Jaroslav Kucera - A Portrait

While working abroad, young au pair Mia unwittingly surrenders her reason, her heart and her dreams to a radical family community.

On New Year's Day, two boys wind up in the apartment of Katerina, a teacher from their school, along with her friends, Stepan and David. As the older trio bickers, drinks and flirts, the boys gain eye-opening insight into the adult world.

The real fate of Jiří Arvéd Smíchovský, a prominent hermeticist, occultist, believer in black magic and an exceptionally well-educated person with a brilliant memory. This avid book lover had doctorates in law, theology and philosophy and was fluent in five languages. He was interested in occult teachings, practiced magical ceremonies, was in contact with the Freemasons, but at the same time he was a member of the National Fascist Community while being homosexual. During the war he cooperated with the Nazis, after the war with the communist StB.

The Czech film avant-garde. A unique artistic direction of the 1920s and 1930s with great persons of Czech culture like Vítězslav Nezval, Jaroslav Seifert, Alexander Hackenschmied, Jan Kučera and many others being mentioned. However, is it really a forgotten landmark of the Czech cinematography or an artificial construct, created subsequently by film history?

Our era is marked by the transformation of social institutions, with universities central to Euro-American civilisation’s development. Despite past persecution, universities have become bastions of free thought and knowledge, crucial to democratic culture. However, commercialisation and massification have introduced challenges affecting teaching, research, self-governance, and the system overall. How do universities maintain academic freedoms, and what are the consequences of their failure? Can we identify and address these challenges?

Jaroslav Kučera in an intimate portrait composed of private footage, in which he sketches the most intimate space of his family with a relaxed hand. Thanks to the director's sensitive selection, we observe scenes of spontaneous posing in front of the camera as well as moments of soothing repose, captivatingly brought together by a soundtrack produced by Aid Kid.

First World Problems. The worries of living in a rich, industrialized society that third worlders would just roll their eyes at.