Robert Slezák

A Latvian tragicomedy about a young artist who bears witness to the dramatic political upheavals of the WWII era. As brutal regimes come and go, his country, his village, his people, and even his heart are swept up in the inexorable currents of history.

The love story of sixteen-year-old Arturs is interrupted by the First World War. After losing his mother and his home, he finds some consolation in joining the army, because this is the first time national battalions are allowed in the Russian Empire. But war is nothing like Arturs imagined – no glory, no fairness. It is brutal and painful. Arturs is now completely alone as war takes the lives of his father and brother. Also, no progress is made in the promised quick resolution of the war and timely return home. Within the notion that only he alone cares about returning home and that his homeland is just a playground for other nations, Arturs finds strength for the final battle and eventually returns home to start everything from scratch, just like his newly born country.

Situated in Prague, a 20-year-old Vietnamese named Song, hoped for a better future in Europe. But now in a Vietnamese district in Prague, he is trapped in a marijuana grow house and has life of a modern slave. Police rounds up the place. Song runs away on the rooftop of a condo building in a nearby district where he breaks down. Mr. Rypar (78) lives alone. He is fond of the old times, living in a strong opposition to modern world. Rypar goes up on the roof and meets Song standing on the very edge of the roof crying and the story begins.

The last six months of the life of Jan Palach, who self-immolated to protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia to crush of Prague Spring.

The marriage of Tana and Milan Labat is going through a crisis. They are constantly quarreling while their 16-year-old daughter goes missing at her birthday party. The couple redefine their marriage as they set off to find their child.

The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia: Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandr and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get deported to Siberia. In her fight against cold, famine and cruelty, she only gains new strength through the letters she writes to Aleksandr, full of hope for a free Latvia and a better tomorrow.

A look at the life, work and importance of Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman (1910-89), a genius of world cinema, a wizard of special effects, revealing his sources of inspiration and his revolutionary filming techniques.