After years together, Petr and Hana, partners in work and in life, share their unspoken erotic fantasies. What begins as an innocent conversation gradually turns into curious experimentation with a non-monogamous approach to their relationship. But sexual freedom tastes differently for each of them. Without resorting to exploitation, Tomasz Wiński’s feature debut considers questions that are taboo for many couples. Borders of Love explores not only various forms of intimacy but also ways of depicting it on the big screen, since, among others, the protagonists themselves film each other on their mobile phones. Appearing in the main roles are Matyáš Řezníček and Hana Vagnerová, who collaborated on the film’s story and script as well.
Beata Parkanová, the filmmaker behind Moments, returns to Karlovy Vary with an exceptionally vivid portrait of the family of notary Václav Vojíř, a small-town moral authority, and his selfless wife Věra. This masterfully told and highly original intimate drama, whose protagonists undergo a difficult ordeal in the summer of 1968, is reinforced by finely wrought, exquisite performances from Martin Finger and Gabriela Mikulková.
Rouzbeh arrives in Prague, far from his troubled family life in Tehran, to research his father’s past. Visiting the flat where his father, a communist expatriate, lived 50 years ago, in the times of Czechoslovakia, he is stopped by a policewoman investigating a recent accident. The current resident of the flat, Vladimir, who turns out to be Rouzbeh’s half-brother, has fallen out the window. Discovering hidden corners of Vladimir’s life and getting closer to his soul, Rouzbeh learns a shocking truth about his father, totally contradicting the image of a hero he had about him. This puts him on the path which led to Vladimir's fall from the window.
Milada
After the premiere, the theatre group gathers in a bar to celebrate. However, the cheerful gathering is interrupted by a drunken Soviet officer. He insists on selling a can of petrol. However, when he senses the awkwardness, the hidden hatred, the cowardice, the timidity of the people there, he begins to enjoy the situation with his intrusiveness. When he takes his pistol out of its holster, things start to get crazy. The people in the bar suddenly become “freedom fighters” against the Russian occupation.
Johanna
A short comedy-tinged drama set in Prague. 26-year-old Šimon is going through a rocky divorce. Things get interesting when he learns that his ex-girlfriend Johana, who he still pines for, has started dating a trans woman. At first his best friend Jáchym lends support in the form of parties, drugs and alcohol, but then he finds a girlfriend and falls in love, leaving Šimon to deal with the situation all on his own. One wild New Year’s Eve, Šimon accidentally winds up at a gay bar; later, waiting for the metro home, he hatches a plan to sort things out.
(voice)
With humor our adventure story deals with the timeless theme of the conflict between unlimited power on the one hand, and the desire for freedom, courage and love on the other. A troupe of buskers lands on an island governed by a despotic ruler with strict police control. When, during their performance, a shot fired from a circus cannon goes astray, it triggers a series of unexpected events. A young man and woman, Drin and Tuvi, and Nathan the seagull have to enter into an uneven struggle with totalitarian power. A struggle which eventually changes the fates of all the island inhabitants - both human and feathered.
Loneliness, friendship, patriotism, xenophobia and racism on a train journey from Prague to Budapest.
Lidka Malíková
