world is well known to us. For everyone else, it seemed utterly fascinating, bordering on science fiction and some comic. So we decided that this is something we should give more space to in the film," said Zalabáková.

She and her colleagues reportedly searched for a key to the creation of the film for a long time. "In the end, we said that we wanted to make a film that we would want to watch ourselves, our generation. So that it wouldn't be a classic documentary full of facts and talking heads," the director revealed. The crew focused on the stories of specific residents of Zlín, the Dutch Batadorp, Croatian Borovo, Indian Batanagar, and Brazilian Bataypora.

According to the film's producer Lukáš Gargulák, the former Baťa satellites differ from one another. Nonetheless, traces of the shoemaking giant are still evident. "For example, in Croatia, the buildings and the factory are exactly the same as in Zlín. However, they are marked by war. The factory is completely bombed out, half of the houses are in ruins. In India, we captured three apartment buildings that were demolished about three months after filming. Even the buildings that were built there for Czech managers are probably no longer there. In contrast, in the Netherlands, the houses are beautiful and clean," Gargulák said.

"Baťa cities either get conserved into some kind of aquarium and museum, or they go to the ground," Zalabáková added.

The crew needed 54 shooting days for the film's creation. However, each location required different amounts of time, according to Gargulák. While the filmmakers spent three weeks in India, they managed with less than a week in the Netherlands. "Everywhere we filmed, Baťa is known. It's funny that locals often think it's originally their company," the producer noted.

Tomáš Baťa created a unique system of factory production, around which he concentrated a town with civic amenities for his employees. After his death in 1932, his half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa continued the legacy. The company established dozens of satellite cities around the world, modeled after Zlín. Some have retained their function to this day, while others remain more of a reminder of the history of the famous factories.