Jana Lichtenbergová

This three-part ballad, which often uses music to stand in for dialogue, remains the most perfect embodiment of Nemec’s vision of a film world independent of reality. Mounting a defense of timid, inhibited, clumsy, and unsuccessful individuals, the three protagonists are a complete antithesis of the industrious heroes of socialist aesthetics. Martyrs of Love cemented Nemec’s reputation as the kind of unrestrained nonconformist the Communist establishment considered the most dangerous to their ideology.

An upholsterer who is preparing a rocket for takeoff accidentally jettisons himself into space and returns to Earth 500 years later with an alien companion who wishes to learn more about the human race.