The film by director Jakub Červenka is an extraordinarily intense and intimate personal drama of a young man who, after years of dutifully representing his totalitarian homeland, longs for just one thing – to escape the gilded cage of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and be free. He wants to live and love without fear that the revelation of his sexual orientation will label him a deviant and crush to dust everything he has devoted his life to. Yet at this most vulnerable moment, the regime intensifies its pressure, resorting to the dirtiest tactics to force Ondrej to submit to their uncompromising ultimatum.

The film captures all the key moments that explain why, in the grainy footage from Bratislava in 1973, Ondrej does not celebrate like a world champion – even though it was the greatest triumph of his life.

Presentation by:

• Jakub Červenka – Director/Producer of the film
• Tibor Búza – Producer

Screening of selected film excerpts

ART FILM INDUSTRY financially supported by the Audiovisual Fund