President Wanted

Vaclav, the village loser, in his 40's bordering on autism, lives with his widowed mother on the outskirts of the village. He is seen by villagers as the local fool, nothing but a constant pain for them, but there is a skeleton in the village closet concerning his father's death.

The Czech Republic became a member of NATO and the EU 25 years ago. This change of course heralded a clear affiliation with the West. Today, however, there are considerable deviations from this course. Many Czechs are now skeptical of the West. In this situation, the country is an ideal target for pro-Russian propaganda and targeted disinformation.

They came from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and France - forced laborers who ensured that life in Germany was maintained and that supplies reached the German front during the Second World War. They were often deported to Germany at a young age and had to live in adverse conditions.

At first glance, time seems to have stood still in the west Kyrgyz village of Barskon. Veterans of the Second World War enjoy the greatest respect and many of the people here look back with nostalgia at the socialist era, when everyone had work, healthcare was free and "we all had it just as good". The gulags seem to be the only thing the locals have somehow forgotten about… One of the protagonists in the film is the slightly mysterious truck driver Nurbek, who has been working with his wife for 10 years in the local gold mine known as Kumtor. This is the place where the director Tomáš Kudrna faithfully documents the peculiar form of capitalism and democracy that prevails in a country that looks like an open-air Soviet museum. We see the petty disputes between the locals and also look at the events of 1998, when two tonnes of cyanide leaked into the river from the Kumtor mine and poisoned hundreds of villagers.