Kryštof Hanzlík

We meet Veronica shortly before her high-school graduation exams. She lives with her mother, an alcoholic, and her mother's partner. One day when he is drunk, he chases Veronica to the roof of a house and falls off, killing himself. He was in debt as he was addicted to gambling. His creditor wants the money back and starts to threaten Veronica. Her mother will not protect her since she is always drunk. Thus, the young girl must leave home and hide far away. On her journey she meets many characters. Some of them are comic, others are rather tragicomic. And Veronica tries to find good people with whom she would feel comfortable and happy, thus giving her life meaning. - Czech film center

We meet Veronica shortly before her high-school graduation exams. She lives with her mother, an alcoholic, and her mother's partner. One day when he is drunk, he chases Veronica to the roof of a house and falls off, killing himself. He was in debt as he was addicted to gambling. His creditor wants the money back and starts to threaten Veronica. Her mother will not protect her since she is always drunk. Thus, the young girl must leave home and hide far away. On her journey she meets many characters. Some of them are comic, others are rather tragicomic. And Veronica tries to find good people with whom she would feel comfortable and happy, thus giving her life meaning. - Czech film center

Father Holy, a village priest, battles against the state and religious bureaucracies of 1980s Czechoslovakia in his fight to raise money for a new church roof. Permeated by his love for the villagers, his encounters are marked by his good humor. In his losing battle against Church and State, Holy is ordered to be transferred away from his parish and his allies. The Czech-American, Milena Jelinek, adapted this moving story from the the novel The Forgotten Light, by the 1930s Czech writer/poet and Catholic priest Jakub Deml. (1934)

Based upon the true story that inpired the Christmas carol about a young king's care for his people.