The Karlovy Vary IFF (July 3 - 11, 2009) presents over 220 feature films from all over the world every year. Apart from the films in the special retrospectives, most of the films are screened in the Czech Republic each year for the first time, many of them in their world, international or European premiere as well. This year again, the audience will have chance to see interesting retrospectives and focuses apart from the traditional program sections.

Official Selection - Competition

The exceptional status of the Karlovy Vary IFF Official Selection - Competition always ensures that these films attract the largest audiences. Only films made after January 1, 2008 which haven´t been previously shown in the competition of another international film festival may be included; films selected are generally world, international or European premieres.
As stipulated by the FIAPF festival statute, we present a complete list of competing films 14 days before the start of the festival.

14 films selected for the Official Selection - Competition were announced:

OFFICIAL SELECTION – COMPETITION

Un ange à la mer / Angel at Sea / Anděl u moře
Director: Frédéric Dumont
Belgium, Canada, 2009, 86 min, World premiere
Twelve-year-old Louis lives with his parents and older brother in a small town in southern Morocco. Louis is a happy boy until the moment when his father tells him a secret that only they will share. This successful feature debut relies on excellent performances by Olivier Gourmet, Anne Consigny, and especially the convincing Martin Nissen as Louis. The movie is gorgeous to look at, and features a gripping story.

Applause / Applause / Potlesk
Director: Martin Pieter Zandvliet
Denmark, 2009, 86 min, World premiere
Danish director Martin Pieter Zandvliet debuts with a suggestive psychological portrait of an actress whose life has been destroyed by alcohol; now, after a stint in rehab, she tries to regain what is (as she states herself at least), most important to her: her two young boys.

Barami Memounen Got, Himalaya / Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells / Himálaj
Director: Jeon Soo-il
South Korea, France, 2008, 95 min, International premiere
A minimalist film which follows the mission of an aging Korean man who, wearing a business suit and an overcoat, arrives in a remote little village high up in the mountainous region of Nepal. His anabasis captured in distanced shots reflects the process of inner revival but also refutes the idealistic tradition of “journeys from the city”.

Bist / Twenty / Dvacet
Director: Abdolreza Kahani
Iran, 2009, 88 min, International premiere
Only twenty days remain before the closure of a small restaurant, and its staff, for whom working for Mr Soleimani means much more than a mere source of income, decide to do something about it. The initial tragi-comic situation turns into a moving psychological drama not only about people, but also about the place and age in which they live.

Cold Souls / Cold Souls / Duše Paula Giamattiho
Director: Sophie Barthes
USA, 2008, 101 min, European premiere
A melancholic comedy by debuting Sophie Barthes which presents Paul Giamatti as a New York stage actor who decides to confront his approaching nervous breakdown by having his soul extracted and deep-frozen. Gogol, Buñuel, Jung and Woody Allen were the inspiration behind this original film, screened for the first time at this year’s Sundance festival.

Nem vagyok a barátod / I am Not Your Friend / Nejsem tvůj přítel
Director: György Pálfi
Hungary, 2009, 100 min, International premiere
Sara loves Mark and they are expecting a baby. He loves her too, but he also loves Sophie. She has eyes for Andras, it’s just that he’s married to Rita, who looks after young Natasha – and so on and so forth. His new project confirms director György Pálfi (Taxidermia) as an experimental provocateur. This highly cynical mosaic of disaffected relationships came together in 20 days of improvisation by the filmmakers and nine amateur actors.

Nije kraj / Will Not Stop There / Bez konce
Director: Vinko Brešan
Croatia, Serbia, 2008, 112 min, International premiere
War veteran Martin happens to see the beautiful Desa in a porn version of Little Red Riding Hood. Through the Romany Djuro he makes the girl’s acquaintance and buys her from her pimp. The deeply traumatised girl can’t understand that this isn’t just another man who wants to take advantage of her. It later turns out that both protagonists have something in their past which comes back to haunt them, even now the war has ended… Experienced director Vinko Brešan has come up with a tragicomic story of love in a world where it seems all human values are put up for sale or destined for cynical destruction.

Oveja negra / Black Sheep / Černá ovce
Director: Humberto Hinojosa Ozcáriz
Mexico, 2009, 83 min, International premiere
Arthur flags down a truck on the motorway during the night. In order to stop his weary driver from falling asleep in front of the wheel, he tells him a gripping story about two friends – shepherds – who decide to take their hapless fate into their own hands. A tale of courage, adventure, love and friendship, in which the characters are confronted with their dreams.

Pokoj v duši / Soul at Peace / Pokoj v duši
Director: Vladimír Balko
Slovak Republic, 2009, 97 min, International premiere
Tono, a man in his forties, is released after many years in prison and tries to resume his life as an ordinary citizen. Jiří Křižan’s script, Martin Štrba’s camerawork and meticulous direction from Vladimír Balko together create a compelling tragedy about crime and its consequences, the desire to start afresh in spite of spectres from the past, about faith in good things, and a propensity towards evil.

Świnki / Piggies / Sviňky
Director: Robert Gliński
Poland, Germany, 2009, 94 min, World premiere
Tomek is a good student, he’s interested in astronomy and plays football to please his father. Except that he lives in a little border town plagued by unemployment and poverty, whereas, on the other side of the river, lies Germany with all its relative affluence. When Tomek meets Marta at his first disco and falls in love with her, he starts to think up ways of earning money in order to keep her interested. He has no idea of the brutal fate which awaits him.

Tutta colpa di Giuda / Freedom / Za všechno může Jidáš
Director: Davide Ferrario
Italy, 2009, 102 min, International premiere
When a young avantgarde director decides to stage the Easter Passion in a prison, she has no idea how much the experience will change her life and what problems she’ll be up against: none of the inmates involved in the play wants to take on the role of Judas. This musical comedy features performances from actual prisoners.

Villa Amalia / Villa Amalia / Villa Amalia
Director: Benoît Jacquot
France, Switzerland, 2008, 97 min, International premiere
When Ann sees her partner kissing another woman, she decides not only to end their long-standing relationship, but also to erase her past completely. She wants to start again with a clean slate, even though she’s not as young as she used to be. An old, abandoned house above the sea might be the place where she finds her footing again. No actress could have portrayed Ann with such conviction as Isabelle Huppert.

Volčok / Wolfy / Vlček
Director: Vassily Sigarev
Russia, 2009, 86 min, International premiere
From the very start of the film it’s clear that, for Mother, the birth of Daughter is an unwelcome burden, and that’s how it’ll always be. Until, one day, when it’s too late, Mother realizes that she has not only ruined her own life, but her daughter’s as well. Despite his young age, Vassily Sigarev has written 18 stage plays, one of which, Plasticine, was performed in Prague’s DISK theatre five years ago. His film debut, based on his own play, demonstrates that Sigarev is well able to convey his own, distinctive style to the big screen just as effectively as he has done for the stage. Wolfy recently took the top award at the Kinotavr festival of Russian films in Sochi.

Whisky mit Wodka / Whisky with Vodka / Whisky s vodkou
Director: Andreas Dresen
Germany, 2009, 108 min, International premiere
Renowned actor Otto is as well-liked as he is moody. So what happens when a nervous director hires an understudy? This tragicomedy, by the director of the festival hit Cloud 9 (Karlovy Vary IFF 2008), is enhanced by a “film within a film” about unforeseen relationship intrigues. Will the rest of the crew, let alone audiences, take a liking to Otto?

Documentary Films in Competition

Act of God / Act of God / Boží zásah
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Canada, 2009, 75 min, European premiere
In her new film, the creator of the renowned work Manufactured Landscapes chronicles seven stories from around the world linked by lightning strikes. Is it chance or God’s intervention? The director seeks answers from, among others, writer Paul Auster and a Cuban community that worships Shango, the god of lightning.

Anas: una película india / Anas: An Indian Film / Anas: indický film
Director: Enric Miró
Spain, 2009, 118 min, International premiere
Anas Zaghlul from the town of Nablus is an engaging Palestinian who was once a promising athlete and an usher at a movie theater. One night, however, a shocking experience changes his life. The film’s Spanish director offers an original blend of stylized documentary and journalistic insights into the dismal reality in which his uncommon hero is trying to lead a normal life.

Anders & Harri / Anders & Harri / Anders & Harri
Director: Åsa Blanck, Johan Palmgren
Sweden, 2008, 13 min
Anders and Harri are best friends. They both like music but Anders also loves trains. One day they set out for the town of Geta where a tragic railroad accident occurred in 1918. They are so moved by the memorial site that they write a song about it. A non-sentimental film about friendship, fear, and trains.

Diario di uno “Scuro” / The Diary of an Affiliate / Deník mafiána
Director: Davide Barletti, Edoardo Cicchetti, Lorenzo Conte
Italy, 2008, 61 min, International premiere
The true story of Antonio Perrone, a university student from a respectable middle-class family, who in the 1980s became a founding member and boss of the mafia organization known as the Sacra Corona Unita. Today he is serving out a 49-year sentence.

Do bolu / Till It Hurts / Než to začne bolet
Director: Marcin Koszałka
Poland, 2008, 25 min
A 53-year-old psychiatrist still lives at home with his mom. After a long period of emotional abstinence, he meets Ewa and his enthusiasm over his new love evokes a hysterical reaction from his imperious mother. An intimately-drawn tragicomedy by a great talent of Polish documentary filmmaking, part of a documentary series that follows up on Kieślowski’s Decalogue.

Lessons from the Night / Lessons from the Night / Noční přednášky
Director: Adrian Francis
Australia, 2008, 9 min
During the routine execution of her job, a Bulgarian immigrant named Maia – one among the nameless hordes of male and female cleaners – muses about life and its meaning, thus allowing a look into her surprisingly diverse past. This existential film about cleaning is also a tribute to the thousands of anonymous individuals carrying out serious work for laughable pay.

Los que se quedan / Those Who Remain / Ti, co zůstávají
Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo, Carlos Hagerman
Mexico, 2008, 96 min
What does it mean to live in a Mexican village where half of the population has left to find work in the USA? What do parents go through who haven’t seen their children in years, or children who grow up without their fathers? Juan Carlos Rulfo (winner at the 2006 KV IFF with In the Pit) and Carlos Hagerman present a decades-old problem from the perspective of those left behind.

Muezzin / Muezzin / Muezzin
Director: Sebastian Brameshuber
Austria, 2009, 80 min, World premiere
Since the time of the Prophet Mohammed, faithful Muslims have heeded the muezzin’s call to prayer five times a day. Each year in Turkey the best of these compete, and their powerful expressivity proves that muezzins are a special kind of artist. This Austrian film follows the dramatic progress of the competition and investigates the phenomenon of individuality within Islamic culture.

Osadné / Osadné / Osadné
Director: Marko Škop
Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, 2009, 65 min, World premiere
In this cheerful “document-toury movie” by Other Worlds creator Marko Škop, an Orthodox priest, a long-serving mayor, and a Ruthenian activist set out on a journey from the remote eastern Slovak village of Osadné for the European Parliament in Brussels.

Side om side / Side By Side / Vedle sebe
Director: Christian Sønderby Jepsen
Denmark, 2008, 30 min
A debut filmmaker decides to get at the truth of the causes of an age-old grudge between his father and elderly Mr. Frost, two men who have long had adjoining backyards. This staged documentary features compelling visual compositions and the disarmingly dry humor of the distinctive inhabitants of western Jutland.

The Sound of Insects - Record of a Mummy / The Sound of Insects - Record of a Mummy / Bzučení hmyzu: zápisky mumie
Director: Peter Liechti
Switzerland, 2009, 88 min
The actual diary entries of a man who decided to commit suicide by starving himself to death, elaborated into a literary form by Japanese writer Masahiko Shimada. Drawing on the novel, this evocative cinematic reconstruction of events provides a hypnotic record of the feelings of someone who voluntarily forfeited his life.

La terre de la folie / Land of Madness / Kraj šílenství
Director: Luc Moullet
France, 2009, 90 min, International premiere
In his latest movie, French film legend Luc Moullet analyzes the fecund occurrence of psychological disorders and their attendant murders and suicides during the past century in a southern French region at the base of the Alps.

Thriller in Manila / Thriller in Manila / Thriller v Manile
Director: John Dower
United Kingdom, 2008, 90 min
Gripping reconstruction of one of the most dramatic sporting events of all time, the 1975 rematch between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the heavyweight boxing title. Archive footage and testimonies from those who witnessed the “fight to the death” illustrate not only the drama in the ring, but also US sociopolitical realities of the 1960s and 1970s.

Wagah / Wagah / Wagah
Director: Supriyo Sen
Germany, India, Pakistan, 2009, 14 min
Until 1947, India and Pakistan were part of British India. The peculiar “festival” of symbolically closing the border, which takes place each evening at Wagah, the lone border crossing, connects for a symbolic moment two nations that, after decades, still feel like part of a unified region.

We Live in Public / We Live in Public / Žijeme na veřejnosti
Director: Ondi Timoner
USA, 2009, 90 min, European premiere
This year’s winning documentary at Sundance is a fascinating portrait of Josh Harris, an eccentric visionary and propagator of communications networks – “the greatest Internet pioneer you’ve never heard of.”

Yugong Yishan / The Old Fool Who Moved the Mountains / Starý blázen, který pohnul horou
Director: Joanna Vasquez Arong
China, Thailand, Philippines, 2008, 30 min, European premiere
Vasquez Joanna Arong (Neo-Lounge screened at the 42nd KV IFF) takes the viewer from a Chinese fable through Mao’s Little Red Book and on to an independent music bar in Beijing. This emotionally compelling movie takes a closer look at contemporary China as seen by peculiar “old fools,” whose perseverance can change the world.





East of the West - Films in Competition

40-ci qapi / The 40th Door / 40. dveře
Director: Elchin Musaoglu
Azerbaijan, 2008, 82 min, European premiere
Fourteen-year-old Rustam lives with his mother in a village. After his father’s death, Rustam tries to provide for himself and his mother without resorting to illegal money-making schemes. But his dream is to join a music band. Thanks to its authenticity and lack of ostentation, The 40th Door offers a gripping excursion into exotic Azerbaijani cinema.
Alive! / Alive! / Žít!
Director: Artan Minarolli
Albania, Austria, France, 2009, 90 min, World premiere
Koli, a student, returns to his native mountain village to attend his father’s funeral. When someone takes a shot at him, he is alarmed to discover that he is ostensibly a victim of a blood feud sparked by his grandfather sixty years earlier. How deeply entrenched in people are the traditions of their forebears? And to what extent are they able to accept them as part of their modern, superficial lifestyle?, asks director Artan Minarolli in this psychological film drama.
Artimos šviesos / Low Lights / Tlumená světla
Director: Ignas Miškinis
Lithuania, Germany, 2009, 92 min, World premiere
For the three young heroes of this Lithuanian urban road movie, night rides through the empty city streets offer a break from punishing routine. Director Ignas Miškinis creates an image of alienation in the modern hurried world, in which people are, in his words, “abandoned and lost, they’re moving away from those around them.”
Baksy / Native Dancer / Šamanka
Director: Guka Omarova
Kazakhstan, Russia, France, Germany, 2008, 87 min
Aidai’s large courtyard is always full of visitors. The old woman cures privations of the body and soul, and can reconcile disordered relationships. When businessman Batyr builds a gas station and motel here, Aidai, distressed by the abduction of her grandson as well, disappears. Yet, only she can reverse the inauspicious concurrence of events…
Bumažnyj soldat / Paper Soldier / Papírový voják
Director: Alexey German Jr.
Russia, 2008, 118 min
Therapist Daniil, his wife Nina, a doctor, and his lover Vera are involved in the preparations for Gagarin’s launch in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Their awareness of the risks involved in the project has a detrimental effect on their relationships and adversely foreshadows their destinies. A far cry from the romantic atmosphere and official optimism of the time.
Djavolja Varoš / Devil's Town / Ďáblovo město
Director: Vladimir Paskaljević
Serbia, 2009, 82 min, World premiere
Devil’s Town is a film about people driven only by their basic needs, deep instincts, obsessions, ambitions, fears and frustrations. Is their moral crisis merely a consequence of the hard times they have to live through, or is it the other way round?”, asks the director of the film. This black comedy about modern life in the director’s native country is the debut of Vladimir Paskaljević, after whose short stories his father Goran created the award-winning film The Optimists (KV IFF 2007).
El Paso / El Paso / El Paso
Director: Zdeněk Tyc
Czech Republic, 2009, 98 min, International premiere
Věra Horváthová refuses to feel guilty for being Romany. And after her husband dies, she doesn’t understand why she has to move out of her apartment and give up her kids to social workers. For most of society, her existence presents a problem – luckily she finds people willing to help her. This story of a Romany mother, fighting a court battle for the right to raise her own seven children, was inspired by true events.
Gagma napiri / The Other Bank / Druhý břeh
Director: George Ovashvili
Georgia, Kazakhstan, 2008, 90 min
Twelve-year-old refugee Tedo, scraping a living with his mother on the outskirts of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, returns after seven years to his native Abkhazia to find his father, whom illness prevented from fleeing the conflict with his family. The Other Bank is a universal story which speaks of the consequences of war, of nationalism and of children who were forced by circumstances to grow up before their time.
A hetedik kör / The Seventh Circle / Sedmý kruh
Director: Árpád Sopsits
Hungary, 2009, 107 min, International premiere
The film The Seventh Circle, whose title makes a reference to the seventh circle of hell from Dante’s Divine Comedy, tells the story of a gang of rural teenagers who, after the arrival of the mysterious boy Sebestyén, start experimenting to see just how far they can go. This unsettling philosophical drama which steps over the boundary of reality, was based on the motifs of two tragic events which recently occurred in Hungary.
Niciji sin / No One's Son / Ničí syn
Director: Arsen Anton Ostojić
Croatia, Slovenia, 2008, 100 min
Ivan is a former rock singer and disillusioned war veteran who lost both his legs and his wife’s favor in the war. Then he discovers a dark family secret that radically changes his attitude to life… The best Croatian movie of 2008 and the hands-down winner at the 55th Pula IFF with six Golden Arena Awards.
Poltory komnaty ili sentimentalnoje putěšestvije na rodinu / Room and a Half / Jeden a půl pokoje
Director: Andrey Khrzhanovsky
Russia, 2008, 130 min
“Poets always return – in the flesh or on paper” – an expression of nostalgic resignation from Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), visualised in an unusual film portrayal of the lives of his family. The film features animation incorporated into live-action sequences, while evocations of historical events are woven into the more personal elements of the story.
Raci / Crayfish / Raci
Director: Ivan Cherkelov
Bulgaria, 2009, 108 min
Friends Doka and Bonza are unemployed; Matanov and Tsonchev are competitors in the world of privatisation, each has a dark past and an equally dark present. They’ll stop at nothing to increase their coffers, even if this means resorting to mafia tactics. Without realising what they’ve got themselves into, Doka and Bonza agree to become involved in a seemingly innocent, well-paid assignment.
Rysa / Scratch / Prasklina
Director: Michał Rosa
Poland, 2008, 89 min
In his intimate psychological drama Scratch, director Michał Rosa tackles a delicate theme from the recent past. An aging couple’s long-term relationship begins to fall apart when the wife discovers that her husband probably worked for the secret police and informed on her father. The female lead is masterfully played by Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak.
Utolsó idők / Lost Times / Ztracené časy
Director: Áron Mátyássy
Hungary, 2009, 90 min, International premiere
Lost Times is the story of young car mechanic Iván, who lives with his mentally disabled sister Eszter in a God-forsaken village on the Hungarian-Ukraine border. The wonderful, almost virginal natural landscape provides a stark contrast to the frustrations of village life. Áron Mátyássy’s debut is dominated by mesmerising camera work and a beguiling score.

Forum of Independents

Adulthood / Adulthood / Dospělost
Director: Noel Clarke
United Kingdom, 2008, 99 min
Writer-director Noel Clarke plays the lead in his feature debut Adulthood. Sam Peel is just returning from prison where he spent six years for manslaughter. Driven by the rhythms of rap, this exciting movie plays out over the course of 24 hours, and offers an authentic portrait of Sam’s journey from adolescence to adulthood.
Eamon / Eamon / Eamon
Director: Margaret Corkery
Ireland, 2009, 85 min, International premiere
Little Eamon still loves sleeping in bed with his mother Grace, something his father, Grace’s boyfriend Daniel, doesn’t much appreciate. He just feels left out and frustrated by Grace’s lack of interest. When the family is forced to spend a week’s vacation at the beach, their problems increase. Unfolding at a gentle pace, this unostentatious film is a promising feature debut with an original outcome that makes it well worth viewing to the very end.
Everything Strange and New / Everything Strange and New / Všechno to podivné a nové
Director: Frazer Bradshaw
USA, 2008, 84 min
Disappointed by life, Wayne personifies the flip side of the American dream. His everyday life is so grueling that it doesn’t even leave him room to find a way out – but in this he is far from alone. This introverted but provocative movie was presented at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Fuga dal Call Center / Escape from the Call Center / Útěk z call centra
Director: Federico Rizzo
Italy, 2008, 90 min, International premiere
Newly-graduated university student Gianfranco is forced by a lack of alternatives to take on a tough job working for pitiful wages at a call center. His life, so far from his ideals, begins to resemble a living hell. This biting comedy takes a grotesque look at young Italians’ less-than-auspicious lives.
Jee-geum E-dae-ro-ga Jo-a-yo / Sisters on the Road / Sestry na cestě
Director: Boo Ji-young
South Korea, 2008, 90 min, International premiere
After their mother’s funeral, a young sophisticated yuppie sets out with her older, earthy sister to find the father she never knew. The classic road movie here blossoms into a surprisingly complex and original work in which it is unimportant where the journey leads the heroines, but rather how it changes them internally.
Kislorod / Oxygen / Kyslík
Director: Ivan Vyrypaev
Russia, 2009, 75 min, International premiere
To the rhythm of hip hop, rap and breakbeat, and reflected against the backdrop of a mixed-up world, two young presenters comment on the chaotic film-clip relationship between a boy and a girl, both called Sasha. Life-giving oxygen would sort everything out, but its strength is derived from knowledge of the Word and the laws of the Ten Commandments. Except that no-one understands them anymore…
Menteur / Liar / Lhář
Director: Tom Geens
Belgium, 2008, 78 min, International premiere
Antoine is a 25-year-old loser who endeavours to prove to his family that he isn’t the idiot they take him for. He tries to find that dream job but, because he hasn’t the qualifications or intelligence for it, he embarks upon a tragicomic road from one failure to the next, which only fuels his despair… This agonizing study of the need for recognition is the feature film debut of Belgian director Tom Geens.
Merkhav mugan / Secure Space / Bezpečný prostor
Director: Oren Gvili
Israel, 2008, 50 min, International premiere
Because of the bombing, the citizens of Haifa, Israel are not allowed to leave their homes. Jewish bride and groom Maya and Roi spend their wedding day in the cellar where the ceremony is to take place that evening. The closest members of the family have already gathered in the improvised shelter… Oren Gvili graduated with this poetic film from the University of Tel Aviv. With its contemporary subtext, this writer-director statement grows from an intimate tale of a spoiled marriage into a metaphoric contemplation of the eternal threat to personal space.
New Denmark / New Denmark / New Denmark
Director: Rafaël Ouellet
Canada, 2009, 72 min, World premiere
During a long, cloudy summer, Carla spends her time working, caring for her house, and looking for her missing sister. Her friends and a stranger aid the girl in her search. This third feature from an unconventional and original Quebecois director will be screened at Karlovy Vary as a world premiere.
Ramírez / Ramirez / Ramírez
Director: Albert Arizza
Spain, 2009, 90 min, International premiere
A drug dealer by day, by night a serial killer of lonely women…. A thriller about a young man from a well-situated family who eventually becomes a victim of his own heartlessness. This debut, which costars Geraldine Chaplin in the role of the gallerist, took Discovery Motion Picture at Sitges.
La Tigra, Chaco / La Tigra, Chaco / La Tigra, Chaco
Director: Federico Godfrid, Juan Sasiaín
Argentina, 2009, 75 min, European premiere
Esteban returns to his home town where he meets his childhood friend Vero, who has grown into a beautiful woman. Old memories rise to the surface, new bonds are formed… This delightful low-budget directing debut by Federico Godfrid and Juan Sasiaín, crowned with a FIPRESCI award at the festival in Mar del Plata, rests, above all, on its authentic acting performances.
Wojna polsko-ruska / Snow White and Russian Red / Červená a bílá
Director: Xawery Żuławski
Poland, 2009, 108 min, International premiere
This adaptation of the literary debut by Dorota Masłowska, which was also published in the Czech Republic, tells the story of a tough nationalist, homophobe, racist and anti-semite called Silny. The film is a poetic, direct and disturbing portrayal of love, hopelessness and political burnout in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.