Michael Dáňa

The story of one of the most important Czech artistic families of the 20th century, as revealed in the personal and travel diaries of Josef Čapek's wife.

A poor miner, Kuba Dařbuján, cares for his wife Markýtka and eleven children. When a newborn arrives, he seeks a godfather and, finding only Death fair to all, accepts a pact: as a doctor whom Death accompanies at the foot of a patient’s bed, he can heal; but if Death stands at the head, no cure is possible. Kuba eventually heals even a miserly brewer, violating the pact and imprisoning Death, leading to a world where no one can die and unforeseen chaos follows.

Set in a village, the story of a simple-minded, not-so-responsible young man who still manages to take care of his younger siblings after their father has left the family. Good thing he could lean on the principles of exemplary socialist morality. Not surprisingly, the attempt to capture something of the mentality and conditions of the contemporary village breaks down into simple, poster-like lessons.

The mother is trying to prevent the break-up of a marriage of many years. She knows about her husband's infidelity, but fears his leaving the family with the teenage children. But the crisis seems inevitable...

A group of children from 1930s Prague follow the news about the polar expedition of the Chelyuskin, whose members find themselves stranded on a floating crust after the shipwreck. The rescue operation they had planned eventually turns out to be an aid to the striking workers of Děčín...