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.
Acting
Finger and Mikulková's silences speak entire monologues.
Direction
Parkanová's restraint makes every frame ache.
Writing
Dialogue so precise it feels like documentary.
Director
Beata Parkanová
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 1968 setting isn't backdrop — Czech audiences know the Soviet invasion is coming, creating unbearable dramatic irony.
Parkanová based Vojíř on her own notary grandfather, explaining the film's almost anthropological attention to bureaucratic ritual.